The first game of this year’s World Series games 1 : Phillies vs Astros was an epic battle that went down to the last pitch. The Astros were favored with their loaded lineup, but the Phillies had the opportunity to get off to a hot start on their home field, which they did by scoring three runs in the first inning. However, it wasn’t enough as Philadelphia couldn’t close out the game, allowing Houston to tie up the score and then take it over in extras with two runs in the 10th inning.
World series between the Phillies and astros
It was a World Series game that had it all, including a five-run Houston rally in the third inning, followed by Philadelphia’s comeback from the brink of elimination.
The Astros tied the game 5-5 with two outs in the 10th inning on George Springer’s RBI single off Phillippe Aumont, but Chase Utley answered for Philly with a walk-off two-run homer to left field off Brad Peacock in the bottom of that inning for an improbable 6-5 victory for Philadelphia. It was just one of those games, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
I don’t think we played great, but I don’t think they did either.
The Phillies finally broke through against Dallas Keuchel, who threw eight innings and allowed only three hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out six without issuing any walks.
They jumped on him early when Odubel Herrera led off the fourth inning with his second homer of the series and Freddy Galvis singled in a run later that inning before scoring himself on Carlos Ruiz’s double down the right-field line.
Ryan Howard then singled home Ruiz before he himself scored when Domonic Brown hit into a force play at second base with runners on first and third.
Ryne Sandberg also got aggressive on the bases, stealing home as part of a triple steal in the eighth.
A lot went wrong for both teams during this World Series opener, but that didn’t stop Phillies’ starter Jerad Eickhoff from doing his job admirably and throwing four scoreless innings after being called up earlier this week to replace injured Cole Hamels.
The Phillies now head back to Houston up 1-0 after winning their last nine games there dating back to 2008.
But the Astros are clearly not feeling overmatched. Their resiliency was evident throughout the game, which took four hours and 49 minutes to complete.
For example, Springer smacked what looked like a go-ahead solo shot in the ninth off reliever David Hernandez, but Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis tracked down the ball in deep center field and made an over-the-shoulder catch while running full speed back to the wall.
There were many other twists and turns along the way that helped make this such an incredible game – especially if you were able to watch it live or catch it on TV or stream it online. As much as Phillies beat the odds and the Astros, Astros hitters have a reputation for fighting off tough pitches.
Carlos Correa couldn’t do that in the fifth inning and struck out on a nasty curveball that would have been ball four.
Meanwhile, another key member of the Phillies offense, Ben Revere, is heating up. He had a key pinch-hit grand slam to put Philadelphia ahead in the top of the sixth inning, tying a club record for grand slams in one postseason with three.
But Jake Marisnick answered back in the bottom of that inning with a two-out solo homer to tie it again at 5-5.
But the Astros aren’t ready to back down from this fight, and it was apparent that Phillies beat the odds and the Astros when Springer crushed a game-tying homer off closer Jeanmar Gomez in the bottom of the ninth.
The blast came off a first pitch fastball on a 1-1 count. Gomez threw 11 pitches for strikes, but four of them went for balls, three of which were in close proximity to one another.
It was just the second homer Gomez has allowed since July 31st against Baltimore’s Manny Machado and his third career postseason blown save opportunity – two more than any other big league closer since 2012.
If he hadn’t thrown those three balls, we might be talking about a different outcome here. Heading into Saturday night, Phillies ace Zack Wheeler faces Phillies rookie Vince Velasquez on Saturday night in Game 2 at Minute Maid Park (8:37 p.m., TBS).
All eyes will be on these former teammates who pitched together for one season in Double A Reading.
Phillies beat the odds and the Astros may come into play again if Houston’s Dallas Keuchel takes the mound against Phillies’ Cole Hamels on Sunday afternoon (2:30 p.m., Fox) in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park.
After seeing their ace fail to hold up his end of the bargain on Wednesday, Astros manager AJ Hinch will turn to Keuchel instead of Collin McHugh, who allowed seven hits and five earned runs over 4.2 innings in Wednesday’s 9-3 loss.
Keuchel did not allow a run through 6+ innings in Tuesday’s victory. In short, World Series Game One between the Phillies and Astros was an epic battle worthy of Major League Baseball lore. And the drama doesn’t stop there.
Game 2, Phillies ace Zack Wheeler takes on Phillies rookie Vince Velasquez on Saturday night in Game 2 at Minute Maid Park (8:37 p.m., TBS), with all eyes focused on the matchup of former teammates who pitched together for one season in Double A Reading.
And on Sunday afternoon, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel could face Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park.
Who are the starting pitchers?
Zack Wheeler starts Game 2 for the Phillies.
He’s a top-tier pitcher, who is coming off of a 1-1 record with the 1.78 ERA and 0.51 WHIP in 2018.
His next start will be against the Astros ace Gerrit Cole, who has an equally impressive career.
The two teams’ pitching rotations are set to clash in this series, making it all the more exciting.
Cole started on Wednesday and pitched 5 innings, giving up just one run. In his three games so far in October, he has a 3-0 record with an earned run average of 2.40 and 0.94 WHIP in 28 innings pitched (6 starts).
Wheeler is expected to go into game on Friday night, but even if he doesn’t pitch well during his first time out (he did not pitch well against the Rockies), he can always rebound.
Even though he was only 6th on the starting pitcher list at the beginning of playoffs, we have seen pitchers like Clayton Kershaw step up when they needed him most.