The Houston Astros had gone 25 days without losing a game in the Major Leagues and nothing seemed to indicate that they were going to lose this Friday night during the first game of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
As early as the third inning, the sidereals were leading 5-0 thanks to the production of Kyle Tucker (four RBIs), the first player in franchise history to hit two home runs in the same Fall Classic game. To top it off, Justin Verlander dominated from the mound, who will win the Cy Young award when the season ends.
Under those circumstances (five-plus-run lead), the Astros had a perfect record of 29 wins and no losses in the postseason. As if that weren’t enough, Verlander’s teams had won 117 games with only two failures when the shooter was up on the board by five or more touchdowns.
No wonder the atmosphere at Minute Maid Park was overwhelming for the Phillies, without the spark that led them to eliminate the Cardinals, Braves and Padres. But in baseball there is nothing written, and this was verified by the almost 43 thousand fans present in the feud until the impregnable moment of the Astros, who lost again (6-5) 25 days later, precisely, against the team that will defeat on October 3.
The best
In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, the Phillies trailed the Cardinals 2-0 going into the ninth inning. With the wind against them, they manufactured six runs, won the match and then took the match against the St. Louis ninth.
In Game 4 of the ALCS, the Phillies trailed 6-4 right midway through the game against the Padres, but they rallied and went six times on the register between the fifth and seventh innings. San Diego saw their chances of tying a series that Philadelphia liquidated the next day to advance to the Fall Classic disappear.
In Game 1 of the World Series, the Phillies trailed 5-0 at the end of the first third against Houston, but managed to get the game out of the freezer and break the undefeated sidereals in the current postseason. 63% of the teams that win the first match of the Fall Classic have ended up conquering the crown. Will Rob Thomson’s boys join that club?
It is too early to take the success of Philadelphia for granted, but the reality is that they have shown marked evidence of a remarkable survival instinct during the current month of October, in which they have shown they have enough weapons to get out of ostracism and rescue lost games, at least in appearance. This Friday, they repeated the formula again and staged a very unusual comeback in the history of the playoffs of MLB.
To give you an idea, the teams that had taken a five-run lead in any postseason game had a record of 589 wins and only 18 losses. The Astros became part of the group of losers in clashes with that margin, especially due to the great reaction capacity of the Phillies, who did not believe in the noise of Minute Maid Park or in the pitches of the next Cy Young.
After their top 10 hitters were retired in a row, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm reignited the Phillies’ offense with four rockets that cut the deficit to two runs and set the table for JT Realmuto to tie the scores. actions in the next inning, hitting a double deep into left woods.
Until those moments of rebellion, Verlander had appealed more to speed than to turn to handcuff his rivals. In theory, this tactic went against the script, because the Phillies were slugging .517 against fastballs in the playoffs, but the Houston ace paid off the bet. However, from the fourth chapter he modified the plan and began to throw more breakers at decisive moments, and that cost him.
The five runs that allowed Philadelphia to tie came on three hits against Verlander’s broken pitches:
* Nick Castellanos drove in the Phillies’ first with a single to left off an 88.7-mile slider.
* Alec Bohm made it 5-3 with a double to left off an 82-mile curve.
* JT Realmuto tied the game with a two-run double against an 81-mile curve.
In the end, the Phillies gave a great demonstration of how to make adjustments on the fly and produce against pitches that hadn’t been their favorites during the postseason.
Worst
Justin Verlander had a special date this Friday night, when he became the second pitcher in history with World Series starts in three different decades, matching the feat of Roger Clemens. But apart from this detail, what really went through the head of the Houston ace was getting his first victory in the Fall Classic after several disastrous starts.
At first, it seemed that Verlander was going to scare away the ghosts after completing three perfect innings, in which he retired nine batters in a row, four of them via strikes. But between the fourth and fifth innings, the illusion fell apart at Minute Maid Park, which saw how its main pitching figure was mercilessly punished by an offense that has found a way to survive time and time again in this postseason. .
Fourteen Phillies batters went through the batter’s box in those two chapters, six connected hits, two reached base on walks and five went through the register to even the duel against a confused and very vulnerable Verlander when he decided to bet on his breaking shipments.
The outcome could not have been worse. Verlander proved, once again, that he transforms into a mere mortal when the World Series posters appear on screen. To such a point has his decline come at this point that he is the highest-ERA pitcher in the Fall Classic among all shooters who have completed at least 30 innings.
The Astros’ rotation leader has a dismal 6.07 ERA in 43 innings of work, surpassing Carl Erskine (5.83), Don Sutton (5.26), Gary Nolan (4.96) and Al Leiter (4.59).
The key
The Phillies’ bullpen gave their fans a lot of headaches during the regular season, but in the playoffs they have known how to get the important outs to seal relevant performances from their starters. This Friday, they faced a more demanding test, as they had to get into action early after a bad start from their ace, Aaron Nola.
From the fifth episode, Philadelphia entrusted itself to its firefighters and the experience could not have turned out better. José Alvarado, Zach Eflin, Ranger Suárez, Seranthony Domínguez and Davis Robertson combined to finish 5.2 scoreless innings, at the rate of four hits, seven strikeouts and only two walks.
Now the Phillies relievers have an ERA of 2.81 and 60 retired by way of strikes in 48 innings of work, with an average of batters on base per inning (WHIP) of 1.10. In addition, rivals are hitting .209 against them and have recorded six wins without losses, the second-best balance of a bullpen in the postseason during the last decade, only surpassed by the 2015 Royals (8-0).
The hero
In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, the game tied at five runs and José Altuve at second base for the Astros, Dominican rookie Jeremy Peña hit a short fly ball to right that was about to define the actions. Unfortunately for the Houston quarters, Cuban-American Nick Castellanos made a great move and got a saving link.
The Phillies right fielder could well be hailed as the hero of the game for that play and for driving in his team’s first run when they were dominated by Justin Verlander. However, it is impossible not to consider catcher JT Realmuto for the award, who drove in three runs and hit the decisive shot of the game.
The mask matched the actions in the fifth episode with a two-run double, and in the tenth he dressed long again by dispatching a homer that put definitive figures on the board. In this way, Realmuto became the fourth catcher in history to hit a home run in extra innings of a World Series game.
Previously only Hank Gowdy (1914), Tim McCarver (1964) and Carlton Fisk (1975) had achieved it. Of those three, only Fisk did not end up celebrating the World Series title.
the villain
I understand a lot of people here are going to go with Justin Verlander after blowing a five-race lead. If that is his choice, no one can question it. In my case, I hang the poster on the Venezuelan Luis García, who entered fresh in the tenth inning to keep the duel even and made a fatal error against JT Realmuto.
On a three-ball, two-strike count, and after working mostly with cutters to the catcher, Garcia went for the fastball to finish him off, a fatal mistake considering the Phillies had hit 12 of their 16 homers on fastballs this postseason.
Garcia paid dearly for his bet, because Realmuto made a consistent swing and sent a line drive into the stands in right field. The hit put Philadelphia ahead in the tenth inning and buried the Astros.
The controversy
According to the famous “little books” of baseball, when you are visiting and you have the potential losing run at second base and first base unoccupied, you must intentionally walk the batter in turn to seek the force out. That’s where the Phillies found themselves this Friday, but manager Rob Thomson didn’t walk anyone.
In the bottom of the tenth, after a double by Alex Bregman, a walk to Yulieski Gurriel and a wild pitch, the Astros placed runners on second and third, with two out. At bat was the Cuban Aledmys Díaz, who was not transferred to seek the forced out at any pad.
Diaz had a .773 OPS and 83 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two outs in his career, apparently unimpressive to the Philadelphia brass, who challenged him and hit the jackpot. The West Indian grounded to third base and gave up the last out of the game.
“A bad move that went well for him”, considered some users on social networks, where the debate immediately spread about the way Rob Thomson acted, who once again proved to be a daring and risky helmsman.
And speaking of managers, Dusty Baker was also under scrutiny for taking Justin Verlander too long on the mound. In the opinion of many fans, the veteran mentor should have used his deep bullpen earlier when his starter began to struggle, especially considering Verlander’s World Series record.
Baker downplayed that decision at the end of the game, but the truth is that it cost him dearly to bet on his ace and let the relievers in after the fifth. It is worth noting at this point that the last two teams to blow a five-run lead in a World Series game are the Astros (Game 1 of 2022 against the Phillies) and the Giants (Game 6 of 2002 against the Angels). The losing manager in both cases has been Dusty Baker…
