The Phillies gave what they had against the Astros in Game 5 of the World Series. Now, they need to find more.
The Game 5 loss didn't sink in until the final out. But the Phillies are heading back to Houston needing two wins in as many games.
One by one, they disappeared. The ball into the glove. The batter into the dugout. The out from the tally.
At some point, the math takes over. The scoreboard becomes a multiplication table. Twelve, nine, six — soon, all you need is fingers. It is a helpless feeling, counting them down.
That is how it ended: 45,693 fans, 26 players, 13 coaches, one manager, all engaged in the sickest form of subtraction. Twenty-seven sounds like a generous allotment until you find yourself on the wrong side of a game.
Once they reached zero, this was all that remained: a 3-2 loss in a pivotal Game 5, a 3-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series, a flight back to Houston, win or go home.
Either their magic has run out or they are setting us up for their greatest trick yet.
“We’ve faced adversity all year,” right fielder Nick Castellanos said, “so what’s a better storybook ending if we can go there and win this and Game 7?”
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What they are facing right now feels more like reality than adversity. But we’ll see. Is Zack Wheeler’s fatigue something that can be overcome? If it is, you would expect him to do so. If he does, the Phillies will have more than a fighting chance at forcing a Game 7. Is Framber Valdez’s stuff the sort of thing that a lineup can adjust to? If it is, you would expect these hitters to do so.
At the same time, there is a reason that the Astros won 106 regular season games to the Phillies’ 87, a spread larger than the one between the Phillies and the Marlins. There is a reason Houston entered this World Series without having lost a postseason game.
Just look at Game 5. The Astros had one of the greatest pitchers in history on the mound, one of the favorites to win this year’s AL Cy Young. The Phillies countered with Noah Syndergaard, hoping that he could get them through three innings.
Thing is, they almost did it. The Phillies gave what they had. Not all of it. But enough.
Maybe it doesn’t feel that way. Maybe you’ll spend your Friday morning thinking back on all of those maddening innings that ended with the Phillies just one swing away. Six runners stranded in scoring position. Tying run on third with one out in the eighth. Rhys Hoskins, J.T. Realmuto, and Bryce Harper at the plate in the ninth.
Inning after inning, the feeling was there.
Here we go. This is it.
You felt it in each of those two-out opportunities: Hoskins with the bases loaded in the second, Bryson Stott with two on in the third, Castellanos with a man on second in the fifth, Kyle Schwarber with two on in the sixth.
You felt it in the eighth inning, just like you felt it in those six straight home wins: bass pumping, towels waving, 21 acres of concrete and brick shaking beneath the weight of the moment. One out, tying run on third, Jean Segura cutting a 3-1 deficit in half, Brandon Marsh and Schwarber coming to the plate.
Surely, you felt it with one out in the ninth as Realmuto’s long fly ball arced down toward the top of the center-field wall.
“I don’t think you’d be human if you said that you aren’t frustrated,” said Schwarber, who led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run that tied the game, 1-1. “You can be. I think the biggest thing is that everyone is going to flush this out, and we’re going to have to be ready for Game 6. You can be frustrated, sure. We get an off day, get a little reboot, and then we’re going to see where this goes.”
It’s hard to count this Phillies team out, given how they’ve operated all season. Yet it’s just as hard to discount the Astros after what we saw in Game 5.
Nine times out of 10, the ball Realmuto hit in the ninth inning caroms off the wall for a double and maybe more. Somehow, Astros center fielder Chas McCormick tracked it down while maxing out his vertical and crashing into the wall. This was three innings after Trey Mancini robbed Schwarber of a game-tying hit, smothering a sharply hit ground ball down the first-base line.
“That’s the game, right?” said Harper, who reached base three times with no runs to show. “It is what it is. Nothing you can do about. Have to turn the page.”
For what felt like the first time in a month, the Phillies were not the team that made the plays. They gave what they had. It just wasn’t enough. Now, they need to find more.
Maybe Wheeler can summon the strength for one last dominant start. Maybe they can figure out Valdez.
“I don’t think anyone believes more in this group than we do,” Schwarber said, “and that’s going to be a big thing for us.”
The Phillies might not be finished. But they’re down to their last 27 outs.
» READ MORE: Close doesn’t count: Phillies’ bats are too quiet for too long in their Game 5 loss