Before Friday night, teams leading by five or more runs in a World Series game were 220-5. The Astros managed to make that 220-6 when they dropped a 6-5 decision to the Phillies after leading 5-0 in the third inning. Neither starter was great as both Justin Verlander and Aaron Nola gave up five runs on six hits. Nola managed only four-and-a-third innings while the Astros ace surrendered all five runs in the fourth and fifth before exiting.
The one bright spot for the Astros was Kyle Tucker who became the first Astro ever to hit two home runs in a single World Series game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Phillies won on a J.T. Realmuto solo homer in the top of the tenth that landed in the right field seats just beyond the reach of Tucker. The Astros have never won Game 1 of the World Series and that continues. Here are our winners and losers.
WINNERS
Phillies defense.
When comparing teams, one of the weaknesses for the Phillies was (or was supposed to be) defense. They flipped that script on Friday with a pair of sparkling plays from third baseman Alec Bohm and right fielder Nick Castellanos. The sliding grab of Jeremy Peña’s dying quail of a bloop hit by Castellanos in the bottom of the ninth literally saved the game.
Kyle Tucker
Tucker hasn’t been great in the postseason. He hasn’t been bad either. In Game 1, he was absolutely brilliant at the plate with a pair of home runs, finishing 3-4 with four RBIs. He didn’t get enough help, but he was a one-man wrecking crew, particularly in the early innings where he blasted away on Nola.
Relief pitching.
Remarkably, both teams were spectacular after their starting pitchers left the game. The Astros gave up one run in the top of the tenth that turned out to be the game winner. The Phils blanked the Astros for six-and-two-thirds innings.
The Phillies roll.
Many consider Philadelphia to be a team of destiny, but, in truth, they are just flat out good at baseball. More importantly, they are the hottest team in the sport since the postseason began and the roll continued at the expense of the Astros at Minute Maid Park Friday night. The Astros will need to figure out how to put a stop to it and quick.
LOSERS
Dusty Baker decision maker.
Plenty of fans have questioned the wisdom of the Astros skipper on numerous decisions throughout the year, but Baker, who is long on loyalty and patience, seemed to push all the right buttons most of the time. But, the decision to continue to start Trey Mancini at DH, where he is 0 for forever, and put Luis Garcia in the game over Ryne Stanek in the tenth seemed more than questionable. Arguably, it cost them the game.
Astros stars.
We’ll get to Verlander in a moment, but Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez were essentially no shows in game one. Altuve was 1-5 with a bloop single even he didn’t think would drop in the tenth and Alvarez was 0-4 including a critical strikeout after Altuve’s single. Even with Altuve’s recent modest resurgence, neither has been good since the Seattle series. They have got to turn it around.
Playoff Justin Verlander
The Astros ace still hasn’t won a World Series game and his career postseason ERA continues to head in the wrong direction. Teams just seem to be able to get to him in the playoffs, even in a year where he is going to win yet another Cy Young award.
The Phillies bullpen in game two.
For all the issues that faced the Astros, we can’t help but wonder how they are going to manage their bullpen in Game 2. Manager Rob Thompson opted for Ranger Suarez as one of his relievers, a pitcher expected to start in game three. He also allowed Seranthony Dominguez and Zach Eflin to throw 44 pitches between them, and another 24 pitches from David Robertson. That likely leaves them with just one very good reliever in Jose Alvarado available in game two. They will have to hope starter Zack Wheeler can go seven or eight innings.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
