As soon as Kyle Tucker’s second home run – a three-run shot – left his bat in the bottom of the second inning, I figured this one was over. Justin Verlander was looking awesome, the Astros then had a 5-0 lead, and they haven’t lost yet this postseason.
How dare I count out these Phillies. My bad.
In the 4th and 5th they stormed back to tie the game, with J.T. Realmuto’s double the game-tying blow:
From there, each pitching staff held things down all the way to the 10th inning, when once again, Realmuto played hero:
Crazier than that, the inning before, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th and a runner on second, Nick Castellanos saved the game with his glove. If this ball drops, the Astros walk it off:
Things got thorny for the Phillies in the bottom of the 10th, with former Cub David Robertson on to close. He allowed a double, a walk, and a wild pitch at one point, so the Astros had the tying run at third and the winning run at second – but he got a groundball out to end it. That groundball out? It came after this:
This is art:
Game Two is tonight at 7:03pm CT, with Zack Wheeler facing Framber Valdez.
Full Game One highlights: