Zelous Wheeler hit the ball so hard it might've landed somewhere in Fukuoka. Which is convenient, since he'll be able to stop by and pick it up on his way to the final stage of the Pacific League Climax Series.
Wheeler gave the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles the lead early and padded it late with a monster home run in the eighth inning, after his team's bullpen had defanged the Seibu Lions' offense, and the Eagles pulled off an upset in the first stage of the Climax Series with a clinching 5-2 win in Game 3 on Monday night at MetLife Dome in front of a crowd of 31,755.
"It's a good feeling today," Wheeler said. "This is a great group of guys. We're on to the next series."