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As Philadelphia Phillies star Zack Wheeler threw a near-perfect game on Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds in the 3-1 win, it garnered the response of manager Rob Thomson after the outing. With the Phillies pitcher in Wheeler coming off an impressive month, the excellence has bled over to July, throwing a complete game.
It would end up being Wheeler's first complete game since 2021, where he only allowed one single hit and one run which was a home run by Austin Hayes in the fifth inning. He would rack up 12 strikeouts in nine innings, where a media member asked Thomson if that's as good as he's seen Wheeler pitch, leading to an answer without hesitation, according to Luke Arcaini.
“Yes,” Thomson said. “After the fourth [inning], I thought, ‘This has a chance to be a no-hitter or a perfect game.'”
Rob Thomson said today was the best he’s ever seen Zack Wheeler pitch.
He noted that Wheeler said even if he didn’t feel great after the 9th, he would’ve lied to Rob because he wanted to finish the game so bad😂 pic.twitter.com/svl25HP4qv
— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) July 6, 2025
Wheeler ended up throwing 108 pitches in the contest, where Thomson said that he felt comfortable with the 35-year-old reaching 115 pitches, calling his performance “dominant,” per ESPN.
“He was just dominant,” Thomson said. “He had everything working — control, command. Everything was just great.”
Outing from Zack Wheeler has not been seen in the Phillies in 125 years
While the Phillies star in Wheeler reached 1,000 strikeouts in his career this season, it will no doubt keep rising as he's been exceptional this season, having a 2.17 ERA to go along with 148 punch out (third in MLB) and a 9-3 record. Looking specifically at Sunday's game, his performance for Philadelphia was historic.
So much so that a pitcher for the Phillies hasn't had 12 or more strikeouts, zero walks, and one or no hits in a game in the last 125 years, according to Sarah Langs. In fact, with Wheeler being 35 years old, the only other pitchers older to have such a stat line are Randy Johnson and R.A. Dickey.
Zack Wheeler is the first Phillies pitcher with 12+ strikeouts, 0 walks & 1 or 0 hits allowed in a game in at least the last 125 seasons
Wheeler is 35y & 37d old
Only pitchers to do this at an older age in span: Randy Johnson, R.A. Dickey https://t.co/ZGDcETKrdz
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 6, 2025
At any rate, the win brings Philadelphia to a 53-37 record, which puts them first in the NL East division, as next up for the team is a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants that starts on Monday.
