Final Score: Phillies 6, Cardinals 3
ST. LOUIS — Sometimes, it’s nice to be on the other side of misery.
The Phillies have been on the receiving end more times than not in their 139-year history. Then something happened in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the NLWCS.
After Rhys Hoskins swung at ball four with the Phillies down by a run with two outs left to work with, J.T. Realmuto, the team’s most valuable player, singled against the dangerous Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley. Realmuto and his five teammates that followed him in the batting order came around to score.
Helsley, who allowed nine earned runs all season, gave up four in a six-run ninth inning for the Fightins, who take Game 1 of the three-game series.
It all could have ended with Jean Segura at the plate with the bases loaded and one out against Andre Pallante. With a 2-2 count, the veteran who has waited the longest for postseason baseball chased another pitch and came through with a chip shot two-run single to give his team the lead:
It was a shocking to witness unfold. “It’s never easy,” one Cardinals fan sitting near the press box said.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to happen that inning was to watch the perpetually excellent Nolan Arenado completely miss a ground ball that brought home another run:
Zach Eflin gave up a run in the ninth to give Cardinals fans at least some hope. Yadier Molina, the man whose career could be over tomorrow, came to the plate representing the tying run. He struck out to end the game.
The Phillies will give the ball to Aaron Nola Saturday night, as they look to clinch their first postseason series victory since the 2010 NLDS.
Not Today, Yepez
Before that magical ninth inning, you could pencil in Juan Yepez next to Cody Ross on the long list of names that will haunt Phillies fans for eternity.
Heck, maybe you still can.
The 24-year-old rookie came off the bench to pinch hit for Corey Dickerson in the seventh. José Alvarado walked the first batter he faced. He had only walked four batters in the last two months.
The young Yepez then turned on what could be the only cutter Alvarado has hung since the pitch gave him new life in the big leagues. The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead on a fly ball that barely stayed fair:
But Yepez’s heroics will be forgotten in the grand scheme of what turned out to be an all-time meltdown from the Cardinals.
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Zack Wheeler Shines In Postseason Debut
The Phillies prepared their brilliant ace Zack Wheeler for this moment. He missed some time with forearm tendinitis in the second half of the season to ensure he was fresh for October.
All he did was pump 99 mph fastballs and allow zero hits to the dangerous 2-3-4 combo of Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado over six innings.
The diciest moment of the afternoon for Wheeler came in the fourth. A fastball got away from him and he hit Goldschmidt in the elbow guard with two strikes. On the next pitch, Arenado crushed a low fastball to deep left center. The ball somehow died at the warning track and landed in the glove of St. Louis native Matt Vierling:
In his postseason debut, Wheeler allowed just two hits over 6 1/3 shutout innings.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, October 8 vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Game 2)
- Busch Stadium
- 8:37 pm ET
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
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