Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports
Although last night’s game, which the Astros won 5–2 to even the World Series, 1–1, failed to match the thrill of the Phillies’ comeback victory in Game 1, it still delivered plenty of exciting moments.
The first inning, for instance, featured three doubles on the first four pitches, beginning with Jose Altuve, whose 3-for-4 night is promising for Houston fans hoping for the team’s catalyst to break out of his October slumber. We also saw lefthander Framber Valdez utterly baffle Philadelphia’s batters, and Alex Bregman hammer a two-run blast, his third of this postseason. (He now has 15 career playoff home runs, the same as Babe Ruth.)
What I’ll remember most from Game 2, though, is the pure comedy of the top of the eighth. The Phillies were trailing, 5–1, when shortstop Bryson Stott walked to lead off the inning. Next up was Kyle Schwarber, who led the National League with 46 homers this season, second to only Aaron Judge in MLB. The beefy left fielder turned on a 2–2 heater above the zone from righty reliever Rafael Montero—and clobbered it 403 feet down the right-field line. The umpire held up his right arm, and with his index finger pointing toward the roof, drew imaginary circles, the universal sign for DINGER. It was only then that Schwarber, who initially thought it was a foul ball, began his trot around the bases.
Not so fast! The umpires gathered and overturned their initial ruling from fair to foul. Then, just to be sure, they went to the replay, which confirmed what Schwarber had thought all along. It was one of the most breathtaking foul balls we’ve ever seen in the World Series—but it was also still just a long strike.
Schwarber stepped back in the box. Montero came set. The pitch: another four-seamer, this time lower and further inside, and Schwarber lifted it to deep right field, where Kyle Tucker, with his back against the wall, jumped and made the catch. The best thing about the classic TV show Get Smart, is that no matter how many times they use the same exact joke, it still makes us laugh. The repetition is what makes it so funny. So, too, was the case with Schwarber last night. It was comical that he had to circle the bases for a foul ball. It became hilarious when he came within a few feet of a home run—on the very next pitch!
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1. THE OPENER
Sue Ogrocki/AP
“Just before his highest moment, Alex Bregman stared at his lowest body part. His left foot—his front foot when he hits—had been betraying him for something like two years, and just as he had started to figure out how to put it where he wanted to, he lost it again.”
That’s how Stephanie Apstein begins her feature from this morning on Bregman. The last two and a half seasons have been difficult for the third baseman. He was hurting and struggling so badly that he was afraid to play baseball. Over the summer, after he and hitting coach Troy Snitker fixed what was wrong, Bregman went on a tear. Now, he’s healthy, confident and back to scaring opposing pitchers.
How Alex Bregman Found His Footing and Started Raking Again by Stephanie Apstein
2. ICYMI
Let’s get you caught up on some of our stories from this weekend.
Jose Altuve Is Back—Just in Time to Save the Astros by Tom Verducci
The second baseman broke out of his funk in Houston’s win over the Phillies in World Series Game 2.
Philadelphia: Welcome Home, Chas McCormick. We Hope You Lose. by Stephanie Apstein
The 27-year-old from outside of Philly always wanted to play in a World Series game at Citizens Bank Park in front of his loved ones. He just envisioned he’d be playing for the home team.
Phillies’ Bold Bullpen Moves Fuel Their World Series Title Push by Emma Baccellieri
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson made a set of aggressive decisions that led to the team’s epic Game 1 comeback win.
The J.T. Realmuto Game Has the Phillies Ready to Shock the World by Tom Verducci
The catcher stunned the Astros with his go-ahead home run in Game 1 to help Philadelphia seize the upper hand in the World Series.
Justin Verlander Crumbles Yet Again in the World Series by Stephanie Apstein
The Astros ace couldn’t erase his legacy of failures in the Fall Classic. He squandered a five-run lead in Game 1 vs. the Phillies.
3. WORTH NOTING from Matt Martell
On the surface, it’s not all that remarkable that the Astros scored five runs in Game 1 and another five in Game 2. The interesting thing comes once you look at the pitchers who allowed Houston’s combined 10 runs: Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Heading into the World Series, the two were the pitchers the Phillies could most rely upon to contain the Astros lineup. On the flip side, the Philadelphia bullpen—which we all thought was a weakness, especially in comparison to the Houston one—has pitched 8 ⅔ scoreless innings over the first two games. That’s playoff baseball for ya!
4. W2W4 from Nick Selbe
Tomorrow’s Game 3 pitching matchup will pit two starters who did not suit up for their respective teams until August. Lance McCullers Jr. did not make his 2022 debut until Aug. 13 after a forearm injury kept him sidelined for the first four months of the season. Noah Syndergaard, meanwhile, was stranded in Angels purgatory before a deadline deal sent him to Philadelphia. McCullers has been lights out, looking every bit like his previous All-Star form, while Syndergaard has adjusted well to a new role as a reliever-swingman type. Beyond the pitching storylines, the atmosphere of a Philadelphia crowd on Halloween night is something that dreams (or perhaps nightmares) are made of.
5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
A lot has changed since Noah Syndergaard’s last World Series start in 2015. His team, for starters, along with a Tommy John surgery followed by a difficult recovery, a few ticks gone off his fastball, a change in his role and a shift in his pitch mix. When he took the mound seven years ago for the Mets in Game 3 of the World Series, he was a rookie who had already established himself as one of the pillars of that rotation, and he looked it: six innings with six strikeouts and three runs allowed in the only win of the series for the Mets. When he starts tomorrow for the Phillies, they’ll only be looking for a few innings from him, given that he’s worked largely from the bullpen in recent weeks. But Syndergaard has made that work for him so far—in his only other playoff start this year, in Game 4 of the NLDS, he looked sharp in three innings of one-run ball. If he can do that again? It may not be as impressive a stat line as that of his ’15 World Series start for the Mets, but it will be doing exactly what his team needs from him all the same.
