*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
Philadelphia wins series 2-0
We all find out occasionally that the last team in the playoffs isn't guaranteed to be the first team out. Bryce Harper homered, Aaron Nola pitched a gem, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-0 victory on Saturday night in St. Louis.
After missing out on the postseason since 2011, the Phillies came back determined to make a run out of it. One round is complete now, having knocked off the NL Central Champion Cardinals in two straight games to move on to the NLDS. It's the first postseason series win for the Phillies since the 2010 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.
Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said that "Our players, they love being in this situation. And that's what I'm really proud about. There's so many guys that never played in the playoffs and they played really well. The moment didn't get the best of them and I'm really happy about that."
Defending NL MVP and franchise face Bryce Harper got the Phillies started early, cranking a solo home run to right field in the second inning to make it a 1-0 lead. Alec Bohm then scored on a sac fly in the 5th from Kyle Schwarber, doubling the lead to 2-0. That lead held firm for the rest of the game.
A couple of big moments in this game were from Bohm, largely due to his defensive contributions. In the 3rd inning, Yadier Molina tested him with a line drive down the 3rd base line, which Bohm snagged for the out. Nolan Arenado tried the same thing in the 4th inning, but Bohm took the hit away again, preserving the 1-0 lead on two separate occasions.
Nola took the mound for the Phillies and shed his late season struggles, striking out 6 hitters in 6 2/3 shutout innings pitched to get the win. Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez pitched 2/3 of an inning each, and Zach Eflin worked the 9th for the save, his first of the playoffs.
Phillies starter Kyle Gibson said of Nola that "No situation ever gets him fired up. He just has a demeanor about him that just allows him to move on from a bad start to really kind of smell the end right there and get through the inning. It’s just a special trait to have. And when you have him and Wheeler at the front of the rotation, and they’re both like that, you can do a lot of things."
It was Miles Mikolas starting for the Cardinals, allowing two runs on two hits while lasting 4 1/3 innings, ultimately getting the loss. Jordan Montgomery pitched 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings, with Giovanny Gallegos and Jordan Hicks also pitching scoreless innings.
Arenado said of the season ending loss that "We thought we were going to come out with a series win and we felt really confident coming into Saturday, but obviously we just ran into Nola and he pitched a great game. It sucks to lose like this, especially when we had opportunities to get guys in."
Up next, the Phillies travel to Atlanta to take on the NL East rival Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, with game one on Tuesday. The Cardinals head home for the winter, with longtime faces of the team in Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright seemingly headed for retirement.
Comments
Post a Comment