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Kyle Wright, baseball’s winningest pitcher, threw six brilliant innings to outduel Zack Wheeler as the Atlanta Braves evened their NL Division Series at one game apiece, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 on Wednesday night.
After persistent rain delayed the first pitch by nearly three hours, Wright surrendered just two hits and claimed the win when the Braves got to Wheeler for three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
This was a game the reigning World Series champions had to have after losing the opener of the best-of-five series 7-6. They had the right guy on the mound, a right-hander with a big arm and looping curveball who has finally cashed in on his enormous potential.
Wright, a former first-round draft pick who struggled to get past Triple-A, came into this season with a record of 2-8 in the majors. He totally turned that around, going 21-5 to win three more games than any other big league pitcher.
Wright kept it going in the playoffs. His only major threat came in the second, when Bryce Harper led off with a double, then tagged and moved to third on a flyout to deep center by Nick Castellanos.
