he Philadelphia Phillies used the long ball —five of them to be exact— en route to a 7-0 shellacking of the Houston Astros in World Series Game 3. The win gives the Fightin’s a 2-1 series lead and puts them two wins away from a World Championship.
Bryce Harper got the party started for the Phillies in the bottom of the 1st inning depositing a Lance McCullers Jr., pitch deep into the right field seats for a 2-run home run. From there the hit parade was on.
The Phillies added home runs from Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber, and Rhys Hoskins off of the hapless McCullers to extend the Fightin’s lead to 7-0. It was too late for Houston by the time Astros manager Dusty Baker realized McCullers was tipping his pitches.
The Phils pitching was exceptional.
Starter Ranger Suarez gave the Phillies 5-scoreless innings allowing three hits and walking one. Phillies manager Rob Thomson pulled Suarez after 76-pitches potentially making the lefty available later in the series.
Connor Brogdon, Kyle Gibson, Nick Nelson, and Andrew Bellatti pitched four shutout innings in relief. The quartet kept Houston off-balance allowing two hits and drawing two walks.
The Phillies will send Aaron Nola to the mound on Wednesday night looking to take a commanding 3-1 World Series lead. Houston will counter with Christian Javier. First pitch is set for 8:03 PM/Eastern.
