Bryce Harper hit a homer, Kyle Schwarber hit an extremely long drive, and Zack Wheeler did very well in pitching for seven innings without giving up a hit in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres in the first game of the National League Championship Series.
Pitcher Wheeler and two relievers only allowed one hit against the Philadelphia team. Yu Darvish and the San Diego bullpen only allowed three hits against the opposing team. There were a combined four hits in the game, which is the fewest hits ever in a postseason game.
The Phillies will attempt to take a 2-0 lead when they send Aaron Nola to the mound to oppose Blake Snell on Wednesday afternoon. Nola is set to pitch against his brother, Padres catcher Austin Nola.
The Padres beat the Dodgers in the NLDS. They had four baserunners, including a single by Wil Myers in the fifth. They had a chance to win in the ninth against José Alvarado.
After Jurickson Profar walked and Juan Soto reached base on an error, Manny Machado flew out and Alvarado struck out Josh Bell to end the game.
Harper hit a home run to the left field. This is his fourth home run in this postseason. He got injured two months ago when he was hit by a pitch from Blake Snell.
Harper hit a home run in his third consecutive postseason game. This two-time National League MVP (awarded last year) has hit nine home runs in his 26 career postseason games.
Schwarber hit Darvish’s first pitch of the sixth hard, with an exit velocity of 119.7 mph. It was the first ball to reach the right field upper deck at Petco Park, which opened in 2004. It was the farthest in his career and the farthest at Petco in the Statcast Era. The home run gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead.
The Phillies have hit eight home runs in seven games this postseason. This is the first time they have been in the playoffs since 2011 and the first time they have won the World Series since 2008.
Harper hit three homers in three straight postseason games, matching Gary Matthews (1983) as the only players in franchise history to do so in the same year.
Phillies player Rhys Hoskins hit a home run against the Braves with an epic bat spike, and J.T. Realmuto became the first catcher in postseason history to hit an inside-the-park home run.
The Phillies sometimes surprised Petco Park, where a crowd of 44,826 people was excited for the Padres’ first NLCS appearance since 1998. It was 78 degrees at the start of the game at 5:04 p.m., which was different from Saturday night’s rainstorm during the Padres’ 5-3 win in the NLDS.
Wheeler was pitching very well, only allowing a one-out walk to Juan Soto in the first and then no one else until Myers singled with one out in the fifth. He struck out eight and walked one on 83 pitches.
Garrett Stubbs, who is a backup catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, has played in three league championship series’, and is trying to get to his second consecutive World Series. This is his second LCS at Petco Park. He caught the final inning of the Houston Astros’ Game 7 loss to Tampa Bay in the 2020 ALCS in the San Diego bubble. He caught the ninth inning of Game 6 of Houston’s World Series loss to Atlanta last year. Stubbs was traded to the Phillies in the offseason. Stubbs said he left 23 tickets for family and friends.
Four fighter jets flew in the sky as a part of the pregame festivities. These jets were from a squadron that the late Jerry Coleman flew with during World War II and Korea. Coleman was also a broadcaster for the Padres and managed the team in 1980.
Sonya Spencer is a news reporter for ABC News. She has covered major stories such as the 9/11 attacks, the war in Iraq, and the 2016 presidential election.