Philadelphia kept its hot postseason streak alive when it opened the National League Championship Series with a 2-0 win at San Diego on Tuesday night. The Phillies advanced to the NLCS by taking out defending World Series champion Atlanta over the weekend, while San Diego beat the Dodgers in its NLDS matchup. Philadelphia used a pair of solo home runs and strong pitching to pick up the win on Tuesday.
Philadelphia lit up the scoreboard in four of its five playoff wins heading into the NLCS, scoring 15 runs in its final two games against Atlanta at Truist Park in the NLDS. The Phillies used strong pitching and timely hitting to win Tuesday’s series opener, though. Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler threw seven innings of one-hit baseball and the bullpen closed things out in the eighth and ninth inning. Philadelphia’s two runs came via solo home runs off the bat of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Harper has been the team’s hottest hitter during their playoff run, but Schwarber had been ice-cold prior to hitting the longest home run in the history of Petco Park on Tuesday.
Holy Schwarbomb
(sorry we're still thinking about this like HOW) pic.twitter.com/S8mbg8amva
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 19, 2022
Right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola is going to start for Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon. He has been outstanding in his two playoff appearances this year, throwing 12.2 innings without allowing an earned run against St. Louis and Atlanta. Nola struck out six batters in each of those starts, giving up nine combined hits. He finished the regular season with an 11-13 record and a 3.25 ERA, posting an incredible 235:29 K:BB ratio. Nola faced San Diego once during the regular season, allowing one run across seven innings while striking out 10. He also faced the Padres once last year, giving up two earned runs on two hits in 8.2 innings—the Padres chased him with a game-tying two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning.