Phillies' Wheeler tosses 3-hitter, fans 8 in 2-0 victory

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler struck out eight and tossed a three-hit shutout and Alex Bohm homered to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-0 win and four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

The Phillies head out on a nine-game road trip in first place (17-15) and as the only team in the NL East with a winning record.

Wheeler threw his second career shutout and complete game in 144 starts and first since 2014 when he played for the New York Mets. Wheeler put two runners on in the ninth and retired Daniel Vogelbach on a foul pop on the 118th pitch to finish the shutout.

Wheeler (3-2) and Brandon Woodruff engaged in a brilliant pitchers’ duel that ended when Bohm connected on a 97 mph fastball in the seventh for his fourth homer of the season. Rhys Hoskins added an RBI double in the eighth.

Woodruff (2-1) struck out 10 over the first five innings -- 11 total over 6 2-3 innings -- and allowed only Odubel Herrera’s single in the second until Bohm went deep.

Wheeler matched him pitch-for-pitch, giving up just Billy McKinney’s leadoff double in the third until Lorenzo Cain's one-out single in the ninth. McKinney was promptly erased when Luke Maile lined into a double play. Wheeler faced the minimum through eight.

In a year of vanishing offense, Woodruff and Wheeler added to MLB hitters’ woes. The overall batting average was .233 coming into Thursday and pitchers have already tossed three no-hitters - including Baltimore’s John Means against Seattle a day earlier.

Wheeler got some defensive help in the fifth when catcher Andrew Knapp made a sliding catch near the visiting dugout to retire Travis Shaw on a foul out. Brewers right fielder Tyrone Taylor came right back in the bottom of the inning and chased down Herrera’s tailing flyball.

Neither performance...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Phillies-Wheeler-tosses-3-hitter-fans-8-in-2-0-16157555.php