The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 6-5 in the first dramatic game of the 2022 World Series on Friday night. The Phillies recovered from five losses and are now 1-0 in the seven-game series. JT Realmuto hit Luis Garcia’s winning homer in the 10th inning to give Houston its first loss in the 2022 playoffs.
The Astros led 5-0 after a pair of homers from Celtic. The Astros outfielder took Phillies starter Aaron Nora deep in both the second and third innings. However, the Phillies tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning against Astros ace Justin Verlander.
The score remained in the bottom of the ninth when Jose Artuf singled and stole a base to put himself in scoring position. Nick Castellanos then made an impressive sliding tackle to send the game into an extra inning. That’s when Realmuto hit a home run and the Phillies were able to get the win (though the Astros beat David Robertson in scoring position) and steal the first game on the road.
Tucker hits two home runs
Kyle Tucker hits two homers in Game 1, becoming the most since Brandon Lowe hits two for the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the 2020 Fall Classic First player to hit multiple home runs in the World Series.
Tucker’s first homer came in the second inning to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. His second 3-pointer extended Houston’s lead to 5-0 in the third:
Tucker also becomes the first left-handed hitter of the season Home run on Aaron Nora’s substitution, and the fourth player to hit a home run in the first two World Series at-bats. The top three are Gene Tenace, Andruw Jones and Pablo Sandoval, who did it recently at the 2012 world series.
Verlander makes history at the start but leads
Justin Verlander Becomes second pitcher in three years to set a World Series opening record, joined by Roger Clemens. He also shares another former Red Sox ace with Jon Lester, Started in the 12th game of his career.
Verlander played well early on, recording his 16th career playoff win. He didn’t allow the runners to pass the first three innings, and the Astros built him a five-point lead. However, things fell apart in the fourth as he allowed five of six batters to reach simultaneously, cutting the lead to 5-3.
Verlander would get another inning, but that would prove to be a mistake. Brandon Marsh led with a double, Kyle Schwarber walked away, then Alec Bohm doubled to make it 5-5. By the end of his night, Verlander had pitched five innings and had five runs with six hits and two walks.
Despite his reputation as a big pitcher, Verlander entered the night with a career 5.68 ERA in seven World Series starts. Friday’s performance boosted that number to 6.07, the highest score by any pitcher who has pitched at least 30 innings in the World Series.
Phillies eliminate five-point gap
You get the sense that the Phillies don’t realize they shouldn’t be here. They were third in the regular season and third in the regular season. The No. 6 seed in the playoffs, a seed that didn’t appear until this year. They should have lost to the Cardinals in the wild-card series or the Warriors in the NLDS. However, they are here for the World Series.
Apparently, no one told the Phillies that they should leave quietly after falling 5-0 early in Game 1. After Justin Verlander retired the first 10 batters he faced, 7 of the next 9 and 8 of the next 10 hit base. At one point, four Phillies had two outs in the fourth inning, including Nick Castellanos (RBI single) and Alec Bohm (two RBI double).
According to the inside edge, the Phillies have tied three or more hits with two outs three times in the playoffs this season after an MLB-best 27 times in the regular season. All other teams completed a total of 3 times this October.
Philadelphia officially erased a 5-0 deficit in the first half of the fifth inning. Verlander needed 36 pitches to get the first nine outs and 54 to get the last six. Until his last pitch – no. 90 on the night – Verlander misses a swing and misses a break.
Eliminating the five-game losing streak is only half the battle. The Phillies still have to find a way to push the sixth round to have a chance of winning, and they have to do that against the terrific Astros bullpen. That’s not easy.
Realmuto breaks tie for 10th
As mentioned above, Phillies receiver JT Realmuto hit the first extra inning homer in franchise history in the 10th inning to give Philly a 6-5 lead. That will be the final score. It was also the first out-of-bounds home run by a catcher in a World Series since Carlton Fisk’s 1975 blow-off.
Realmuto’s home run came from a fastball thrown by Luis Garcia:
CBS Sports notes that going into the series, Realmuto has been the Phillies’ top hitter against rising fastballs, as Garcia offers. From the above article:
During the regular season, Realmuto was the Phillies’ top hitter against fastballs with an induced vertical break of at least 18 inches — a fancy way of saying that the line from pitcher to plate is off by a foot and a half Pitching. Realmuto batted .435/.567/1.130 on these pitches, hitting three home runs, three 3-pointers and a double.
Overall, Realmuto finished the night 2-4 with a pair of extra hits and three at-bats.
Thomson managed very aggressively
Once they tied the game, Phillies head coach Rob Thomson went to his top bench almost immediately. Here’s how he used the bullpen after Aaron Nola got his first inning in the fifth:
- Ace left-hander reliever Jose Alvarado went into the left and right lanes facing Jordan Alvarez-Alex Bregman-Kyle Tucker with one out in the fifth inning. All three of Alvarado have retired.
- Starter backup Zac Evelyn then went to the bottom of the lineup with a one-out in the sixth inning. He had four outs and pitched around infield singles and walks.
- Lefties and no. No. 3 starter (probably Game 3 starter) Rangers Suarez came in with two outs in Game 7 to face Alvarez-Bregman-Tucker lane. He got his first two outs before allowing Tucker to single.
- Seranthony DomÃnguez, the Phillies’ best bench player of the year, replaced Suarez with one out in the eighth. Back then, every game was going on, so Thomson won at his best. Dominguez had five outs.
- After Realmuto’s go-ahead homer, Thomson’s best remaining reliever, David Robertson, got the 10th inning. He ran aground runners in second and third to end the race.
Thomson used his bullpen aggressively, but also not in a way that hurt anyone’s availability in Game 2. Alvarado threw just seven pitches, Evelyn 20, Dominguez 24 and Robertson 25. Nothing is more extreme than 30-40 balls. Suarez took 11 pitches and should be able to start Game 3 on Monday with no issues. Thomson’s bullpen use is balanced – aggressive but not reckless.
Five Phillies relievers gave the Astros four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Philadelphia had a chance to steal Game 1 and gain home-court advantage on the road, and Thomson got his wish. He used his best pitcher in the most important position of the game, but it didn’t work out tomorrow, and he returned a 1-0 series lead.
Phillies end Houston’s winning streak
Going into Game 1, the Astros were a perfect 7-0 in this postseason. They swept the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, the New York Yankees in the ALCS, and then lost to the Phillies in Game 1. The seven-game winning streak at the start of the playoffs is just one shy of an all-time record. Here is the list:
- 2014 Royals: 8 Profit
- 2022 Astros: 7 Profit
- 2020 Warriors: 7 Profit
- 2007 Rocky Mountains: 7 Profit
- 2017 Dodgers: 6 Profit
- 2016 Cleveland: 6 Profit
Notably, the five non-Astros teams on the roster did not win the World Series. Bad omen? Maybe, but I’ll say this much: I’d rather win my first seven playoff games than not win. Houston’s winning streak is over, but the World Series isn’t over. They are well-positioned to beat Philadelphia four times over the next six games.
Next
Second game. Historically, the team that won the best-of-seven first game 64% of the time won the series, even though the winner of the first game has won each of the past four World Series and past 16 World Series in 19 games. Again, higher powers may be at work:
Kyle Schwaber gives U.S. free taco on stolen base in seventh inning. Anyway, the second game is Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. Left-hander Framber Valdez (17-6, 2.82 ERA) and right-hander Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA) are scheduled to start.