PHOENIX – The Phillies had exactly the man they needed on the mound Saturday night and never looked back in Game 5 of the NLCS after scoring two runs to Zack Wheeler before his first pitch of the night.
As for Zac Gallen? He’s probably seen enough of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
The Phillies won 6-1, salvaging one of their three games in Arizona and returning to Philly with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. They have two chances to advance to their second straight World Series at home on Monday and Tuesday (if necessary).
Schwarber and Harper hit 905-foot solo home runs in the top of the sixth, doubling the Phillies’ lead. They each took Gallen deep in the first inning of Game 1 and did the same in the sixth inning of Game 5. Gallen struck out a career-low single batter. He’s a Cy Young candidate, but he hasn’t fooled the Phillies’ lefties.
The Schwarber-Harper duo was also responsible for the Phillies’ two first-inning runs by putting runners on the corners with a single out. After Alec Bohm fouled out, Bryson Stott delivered a huge two-out RBI single.
The next batter was JT Realmuto, who also batted with runners on the corners. With Realmuto down 2-0, the Phillies tested Arizona’s defense and Stott dropped to second. When D-Backs catcher Gabriel Moreno made his throw, Stott froze and Harper started from third, batting away an errant throw and slipping safely in for the Phillies’ first home win of the season. He didn’t have much room to navigate around Moreno, and his fist/forearm ended up making contact with Moreno’s face. Harper stayed nearby to check on the catcher, who was looked after by Arizona’s trainers for several minutes.
Schwarber and Harper are now tied with Jayson Werth for the most home runs in Phillies playoff history with 11. Schwarber’s 20 career postseason home runs are also the most ever by a left-handed hitter.
Realmuto joined the home run party with a two-run blast to left field in the eighth inning, breaking a streak of 16 straight solo home runs the Phillies had hit. The two extra runs were huge as the Phillies were able to use fewer relievers for matchup purposes in the final two innings.
Wheeler wasn’t as sharp as he had been in his previous three outings this postseason, allowing harder contact than usual but avoiding damage until Alek Thomas hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. Wheeler managed the seventh, allowing only that run and scoring the eighth. He threw 99 pitches.
In 10 career playoff starts, Wheeler’s opponents have hit .164/.211/.256. That’s 232 batters with the equivalent of a pitcher’s slash line.
Wheeler’s length was crucial for the Phillies, having covered 8⅔ innings with their bullpen in the last two games. Manager Rob Thomson knew he had to stay away from Craig Kimbrel and Orion Kerkering to reduce his selection of right-handers. Jose Alvarado had also appeared in back-to-back games and was close to warming up in the seventh, but the Phils were able to stay away from him.
Only Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Dominguez and Matt Strahm finished after Wheeler, with Strahm facing a batter. With a day off Sunday, the entire bullpen should be available for Game 6.
Every playoff game is a must, as Realmuto said Friday, and the Phils needed this one. Now the D-Backs must beat them twice at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phils are 6-0 this postseason and have the best home record in MLB playoff history at 28-11.