Zack Wheeler Reaches Impressive Career Milestone Against Brewers

He was dominant early on, striking out the first seven Brewers batters that he faced. When he struck out Brice Turang to end the first inning, he reached the 2,000-strikeout plateau, becoming only the 96th pitcher in MLB history to reach that mark.

"Just being where I am now, it's pretty special," Wheeler said of the career milestone, according to MLB.com. "It's a huge thank you to all the catchers that I've had along the way that helped me get here, the coaches and the guys that played behind me. It means a lot to me, and I really appreciate everybody's effort around it."

The record for most consecutive strikeouts to start a game is nine, which Pablo Lopez holds. Wheeler fell two short of that, with his streak coming to an end when Cooper Pratt grounded out to third base for the second out in the third inning.

The veteran righty did make franchise history with his torrid start. Since 1900, no Philadelphia pitcher has started a game with at least seven strikeouts. His teammate, Aaron Nola, is in a tie for the record for most consecutive strikeouts at any point in a game with 10.

"I didn't know what to expect coming out," Wheeler said. "Just one of those days for me."

It wasn’t very long ago that Wheeler was mired in one of the worst stretches of his career, struggling to locate his arsenal and walking a lot of batters. A mechanical issue has been ironed out since, and he is back to the dominant force he was previously.

That is great news for the Phillies heading down the stretch, with a postseason berth nearly clinched. Wheeler is going to be counted on to help carry the team, along with Cristopher Sanchez, given the injury to Jesus Luzardo and the uncertainty surrounding so many arms in the bullpen.

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