MIAMI -- One year and one day after his own major league debut, Zack Wheeler was the veteran in a duel with debuting Miami Marlins sensation Andrew Heaney on Thursday at Marlins Park.
Wheeler produced the best game of his career in a dazzling, 111-pitch, three-hit shutout.
David Wright homered for the lone run, and Wheeler tossed his first career complete game as the Mets won the series opener 1-0.
Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY SportsZack Wheeler dominated the Marlins on Thursday.
Wheeler nearly became the first player in franchise history to face 27 batters in a nine-inning win, but he surrendered a two-out single in the ninth to Reed Johnson.
Earlier, three times Wheeler surrendered a leadoff baserunner -- on two singles and a walk. Three times that baserunner was erased with a twin killing.
Wheeler was pitching 366 days after that “Super Tuesday” doubleheader sweep in Atlanta in which Matt Harvey started the other game of the twin bill, then Wheeler tossed six scoreless innings in his debut.
Wheeler has found his most success this season against the Marlins. In three starts, he has allowed one run in 21 innings. He has a 5.05 ERA against the rest of baseball in 2014.
With Thursday’s success, Wheeler rebounded from a pair of rocky starts, during which he allowed a combined eight runs on 12 hits and five walks in 8 2/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
When Casey McGehee had a leadoff single in the second, ensuing batter Garrett Jones lined out to first baseman Eric Campbell and McGehee was doubled off. After Wheeler issued a leadoff walk in the fifth, Marcell Ozuna ultimately grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. An inning later, after Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s leadoff single, Adeiny Hechavarria grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
Wheeler’s previous career high had been seven innings, done three times last season.
After going 2-for-39 in a 12-game stretch, Wright has now put together a modest four-game hitting streak that has included a pair of long balls.
Wright’s first-inning solo homer against Heiney was the lone damage against the southpaw in his six-inning major league debut.
Thursday’s win marked the 128th 1-0 win in franchise history. The last came Sept. 25, 2013, at Cincinnati, when Daisuke Matsuzaka, Pedro Feliciano and LaTroy Hawkins combined on the feat. Earlier that month, the Mets had a 12-inning shutout against the Marlins at Citi Field started by Dillon Gee. The last complete game: a 1-0 win was tossed by R.A. Dickey against Philadelphia on Aug. 13, 2010.
Snapped: Chris Young’s seventh-inning double snapped a string of 16 straight games with an at-bat and no extra-base hit. The drought ended one shy of matching Young’s career high. The Mets failed to score that inning despite placing two in scoring position with one out.
What’s next: Matsuzaka (3-0, 2.81 ERA) opposes right-hander Henderson Alvarez (3-3, 2.56) at 7:10 p.m. Friday. Matsuzaka departed Sunday’s start after one inning with extreme stomach discomfort. He subsequently pitched an inning in relief in St. Louis.