Zack Wheeler Reveals He Slept Through the Mets' Choke Against Nationals
By Michael Luciano
New York Mets starter Zack Wheeler had the right idea. Why watch the Mets inevitably blow another lead when you can get an extra hour of sleep and worry about it in the morning?
Before the Mets blew a six-run lead in the ninth inning and lost 11-10 to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, Wheeler left Nationals Park and went to bed early to prepare for his start on Wednesday. Unfortunately, he only found out about the calamity authored by Paul Sewald, Luis Avilan, and, principally, Edwin Diaz the morning after.
Zack Wheeler said he left the park and went to bed early last night, so he didn’t find out about the Mets’ walk-off loss until this morning from Twitter.
— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) September 4, 2019
As a Mets starter, Wheeler has seen plenty a lead blown by this shambolic bullpen. He was strangely prophetic in that way.
While leaving the team early and going to bed is normally a bummer for a starting pitcher, it might have helped Wheeler out in a major way, as he fired five innings of one-run ball in his start Wednesday against the Nationals.
Zack Wheeler threw 58 pitches in his first two innings today, and 43 in the three innings that followed. He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 4, 2019
Wheeler's line:
5 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 101 pitches.
Mets 6, Nationals 1, top sixth.
In not even one full year, Edwin Diaz has gone from arguably the best closer in baseball to so bad that his own teammates can't even stand to watch him pitch.