Houston – The Phillies are going somewhere they haven’t been since the bright, sunny days of Jimmy, Chase, Ryan, Cole, Chuckle, and Big Chuck.
After 10 long seasons of no playoffs, 10 seasons that included a complete demolition, a rebuild, the end of a long sell-out streak, several massive free-agent spends, six directors, three general managers, a leadership change in ownership level, a dedication to analytics, and the addition of a head of operations Baseball, and losses too many, the Phillies are finally back in the post-season.
They sealed an impressive spot in the National League with a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros in the Heart of Texas on Monday night.
Aaron Nola set the game of his life. Kyle Schwarber hit the first pitch of the game over the wall in the left center. He hit another Homer, his number 46, at the top of the eighth, back-to-back with rookie Bryson Stott.
Jose Alvarado was amazing as he walked off the field of play, and when he finished, Feles’ players were swarming each other on the field.
Baseball in October, a regular from 2007 to 2011 and odd since then, returned to the Philadelphia sports marquee and ended the longest post-season drought in the NL. The Phillies will play their first game after the season since October 7, 2011, the night Roy Halladay left it all on the hill and Ryan Howard blew his achilles in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, on Friday. St. Louis potential opponent. So are the Mets. It will be a top three series, all of which will be played on the road because the Philis will be the lowest seed. After 10 years of gloomy darkness, they were not about to complain about the place.
With their magic number down to one, the Phillies needed a win over the Astros or a loss to Milwaukee to get into the postseason.
On the out-of-town scoreboard, the Brewers and Diamondbacks went back and forth on their way to additional innings. The Brewers ended up winning.
but it does not matter.
The Feliz took care of their own business.
They walked through the front door, with the longest-standing member of the team, newcomer and passionate leader showing the way.
Nola made his Feliz debut in 2015. He entered Monday night’s game with 202 starting his career, the second most non-appearing player in a post-season game. In his 203rd career debut, he made a perfect 6 2/3 baseball game, retiring 20 players in a row, before giving up a pair of singles and leaving the game on 88 pitches. He walked with nothing and hit a nine.
Schwarber came to the Phillies in March on a four-year contract worth $79 million and so far it has been worth every penny. In just a few months with the team, he became its emotional leader. He also became its home captain, and the league’s leader for that matter. He led the team’s June revival with 12 home hurdles and 27 RBIs. When Velez was desperate for a win Saturday night in Washington, he greeted Schwarber twice. When they were about to clinch a playoff in their 160th game of the season on Monday night, he came back twice.
Alvarado’s contribution in recent months has been huge and was once again in the clincher. Manager Rob Thompson asked him to protect a 1-0 lead with two men at base in seventh and hit Kyle Tucker with a 101 mph hit. He stayed at the bottom of eighth place and earned three more teams. In that inning, he was leading 3-0 thanks to back-to-back teammates from Stott and Schwarber against Jose Orchidi at the top of the inning. Zach Evelyn, another longtime Philly not seen in the post-season, has the last three wins and the first save of his career.
In the biggest win of the season, Thompson pulled Nola at the right time and brought in the right man from the game. In his own way, Thompson was a clutch like Nola, Schwarber, Stutt, and Alvarado, both on Monday night and in the big picture.
Phillies were seven games under 0.500 when Thompson took charge for Joe Girardi in early June. The team quickly turned things around and played themselves in a playoff. Things have gotten a little tricky in recent weeks, but now everything is fine. The Phillies are 65-44 years old under Thompson, who still wears the temporary tag, and 87-73 overall.
They’re going to postseason for the first time in a decade.
through the front door.
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