Prior to the Philadelphia Phillies game on Sunday they honored the great Roy Halladay by retiring his number 34. On this special day Phillies ace Zach Wheeler channeled his inner Halladay.
Halladay pitched for the Phillies from 2010 to 2013 and was a huge contributor. In his first season with the Phillies he threw a perfect game in late May as well as a no-hitter in game one of the National League Division Series. He has one of the two playoff no-hitters in baseball history.
When Wheeler took the mound against the rival New York Mets he seemed determined to honor Halladay in the best way possible.
Wheeling and Dealing
The Phillies have taken over first place in the National League East after winning seven straight games. With Wheeler on the mound they looked to stretch the streak to eight games and sweep the Mets.
After giving up a double to the first batter of the game the tension mounted sooner than expected. Despite this unfortunate start he bounced back as well as any pitcher could ever hope for.
He went on to retire the next 22 batters before walking Michael Conforto in the top of the eighth. By the time the Mets got their second base runner the Phillies were already up 3-0. Wheeler took the dominance into the ninth where he gave up his second hit of the game, but struck out Pete Alonso to complete the sweep.
An interesting note is that Brandon Nimmo was the one who recorded both hits for the Mets. Who knows what would have been accomplished if he were not in the lineup.
His final stat line is pretty special. He threw a complete game shutout where he allowed only three baserunners and struck out 11.
Wheeler became the first Phillies pitcher to retire 22 straight batters since Halladay’s perfect game over a decade ago.
Remembering Halladay
Sadly Roy Halladay lost his life in 2017, but his legacy has lived on and will live on forever. There is never a season where his no-hitters and pure success on the mound for the Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays are not discussed by everyone who loves the game.
Roy Halladay was a special pitcher his whole career. Despite only four seasons with the Phillies those are the years that the majority of fans remember best.
For Zach Wheeler to have this kind of a performance on a day where a special player was honored only makes sense.
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