'Finish strong': Wheeler dials in for final push

MILWAUKEE -- This past weekend, the Phillies made a minor adjustment to the rotation that could have a major impact on their postseason chances.

They moved Zack Wheeler’s 28th start of the season from Sunday in Miami to Monday in Milwaukee. The change did a couple of things. First, it gave Wheeler two extra days of rest as he approaches 200 innings for the first time in his career. Second, it lined him up to face the Braves in a potentially pivotal series at the end of the month in Atlanta, and it set him up to start the final game of the season in Miami, which could be the Phillies’ most important game since Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series.

“That’s obviously the goal, right?” Wheeler said after pitching six scoreless innings in Monday’s 12-0 victory over the Brewers at American Family Field. “Pitch in the playoffs and go far in the playoffs. That’s the goal every Spring Training: win the World Series. I’ve never pitched in the playoffs. With the crowd, the intensity and all that stuff, I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we can get there and that’s going to be big.”

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Monday could not have worked out better for the Phillies (71-66) in that regard. They not only moved within 1 1/2 games of the Braves (72-64) in the NL East with 25 games to play, but they got Wheeler back on track and saved some bullets in the process.

“I have a lot of innings, especially after not doing too much last year,” Wheeler said. “We’re trying to be smart about it. The performance kind of showed that I was getting a little tired, fatigued, whatever you want to call it. Just that one extra day or two definitely helps. That’s the goal, right? Finish strong. Especially where we’re at. Just finish strong and hopefully we can make that playoff push.”

Wheeler is a NL Cy Young Award candidate, but he was 1-3 with a 6.41 ERA in four starts since he tossed a shutout against the Mets on Aug. 8. He did not pitch terribly in that stretch. But he did not look sharp, either.

"We looked at them actually,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said about Wheeler’s past few starts. “He hasn't been loud. He has given up runs, but he's pitched pretty well, frankly. I was hopeful there was something else there, but he's been pitching pretty well. Just giving up some runs."

But there was something to the struggles, which is why Phillies manager Joe Girardi wants to keep Wheeler below 100 pitches in the short term. Wheeler allowed just five hits and struck out nine in six innings in the series opener. Girardi pulled him after 99 pitches.

“Oh, I think I probably could have sent him out there if I really, really needed to,” Girardi said about the seventh inning. “But, again, you have to look at this start and you have to look at the next start and the next start after that. And that's what we're trying to take care of. I could have pushed him to maybe 115 today. I didn't want to. But then his next start might be not so good.”

“I think it’s a smart move what we’re doing here,” Wheeler said. “Just trying to dial it back a little bit and try to stay fresh, continue to do well.”

Wheeler tossed a shutout against the Brewers on May 6 at Citizens Bank Park. In 15 scoreless innings against them this season, he has allowed eight hits and has struck out 17. It is noteworthy because if the Phillies catch the Braves and win the NL East, they almost certainly will play the Brewers in the NLDS.

The Brewers are 0-5 against the Phillies this season. The Phils hit six homers on Monday. Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer against Brandon Woodruff in the first to make it 2-0. Jean Segura hit a grand slam in the eighth. Brad Miller homered twice. Andrew McCutchen and Freddy Galvis each homered once.

"That's a really good lineup,” Woodruff said. “They've got a lot of guys who can take you out, like they did today. I think you just have to really make pitches from Pitch One. Kind of like San Francisco in a way. Any time you face good Major League lineups and make mistakes, they make you pay for them. That's what they did today."

The offensive barrage was nice, but it was bigger to see Wheeler do well. The Phils need him.

“We need his ‘A’ stuff every time he goes out,” Girardi said. “And that's not easy for any pitcher, right? But we're doing everything we can to give him an opportunity to do that.”