Phillies 5, Diamondbacks 3
NLCS Game 1 - Monday Night, October 16th in Philadelphia
Phillies lead series, 1-0
One Sentence Summary: The Phillies held on to an early lead, riding another strong outing from Zack Wheeler and three big home runs to this 5-3 win.
What It Means: Game 2 is tonight, and the Phillies will try to make it 2-0 before the best-of-seven series moves to Phoenix for Game 3 on Thursday.
What Happened: Kyle Schwarber lined the first pitch he saw from Diamondbacks' starter Zac Gallen into the right field bleachers, giving the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. It was 2-0 Phillies after Bryce Harper followed with his fourth home run of the season, symbolically blowing out his birthday candles as he crossed home plate. In the second, Nick Castellanos launched a solo home run, becoming only the second player with five home runs in three straight postseason games since Reggie Jackson (!) did it with the Yankees in 1977.
What Happened: Kyle Schwarber lined the first pitch he saw from Diamondbacks' starter Zac Gallen into the right field bleachers, giving the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. It was 2-0 Phillies after Bryce Harper followed with his fourth home run of the season, symbolically blowing out his birthday candles as he crossed home plate. In the second, Nick Castellanos launched a solo home run, becoming only the second player with five home runs in three straight postseason games since Reggie Jackson (!) did it with the Yankees in 1977.
In the third, Trea Turner doubled to center and came home on Harper's RBI single. And in the fifth, Harper walked to lead off the inning, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a J.T. Realmuto line single to left. It was 5-0 Phillies at that point, and fortunately those were the only runs needed. There were plenty of other opportunities to score, with the Phillies leaving seven runners on base and going 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Wheeler continued his postseason dominance, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and striking out eight in his six innings. The two runs allowed came on a sixth inning two-run homer from Diamondbacks' nine-hole hitter Geraldo Perdomo. An unearned run scored in the seventh after Seranthony Dominguez threw away a dead double play ball, throwing wide of second base and into center field. Jose Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel recorded the final seven outs of the game to give the Phillies the important Game 1 win.
Featured Card: Harper blowing out his candles would have been cool, but I opted to go with Schwarber's home run for the card as that set the tone for the rest of the game.
Featured Card: Harper blowing out his candles would have been cool, but I opted to go with Schwarber's home run for the card as that set the tone for the rest of the game.
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Field Report: Doug and I watched this game from a crowded Section 315. We were a little worried about the vibes pregame. Last year, the deeper the Phillies went into the postseason, the crowds seemed to evolve. The further they got, the less diehard Phillies fans were in attendance, as ticket prices just got too high. Our worries were alleviated though following Schwarber's first pitch home run, and I was happy that most of our section stood throughout the game. We can sit in November.
Before the game, we visited the postseason merchandise trailer outside the ballpark, with Doug picking up a t-shirt, a program and an NLCS ball. We visited the Phillies Kids Club kiosk, where "Ben" picked up an NLCS card and an awesome NLCS pennant, that will find some wall space soon in the actual Phillies Room. Bull's BBQ was the meal of choice before we made our way up to our seats.
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