Shohei Battles Wheeler for a Gutsy 3-Hit Night

Man, the view was just DIFFERENT from the first inning today

Their starter Wheeler, that monster who throws 96 mph — honestly I was dreading this matchup. But then, first inning, boom, it's Freeman! A beautiful arc down the left field line, 97.1 mph off the bat for 365 feet. I straight up screamed "THERE IT IS!" Then in the 2nd, Muncy crushes one to right-center. Exit velo 104.5 mph at a 40° launch angle — that's the perfect carry angle, no doubt about it. That's a no-doubter you don't even turn around to watch.

And now the main man, Shohei, SHOHEI

First at-bat, gotta be honest, that one stung. He battled Wheeler's 96 mph and fought it off, but went down swinging on a curveball at the end. But he fouled off a bunch of fastballs and grinded — it wasn't a bad at-bat at all. "Next one, next one!" I'm thinking, and then…

Bottom of the 3rd, HERE IT COMES! He absolutely squared up Wheeler's splitter and lofted it down the right field line — a 99.9 mph, 374-foot bomb! He paid back that first at-bat with interest, every penny of it. THIS is it, THIS is Shohei's explosiveness right here. I spit out my beer in front of the TV, I swear to God.

And today's Shohei wasn't done there. In the 5th, he grinded a full count out to 7, 8 pitches and lined a single to center, and in the 8th he stayed alive with a 97.1 mph grounder up the middle — ending the night on base in three straight at-bats for a 3-hit game. Doing that against Wheeler? That's just flat-out perfect.

A Smith insurance shot to make things comfy

In the 5th, Smith launched one to right-center, 104.6 mph for 388 feet, making it 4-0. Honestly at that point I was already feeling like "yeah, we got this one today."

The late innings got a little hairy, though

In the 6th, Schwarber tagged a giant one to center — 104.8 mph, 411 feet, that one's unavoidable, the guy's a monster. Then in the 8th, Bellaria roped a timely to pull it to 4-2, and I let out a "come on, gimme a break here!" But they slammed the door shut in the end.

Ah, a win's a win! A slugfest with 4 HRs — this kind of baseball feels great too. Shohei's 3 hits really came through. Keep it rolling tomorrow, fellas!