Philadelphia Phillies’ Bats Come Up as Aces in NLCS Opener
Philadelphia Phillies’ Bats Come Up as Aces in NLCS Opener
The NLCS is supposed to be a clash of pitching titans, but the Phillies flipped the script with three tone-setting home runs in a 5-3 Game 1 victory.
Of all the compelling elements in this NLCS matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks — from the majesty of Kyle Schwarber’s Schwarbombs to the electric young talent of Corbin Carroll — the most intriguing might be the battle of top-shelf starting pitching.
Between the Phillies’ pairing of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola and the D-backs’ own 1-2 punch of Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, this series is headlined by MLB’s second- and third-best ace tandems among playoff teams in the 2023 season. (Only Minnesota, with Sonny Gray and Pablo Lopez, ranked higher based on Wins Above Replacement.)
Monday’s series opener — with Philly’s Wheeler and Arizona’s Gallen taking the mound — was the best pitching matchup (on paper) of the entire postseason to date, based on the combined WAR of the two starters involved:
The titanic clash between the NL’s two best pitchers, however, fell short of expectations. Wheeler largely held up his end, striking out eight and walking none while allowing two earned runs in six innings. But Gallen allowed three home runs — and five runs overall — over five innings, leaving his teammates to chip away at a deficit they couldn’t overcome.
Game 1 of the NLCS wasn’t defined by the battle of Cy Young contenders, it was more about the Phillies’ ongoing power surge and home winning streak, with the 5-3 victory giving them a perfect 5-0 record at Citizens Bank Park in these playoffs.
Setting an early tone, Schwarber and birthday boy Bryce Harper homered as two of Philadelphia’s first three batters in the game. And modern-day Mr. October Nick Castellanos added another blast in the second inning. The Phillies have 16 home runs in seven games this postseason, a 2.29 HR per game rate that ranks second among all playoff teams with at least five games played since 1995 — only the 2020 New York Yankees (2.43) had more among qualified clubs.
The Phillies are now just two wins shy of the 2008 Phillies (7-0) for the best undefeated record by any team in a single postseason, per SportRadar data. Philadelphia may not be able to maximize their home-field advantage if it advances to the World Series — the Texas Rangers, leading 2-0 in the ALCS, would have home field over Philly by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker — but the vibes at the Bank have undeniably helped add energy to yet another Phillies run in October.
The other key for Philadelphia in Game 1 on Monday was containing Arizona’s ability to come back from an early deficit.
During the regular season, only one team (the Cincinnati Reds, at 16) had more wins in games they trailed by three or more runs than the Diamondbacks. After the Phillies’ fireworks, Arizona gradually cut into the lead and eventually put the tying run on the plate multiple times in the final few innings — including the ninth. But several well-timed defensive plays got the Phillies out of trouble, and the game ended on a double play that left Arizona’s comeback effort just short.
Already favorites, the Phillies inched closer to a second consecutive World Series. And for the Diamondbacks, they missed a chance for Gallen to stand toe-to-toe with Wheeler and outshine a fellow ace on the postseason stage. Admirable as their near-comeback was in Game 1, the D-backs will need Kelly to do better in comparison with Nola on Tuesday, or Arizona may find its surprise season ending earlier than it would like.
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