Final Score: Astros 4, Phillies 1
HOUSTON – At this time a month ago, the Phillies were coming off a meaningless loss in the regular season finale against the Houston Astros, who were preparing for a deep postseason run.
The Phillies were heading on a plane to St. Louis to play the franchise’s first playoff round in 11 years. Nobody, maybe except the players themselves, could have thought that a team like the Phillies, who narrowly earned the final playoff spot in the National League, would come up two wins short of a World Series title.
One of the more incredible stretches of Phillies baseball came to a sudden end Saturday when the Astros clinched a 4-2 World Series victory over Philadelphia.
Yordan Alvarez’s crushing three-run blast to center field was the final blow for the Phillies, who will process the pain of coming up short and reflect on just how far they’ve come and what they can accomplish together next year, which is only three short months way.
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The Phillies, for the most part, put together good at-bats against Framber Valdez the first time through the order. They saw 32 pitches, had four runners on base and nearly took an early three-run lead on a fly ball from Edmundo Sosa that fell just short of the left-center field wall.
Of course that first time through the order was followed by five straight strikeouts from the top of the Phillies order. The Phillies have struck out 71 times over six games, a new World Series record.
Despite all the strikeouts, Zack Wheeler kept his club in it, throwing five shutout innings to give one of the big bats a chance to take the lead.
Leading off the sixth, Kyle Schwarber gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with a line-drive blast deep into the seats in right field. It was his sixth home run of the postseason and only the second home run all year Valdez has allowed to a left-handed batter.
But then the Astros struck back with something that felt inevitable. Up until now, Alvarez, the Astros’ most dangerous hitter, has not had as much of an impact on this series as many thought he would. He entered Game 6 2-for-19 with three RBIs largely because the Phillies’ plan of attack against him has largely worked.
With runners on the corner and one out, Rob Thomson pulled Wheeler with Alvarez at the plate. It was the third time this series Alvarez and Jose Alvarado would meet. The Phillies lefty got Alvarez to pop up in Game 1, and hit him to score one run, which eventually became five in Game 4. Alvarado needed to win this battle for the Phillies to win the game.
Alvarado hung a cutter in the center of the plate and Alvarez destroyed it to center field for a three-run home run that sent Minute Maid Park into a frenzy.
Christian Vazquez would later add on with an RBI single to make it 4-1, but the game felt over once Alvarez’s home run ball landed. The Phillies’ postseason run began with Alvarado surrendering a go-ahead home run and the offense was able to erase that memory quickly with a miracle six-run ninth inning to win Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, but one more improbable comeback just wasn’t in the cards.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
- We’ll be talking about Thomson’s decision to pull Wheeler for years – maybe decades. He was phenomenal through five, but began the inning with a hit batsman and a fielder’s choice to set up first and third. With the two inherited runners scoring on Alvarez’s home run, Wheeler finishes the 2022 postseason with a 2.78 ERA.
- Valdez wasn’t as dominant as he looked in Game 2, but it was enough to keep the Phillies sluggers quiet enough to stifle the hopes and dreams of the Philly faithful. He struck out five consecutive batters through innings three and four and finished his title-winning campaign with a 1.44 postseason ERA.
The Astros are the first team to clinch a World Series title at home since the 2013 Boston Red Sox, who defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in six games. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that was the longest streak without a World Series clinching win at home in baseball history.
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