Phillies-Padres NLCS: Aces, taters and other thoughts from a big Game 1 win
Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and power bats are proving to be the formula to carry the Phillies deep in the playoffs.
SAN DIEGO — Taters and aces. Big swingers and filthy slingers. Sluggers and stuff. There are lots of different formulas for winning in October, but there is only one cheat code.
Step 1: Build yourself a lineup with a bunch of guys who can manufacture a run with one swing of the bat.
Step 2: Find yourself a starting pitcher who can hang a zero on the scoreboard all by himself.
Step 3: Find yourself another one of those pitchers.
Do all of these things, and it does not matter who your opponent is. It does not matter what the rest of your roster looks like, or how good it is at any of the other aspects of baseball that contribute to winning. In a best-of-seven series, you are going to have a chance.
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It is a philosophy whose enduring truth has been evident all postseason, but never more so than in the Phillies’ 2-0 victory over the Padres in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night. A couple of home runs from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, seven scoreless innings from Zack Wheeler, and suddenly the World Series is three wins away.
Five thoughts from Game 1:
The combination of Wheeler and Aaron Nola was always the biggest reason to believe that the Phillies would have a chance to make some noise if they just made it to the postseason. It was as true last year as it was this year. This year, they made it. And now we’re seeing just how thoroughly a couple of aces can tilt the balance of a series all by themselves. Wheeler was masterful yet again in Game 1, limiting the Padres to just two base runners while striking out eight. In three postseason starts, he has allowed 12 base runners and three runs in 19⅓ innings. Now, he’ll turn the mound over to Nola, who has allowed a single unearned run in 19⅓ innings over his last three starts, two of them this postseason. The duo is in line to pitch three of the series’ final six games.
You knew that Schwarber was going to make his presence felt at some point. He entered Game 1 with just one hit in 20 postseason at bats. The slump ended in the loudest imaginable fashion, with a solo home run in the sixth inning to the second deck of Petco Park, the longest home run ever hit there. Clocking in at 488 feet, it was the second-longest home run of the season not hit at Coors Field.
After Harper gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with an opposite-field solo home run in the fourth inning, this was his batting line in his last 24 postseason plate appearances: 11-for-22, four home runs, three doubles, one walk. It was his third straight postseason game with a home run, all three of them Phillies wins.
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Why did Rob Thomson take Wheeler out with his pitch count at 83 and the Padres having mustered a mere two base runners in seven scoreless innings? Wheeler was operating on an extra day of rest after throwing just 79 pitches in Game 2 of the NLDS. It’s a question the manager will surely be asked postgame. For now, all we can say is that it made things far more interesting than they seemed like they would be as Wheeler left the mound after seven. Seranthony Domínguez shut down the eighth inning, but Jose Alvarado walked Jurickson Profar with one out in the ninth, which was followed by an Alec Bohm throwing error on a potential game-ending double play ball. With men on first and second and one out, Manny Machado flied out and Josh Bell struck out to end the game.
After a nine-pitch at bat by Machado in the first inning, it didn’t look like Wheeler would be in position to get anywhere close to the eighth inning. But after finishing the first frame with 24 pitches, Wheeler needed just 13 to get through the next two innings, including a five-pitch third inning. A huge stretch. Game-changing.
Since their remarkable ninth-inning rally to beat the Cardinals in Game 1 of the wild-card series, the Phillies have trailed for just three of the next 54 innings and have held a lead in 35 of those innings. In their five wins, the Phillies have scored 15 runs in the first three innings.