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HOUSTON — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler was surprised he was pulled in a critical moment in the sixth inning of his team’s World Series-ending 4-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday.
“It caught me off guard a little bit,” Wheeler said after the Astros clinched the title. “It’s win or go home right there. That’s a tough pill to swallow. It’s ultimately Top’s [manager Rob Thomson] call and that’s the call he made.”
The Phillies were leading 1-0 at the time, but Houston put runners on first and third with one out after shortstop Jeremy Pena bounced a single up the middle.
Wheeler was throwing arguably his best game of the postseason and had thrown only 70 pitches. His last two registered at 96 and 97 mph.
But Thomson replaced him with left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado, who promptly gave up a 450-foot home run to Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez, who bats from the left side. Houston never relinquished the lead.
“I thought Wheels still had really good stuff,” Thomson said, referring to Wheeler and the decision to pull him. “It wasn’t about that. I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Alvarez at that time.”
During the regular season, Alvarez was equally dangerous against lefties as he was righties, striking out and hitting into double plays at about the same rate.
Said Wheeler: “It was tough. Obviously, I wanted to be out there and make the pitches. That type of stuff is going to happen. Just probably not the game for it to happen in.
Alvarez’s homer came on a 2-1 fastball, which registered at 98 mph, and was launched to straight away center field, igniting the home crowd and propelling the Astros to the World Series title.
“That pitch?” Alvarado said. “Nothing moving. It didn’t move. If it moved, he had no chance.
“When he hit the ball, the sound [off the bat] says, ‘OK, that’s gone.'”
The decision to go to Alvarado in the middle innings was one Thomson used throughout the postseason. Despite Wheeler’s surprise, his teammates saw it…
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Source : espn
