The Philadelphia Phillies made the improbable happen in Game 1 against the Houston Astros.
After going down 5-0 in the third inning, largely due to two home runs by Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, the Phillies buckled down and clawed their way back, tying it up on a J.T. Realmuto double in the fifth. Neither team was able to score for the remaining four innings, although the Astros came close in the ninth with Jose Altuve in scoring position with two outs. Nick Castellanos made an incredible catch, however, to send the game into extra innings.
Realmuto came through again in the 10th, hammering a home run to right field to put the Phillies ahead by one. Philadelphia held on after an Alex Bregman double in the 10th and took a Game 1 that looked like it was over early.
They’ll do it all again on Saturday night for Game 2.
The Phillies also made a minor tweak with their World Series roster, replacing left-hander Bailey Falter and utility man Dalton Guthrie with right-hander Nick Nelson and utility man Nick Maton. Phillies manager Rob Thomson had toyed with the idea of moving Harper up to the No. 3 spot in the lineup, putting him closer to the leadoff-hitting Schwarber, given that the Astros’ bullpen was exclusively right-handed, but he opted to keep him fourth.
Thompson consulted with several coaches and players before the game and decided not to change the top half of the lineup.
“To a man, they were like, ‘You know, we’ve been swinging the bats pretty good right where we’re at. Everybody’s really comfortable with where we’re at,'” Thompson said. “So, that’s what we’re going with.”
2022 World Series schedule: Astros vs. Phillies
- Game 2: at Houston, Saturday, Oct. 29, 7:03 p.m.
- Game 3: at Philadelphia, Monday, Oct. 31, 7:03 p.m.
- Game 4: at Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 7:03 p.m.
- Game 5*: at Philadelphia, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 7:03 p.m.
- Game 6*: at Houston, Friday, Nov. 4, 7:03 p.m.
- Game 7*: at Houston, Saturday, Nov. 5, 7:03 p.m.
* if necessary