Phillies Take Game 1 Against Padres in NLCS

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series Tuesday night.

Zack Wheeler had the start for Philadelphia while Yu Darvish was on the mound for San Diego. Wheeler gave the Phillies seven shutout innings while Kyle Schwarber hit a 488-foot home run, the longest in Petco Park history. Bryce Harper also sent one over the fences as he hit his third home run in three straight postseason games.

Pitchers Duel, Wheeler Dominated

Wheeler gave the Phillies exactly what they needed to take Game 1 of the series. He held the Padres to a no-hitter until the fifth inning when Wil Myers hit a one-out single in the fifth.

Wheelers’ final line was: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 8 SO, 1 BB in his 83rd pitch outing. He now posts a 1.40 ERA through his three starts in the post season.

“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”

-Zack Wheeler
pic.twitter.com/afeDG4NYgQ

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 19, 2022

Darvish had a solid performance on the mound as well, although he did give up two solo shots.

Darvish’s’ final line was: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 7 SO, 1 BB.

Though Darvish was handed the loss, his offense did not give him much help. The Padres offense only had one hit throughout the whole game, the hit that broke up Wheeler’s no-hitter.

Stellar Hitting by Harper and Schwarber

Harper’s home run in the top of the fourth inning marked his third home run in a row. He is the the first Phillie to homer in three straight postseason games since Gary Matthews in the 1983 NLCS.

Red October Bryce just hits different#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/eWGPagElh9

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 19, 2022

The NL leader of home runs in the regular season (46) blasted a no-doubter to the second deck of Petco Park in the top of the sixth. Schwarber sent a 120 mph, 488-foot rocket to right field to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1582548383125815296?s=20

Kyle Schwarber's home run (119.7 MPH) is the hardest-hit home run in the postseason in the Statcast era.

Previous: Giancarlo Stanton, 118.3 MPH in the 2020 ALDS.

At 488 feet, it was the 2nd-farthest in the Statcast era, behind only Wilson Contreras (491 feet) in the 2017 NLCS.

— PhilliesNotes (@PhilliesNotes) October 19, 2022

Game Two of the NLCS on Deck for Wednesday

If the Padres want to continue their run in the postseason, they’ll have to produce more than one hit through nine innings. Teams that win Game 1 in best of seven series go on to win the series 64.3% of the time.

First pitch of Game 2 is set for 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Petco Park. Aaron Nola and Blake Snell will go toe-to-toe on the rubber for this one.