The Philadelphia Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series behind the arm of ace Zack Wheeler, the continued hot bat of Nick Castellano, a homer from birthday boy Bryce Harper and a Schwarbomb.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
Photo: Webster Riddick
Armed with a raucous sellout crowd of 45,396 towel-waving fans at Citizens Bank Park, their ability to knock the ball out of the park and the right arm of Zack Wheeler, the Philadelphia Phillies took Game 1 of the National League Championship Series with a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Bryce Harper set the tone with a couple of homers that sent the crowd into a frenzy and stole whatever momentum the Diamondbacks had from sweeping both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.
For Schwarber, who bypassed former Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter to have the most leadoff home runs in the postseason with his bomb last night, it was good to get things going for his team against Arizona starting pitcher Zac Gallen. Especially since he hadn’t gone yard in either the Wild Card or Division series rounds.
Leading off the game with a homer never gets old, he said.
“It’s a fun thing when you’re walking up to the plate and the next thing you know 46,000 people are getting on their feet and [are] ready to rock and roll,” Schwarber said. “You’re looking to set a tone. If it’s a home run, walk or a single. Whatever it is, I’m trying to get on base for these guys behind me. It’s a really special thing. These are things I’m not going to forget whenever I’m done playing. Just walking to the plate in these playoff games and hearing these crowds roar.”
The crowd at Citizen’s Bank Park got even louder when Harper, who was celebrating his 31st birthday last night, used his fingers to simulate blowing the candles out of a birthday cake.
“It’s crazy, sometimes I just do stuff. That felt right. I just thought about it as I was running around third base,” Harper said. “It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. Being 1-0 in a series is huge … That’s a good team over there. They’re not going to lay down.”
Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos added around round-tripper for his fifth home run in his last two postseason games. The Phillies also got RBIs from Harper and catcher J.T. Realmuto.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. Our guys have really played well, and we’re getting great at-bats from Castellanos — Casty and Harper the entire playoffs,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “It was nice to see Schwarber break out today. Trea [Turner, Phillies shortstop] has been swinging the bat great.”
On the mound, Wheeler turned yet another solid effort on the mound for the Phillies in Game 1. He struck out eight, allowed no walks, and kept the Diamondbacks off balance during his six innings on the mound. He said the key to his performance was effectively using his fastball to go along with his off-speed pitches.
“He steps up. His stuff was really good tonight, especially early in the game. I thought he started losing a little bit in the fifth and sixth inning, but he was dynamite early,” Thomson said. “It’s command. It’s stuff. It’s power. It’s competitive nature. It’s everything. He is complete.”
“My fastball was good. It had a good life. I could command it how I wanted to,” said Wheeler, who has a post-season earned run average of 2.37 and has yet to lose in the 2023 postseason. “The off-speed pitches that I did throw were good quality pitches. I was able to move it around for the most part and keep them off balance.”
The only blemish on Wheeler’s night was the two-run homer he gave up to Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in the top of the sixth inning. The Phillies relievers did a good job of keeping the Arizona hitters for the remainder of the game.
In the three postseason games this year, Wheeler has 26 strikeouts to just one walk. In nine career postseason starts, he has the lowest percentage of walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) at 0.70. It’s the best in postseason history.
Tonight, the Phillies will send right-hander Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.46 ERA) to the mound against Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly, who had a 12-8 record and an ERA of 3.19 and a WHIP 1.19. He has a 1-1 record against the Phillies this year with an ERA of 2.75 and 16 strikeouts against the Phillies. You can catch the game on TBS beginning at 8 p.m. You can also catch the game on 94.1 WIP and on the Max app.
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