BOSTON -- Zack Wheeler isn't just back, he might be back.
There were plenty of encouraging signs through Wheeler's first three starts, but we hadn't quite seen the efficiency that Wheeler has been known for over the past half-decade.
That is, until the Phillies' 2-1 win on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Wheeler made quick work -- literally -- of the Red Sox lineup early on, needing only 16 pitches to cruise through the first three innings. That's not just the fewest pitches Wheeler has thrown through three innings, but it's the fewest any starting pitcher has needed to complete three frames since at least 2000.
The previous fewest during that span was 18 -- a mark shared by Omar Daal (for the Phillies in 2001), Curt Schilling ('02 D-backs) and Livan Hernandez ('04 Expos).
Wheeler, meanwhile, had never done it on fewer than 25 pitches.
Needless to say, he had to be feeling pretty good early … right?
“I think I threw about three strikes in the bullpen,” Wheeler said of his warmup. “So I was a little nervous going out there. Usually, when that happens, it could go really bad or pretty well.”
Safe to say it was the latter.
After throwing only three strikes in the ‘pen, Wheeler proceeded to throw only three balls in the first three innings. He didn't go to even a two-ball count until the fourth inning.
“You're thinking Maddux-like at that point,” said interim manager Don Mattingly, referring to a feat of a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches named after Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux. “You know, is it gonna be a Maddux game?”
Wheeler entered the night with four career nine-inning complete games, but his fewest pitches in any of those was 108. No Phillies pitcher had thrown a Maddux since Ranger Suarez -- who will start Thursday for Boston -- on Sept. 25, 2021.
And while he more than doubled his pitch count in an 18-pitch fourth, Wheeler ultimately kept the Maddux in play until the seventh, when a bloop RBI single plated Boston's lone run off the right-hander.
With such a manageable pitch count, though, Wheeler not only finished off the seventh but also recorded another out in the eighth before handing it off to the bullpen. He needed only 87 pitches (57 strikes) to take down a season-high 7 1/3 innings. It also marked his first outing without a walk this season.
Wheeler had four strikeouts. All six hits he allowed were singles.
“It's a slippery slope with guys like that because he doesn't walk people, and he's gonna come right at you,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. “ … He just got the best of us tonight.”
Kyle Schwarber once again staked Wheeler to an early lead, hitting a first-inning homer for the second straight game. It was his fifth straight game with a homer, tied for the longest streak in Phillies history.
“Wheels was unbelievable,” Schwarber said. “He was efficient, quick.”
Wheeler’s dominant outing lowered his ERA to 2.55 through four starts as he continues to ramp up after missing the first month of the season while recovering from thoracic outlet decompression surgery last September.
He said after his last outing that he still felt “just a little off.”
Did he feel more like his usual self on Tuesday night?
“Getting there, yeah,” Wheeler said. “I'm happy where I'm at.”
The sizable contingent of Phillies fans at Fenway was also pretty happy, giving Wheeler a noticeable ovation as he walked off the mound in the eighth inning. The Boston faithful did its best to try to drown it out.
“Heard some cheers. Heard some boos,” Wheeler said with a grin. “So, yeah, I like that.”