Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Just like New York Mets ace Matt Harvey, young phenom Zack Wheeler got very little run support in another great outing for the Mets’ young pitchers this season.
At least Wheeler’s outing was not wasted as the Mets beat the Miami Marlins in the 10th inning by the score of 4-2, doing what some fans feel is the impossible — not lose a series to the horrendous Marlins.
Wheeler, who had a 4-1 record in his first seven major league starts with a 3.72 ERA, has had some up and down outings. Tonight, however, Wheeler was mostly dominant and even had a no-hit bid going into the seventh inning. Wheeler’s first six innings were masterful. He did not allow a hit and had a very low pitch count, as his strikeouts were down with only five in total.
The seventh was a different story. With a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the frame, Wheeler walked Marlins’ Logan Morrison and then gave up three straight hits to Ed Lucas, Donovan Solano and Jake Marisnick to reliquish a 2-0 lead. It was pretty obvious that he was nervous because he knew that he had a no-hitter going and did not want to screw it up, and thinking that way always backfires.
So to sum things up, what I saw out of Wheeler tonight are those flashes of dominance that made him one of the top prospects in baseball. While I still do not think Wheeler can be better than Harvey, I believe after tonight that with a little fine-tuning, Wheeler can be a very dominant pitcher for the Mets for years to come.
