Zack Wheeler gets a ‘pretty cool’ chance to pitch the Phillies into the World Series at home

After what the Phillies did the past two games, it’s difficult to imagine them being set up any better than they will be with Wheeler in Game 5.

Zack Wheeler can pitch the Phillies into the World Series with a win in Game 5 on Sunday.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Oct. 23, 2022, 1:49 a.m. ET

Zack Wheeler couldn’t lie. He chewed on this scenario, rolled it around his brain, and imagined what it may look, sound, and feel like to take the ball and scale the mound with a chance to pitch the Phillies into the World Series.

“Yeah, I have thought about it a little bit,” he said. “That would be pretty cool.”

Wheeler didn’t wait until after Saturday night’s instant classic, 10-6 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series to make that admission. And it certainly didn’t come to him in the first inning when lefty Bailey Falter dropped the Phillies down a 4-0 hole or in the fifth when they trailed 6-4.

It dawned on Wheeler a few days ago. The Phillies got home Thursday after splitting the series’ first two games in San Diego. He wasn’t scheduled to pitch again until Game 5 on Sunday. If they could somehow win Friday and Saturday nights, if they could harness the energy from the ear-splitting crowd noise at raucous Citizens Bank Park, they could get to Wheeler with a chance to wrap up the series.

Wouldn’t that be something?

Well ...

“That’s the situation you want,” J.T. Realmuto said. “We have a chance to clinch at home with our co-ace on the mound. I mean, there’s not much more you can ask for there. He’s been huge for us all postseason long. We’ve just got to go out and put together good at-bats off [Padres starter Yu] Darvish and hopefully get him some runs early.”

It’s far from a layup. Darvish is undeniably tough. He won 16 games in the regular season and a pair of starts against the 101-win New York Mets and 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers in the wild-card and divisional rounds, respectively. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he went seven innings and held the Phillies to two runs on three hits, two of which happened to be decisive home runs by Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

The Padres have to fly home anyway. Surely they would like to force the Phillies to follow their jet stream across the country and play a Game 6 on fumes Monday night.

But after what the Phillies did these last two nights, after the way that they won games that were started by neither Wheeler nor Aaron Nola, it’s difficult to imagine them being set up any better than they will be when Wheeler takes the mound at 2:37 p.m. Sunday.

In Game 3, manager Rob Thomson was ultra-aggressive with his bullpen. He pulled starter Ranger Suárez after five innings with a 3-2 lead and went to his three circle-of-trust relievers: Zach Eflin for three outs, José Alvarado for three outs, and Seranthony Domínguez for the Phillies’ first six-out save since Tug McGraw in Game 6 of the 1980 World Series.

Then, in Game 4, Thomson went with Falter over Noah Syndergaard against the lefty-leaning Padres lineup. It backfired. Falter gave up four runs and recorded only two outs. But the Phillies got 22 outs from the underbelly of the bullpen — Connor Brogdon, Andrew Bellatti, Brad Hand, Syndergaard, and David Robertson — and a total of 10 runs, four homers, and nine RBIs from Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper, and Nick Castellanos, who combined to go 9-for-18.

From a pitching standpoint, Brogdon was central to the whole thing. He recorded the final out of the first inning, then retired the side in the second. Thomson asked if he felt strong enough to go back out for the third inning.

“He said, ‘Yeah, I want it,’” Thomson said. “We ran him out and he pitched great. He really saved us tonight.”

Brogdon matched his career-high with 2⅓ innings. Robertson, back from a strained calf that sidelined him in the divisional series, went 1⅔ innings, his longest appearance since Sept. 4, to set up Eflin for the ninth inning.

And in the end, it worked out for Thomson, as it almost always has during this improbable October ride.

“I’ve had so much good fortune,” Thomson said. “I make sure that I don’t get hit by a bus when I cross the street.”

Not only did the Phillies complete the biggest comeback in their postseason history. They did it without using Alvarado or Domínguez, who will be rested and presumably available to come in behind Wheeler.

“It’s awesome,” Brogdon said. “I think we’ll get it done. It’ll be an exciting day.”

The Phillies couldn’t be more confident behind Wheeler. Even though he missed five starts late in the season with elbow inflammation. Even though he has topped 83 pitches only once in six starts (three in the regular season, three in the playoffs) since his return.

If Game 1 was an indication, Wheeler is all the way back. He blanked the Padres and held them to one hit in seven innings, marking the first time he got through the seventh since Aug. 3. In three postseason starts, he has allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks while racking up 17 strikeouts in 19⅓ innings.

“It’s just attacking the hitters, doing the same thing that you’ve always done,” Wheeler said. “It’s just on a bigger stage and a lot more people watching.”

Wheeler will experience another first in Game 5: His first start at home, where ears tend to ring because of the noise generated by sold-out crowds of nearly 46,000 and sustained from the ceremonial first pitch by a member of the 2008 World Series champions (Jayson Werth is on tap Sunday) through the final out. Another packed house is expected for Game 5.

“It’s pretty loud, it’s pretty consistent,” Wheeler said. “Maybe other ballparks aren’t that consistent. But they’re pretty consistent here throughout the game. They’re just hungry, man. They’ve been waiting for playoff baseball. It’s an awesome sports town, and it’s a lot of fun to play in front of.”

By dinnertime Sunday, Wheeler can kick the party into another gear.

Just like he has been thinking about for the last few days.