*Photo from SB Nation*
Philadelphia leads series 1-0
The NLCS got off to a ringing start, quite literally. Bryce Harper homered, Kyle Schwarber homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres with a 2-0 shutout victory on Tuesday night in San Diego.
After dismissing the St. Louis Cardinals in two games and the defending champion Atlanta Braves in 4 games, the Phillies picked up right where they left off to open the NLCS. They picked up their 3rd straight win overall, riding the pitching staff to a series opening win.
But the attention was on Schwarber's 488 foot home run that went to the second deck at Petco Park. Since Statcast tracking began, it's the second longest homer in postseason history. It's the longest hit homer at Petco Park, the longest and hardest hit homer by a Phillies player, the 5th hardest hit home run by Statcast tracking, and it's the farthest and hardest Schwarber has ever hit a homer in his career.
Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins said of the homer that "It looked like someone on the driving range taking the driver. Seriously. The ball got so small, so fast. One of those you don’t need to look at, you kind of just hear it. But man, I’ve been coming here for five years and I don’t think I’ve seen anybody sniff the second deck."
In the 4th, Harper got the Phillies started on the board. With the bases empty, Harper lifted a solo home run, just creeping into the left field seats to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Two innings later, it was time for Schwarber to do his thing, hitting the mammoth home run to make it a 2-0 game, which held up for the rest of the night.
Staff ace Zack Wheeler got the start for the Phillies and got the win. Wheeler stymied the Padres, allowing one hit and one walk, striking out 8 hitters in 7 shutout innings. Seranthony Dominguez pitched a shutout 8th inning, and Jose Alvarado got the save in the 9th inning.
Wheeler said of his playoff starts that "Each start from the beginning of the playoffs is just topping one another, just the magnitude of it. It’s kind of a blur, to be honest with you. I mean, I go out there, I’m excited, just try to stay who I am, not get too high, not get too low, just stay on the game plan. Just throw strikes, and hopefully that works."
It was Yu Darvish starting for the Padres. He had a pretty good start, but couldn't match Wheeler, allowing two runs with 7 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched. Nick Martinez and Luis Garcia were used in relief, each throwing a shutout inning.
Padres manager Bob Melvin said of the series opening loss that "You'd like to try to win that first one. If it doesn't happen, you certainly feel a little more importance on the second game. We need to come out and swing the bats a little better. It doesn't get much easier, their guy tomorrow is pretty good, too. But we need to be better with our at-bats."
Up next, game two of the series is on Wednesday night in San Diego. The Phillies will look to take a 2-0 series lead with Aaron Nola on the mound, while Blake Snell starts for the Padres as they look to force a game 5 while tying the series up.
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