The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 6-5 in extra innings to take World Series Game 1 and hand Houston their first postseason loss.
Oh by the way, the Phillies trailed 5-0 after the 3rd and they were facing Justin Verlander who was perfect to that point.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola scuffled through 4.1 innings allowing 5-earned run, four off of the bat of Houston’s Kyle Tucker.
Tucker hit a solo homered in the 2nd to open the scoring. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado added an RBI single to make it 2-0 ‘Stros. Tucker added a monster 3-run homer in the 3rd to make it 5-0 Houston.
The Phillies, as they’ve done all postseason, began to chip away.
The Phils started the 4th with singles from Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper to get their first two base runners against Verlander. Nick Castellanos got the Phillies on the board with an RBI single scoring Hoskins. Alec Bohm followed with a 2-RBI double to make it 5-3.
The Phillies continued and completed their comeback in the 5th. Brandon Marsh led off the inning with a double and Kyle Schwarber walked to set the table for J.T. Realmuto. The best catcher in baseball ripped a double off the left-center field wall to tie the game 5-5.
From there it became a battle of attrition between the two bullpens.
The Phillies threatened in the 7th loading the bases. In the end, former Phillies closer Hector Neris struck out Castellanos to end the threat.
Houston had their opportunity to win it in the bottom of the 9th. Jose Altuve hit a single to no man’s land in center field and immediately stole second. With the winning run in scoring position, Nick Castellanos duplicated his catch from earlier in the postseason to save the ball game.
The Phillies capitalized immediately. Realmuto led off the 10th with a home run to the right field seats to give the Phillies a 6-5 lead.
Rob Thomson called on David Roberson to close the game. Robertson did his best Mitch Williams impression against the Astros 3-4-5 hitters.
Robertson got Yordan Alvarez swinging for the first out. Alex Bregman hit a double off the Crawford boxes in left field to put the tying run in scoring position. Robertson was able to get out two striking out Tucker. Yuli Gurriel walked and Robertson uncorked a wild pitch to put the winning run at second. The light hitting Aledmys Diaz grounded to Edmundo Sosa to complete the Phillies comeback.
The Phillies will look to take a 2-0 lead on Saturday night when they send Zack Wheeler to the mound. Houston will counter with Framber Valdez. First pitch is set for 8:03 PM/Eastern.
