JT Realmuto homered in the 10th inning and the Philadelphia Phillies, saved by right fielder Nick Castellanos’ sliding catch, topped the Houston Astros 6-5 on Friday night in Game 1 of the World Series.
Down 5-0 early against Astros ace Justin Verlander, the Phillies became the first team in 20 years to overcome a five-run deficit to win a World Series game.
They can thank Castellanos for having the opportunity. Known far more for his bat than his glove, he rushed to make a big catch on Jeremy Peña’s blooper with two outs in the ninth and a runner on in the second.
“Overall, it was a great game, a great coming off the win, and it just showed the resiliency of the club again and how tough they are and never quit,” the Phillies manager said, Rob Thomson.
Realmuto, who hit a two-run double in the fifth off Verlander, completed the comeback when he led off the 10th by sending Luis Garcia’s fastball into the right-field seats. The 31-year-old became the first catcher to hit an extra-inning home run in a World Series since Carlton Fisk’s walk-off homer in the 12th inning of Game 6 of the 1975 Series against Cincinnati in Fenway Park.
Big hitter Bryce Harper added two singles for the Phillies in his World Series debut.
Kyle Tucker hit two home runs for the Astros, who had gone 7-0 this postseason.
“Disappointing, yeah, for sure,” Verlander said. “I need to do better. No excuses.”
Houston had a chance in the 10th when Alex Bregman doubled with one out. After Yuli Gurriel drew a two-out walk, David Robertson bounced a wild pitch that put runners on second and third.
Then, pinch hitter Aledmys Diaz was hit by a 2-0 pitch from Robertson, but plate umpire James Hoye ruled that Diaz bent into the pitch and disallowed him to go to first to load the bases Diaz went 3-1 to finish.
The last team to blow a 5-0 lead in the World Series was the 2002 San Francisco Giants, who blew their chance in Game 6 to shut out the Angels and win the title under manager Dusty Baker. Baker saw it back this time as the Astros manager, with the same final score of 6-5.
The 106-win Astros hadn’t lost to anyone since Philadelphia beat them on Oct. 3 behind Aaron Nola to clinch a wild-card spot as the third seed and earn their first trip to the playoffs in 11 years.
Houston built a big lead thanks in large part to Tucker’s two home runs. But the Phillies bounced back as Verlander struggled again in the World Series.
Perfect as he took a 5-0 lead in the fourth, he left after the fifth with the score at five. That left him 0-6 with a 6.07 ERA in eight World Series starts, just about the line for a pitcher expected to soon earn his third Cy Young Award.
The Astros fell to 0-5 in World Series openers and dropped their first game this postseason after sweeping the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series.
Seranthony Domínguez pitched a scoreless ninth to get the win as Castellanos made another stellar ninth-inning catch this postseason, this one undoubtedly saving the game.
With Jose Altuve on second base after his two-out base and steal, Peña hit a ball that came off the bat at 68 mph and only went about 200 feet. Castellanos ran a long way, then lunged for the inning-ending catch as he slid to the ground.
In Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Atlanta, Castellanos drove in three runs and helped preserve the lead with a somewhat similar catch in the ninth of that 7-6 victory.
In the World Series for the fourth time in six years, and after losing to Atlanta in six games last year, these Astros are looking to give Baker his first title as manager and his second championship after winning the 2017, a contaminated title. for a sign theft scandal.
The Phillies, who have two championships, are in the World Series for the first time since 2009. They rebounded from a 21-29 start that led to the firing of manager Joe Girardi with a 66-46 finish to reach the playoffs. They won their eighth pennant by dispatching the San Diego Padres in five games in the NLCS under Thomson.
Tucker got the orange-clad home crowd moving early as he became the first player in franchise history with a multi-home run game in the World Series. One of the few players in the majors who hit without a batting glove and who suddenly radiated attitude, he had four RBIs a year after finishing the Fall Classic without one.
The normally soft-spoken Tucker scored his first home run with a nifty flip of the bat and mixed in an expletive as he yelled toward the dugout as he began his jog.
Nola pitched a perfect game into the seventh inning in his last trip to Minute Maid Park, more than three weeks ago, as Philadelphia clinched its first playoff berth since 2011. Things didn’t go so well in his return Friday
Tucker sent an off-speed throw from Nola high and into the right-field seats to put Houston up 1-0 with no outs in the second. Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Martín Maldonado singled for another run.
Peña, the ALCS MVP, doubled to lead off Houston’s third before Yordan Alvarez retired. It was initially ruled safe, but the Phillies challenged the call and it was overturned.
Bregman, who was Nola’s roommate at LSU, walked before Tucker went deep again, blasting a ball into the stands behind the bullpen in right-center to extend it to 5-0.
Verlander, who had an MLB-best 1.75 ERA in the regular season, allowed six hits and five runs in five innings. He joined Roger Clemens as the only pitchers in major league history to start a World Series in three different decades, but still couldn’t claim the elusive World Series victory. Friday was his 12th career start in a postseason series opener, tying him with Jon Lester for the most in MLB history.
Verlander, starting his third series opener, retired the first 10 batters before Rhys Hoskins singled with one out in the fourth. Harper and Castellanos singled for a run and Alec Bohm hit a two-run double to make it 5-3.
Brandon Marsh led off the fifth with a double before Kyle Schwarber walked. Realmuto sent them both home with a double off the wall in left-center to tie the game at 5.
Nola allowed six hits and five runs in four and a third innings.