{"id":3539,"date":"2023-10-22T12:53:33","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T09:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/3539\/bryce-harper-kyle-schwarber-launch\/"},"modified":"2023-10-22T12:53:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T09:53:33","slug":"bryce-harper-kyle-schwarber-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=3539","title":{"rendered":"Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber launch Phillies to 3-2 NLCS lead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber launch Phillies to 3-2 NLCS lead\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Jesse Rogers, ESPN editor<span class=\"timestamp \">October 22, 2023, 6:38 a.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<ul>Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>PHOENIX \u2013 Playing their way to a victory away from a return trip to the World <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/series\/\"   title=\"Series\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Series<\/a>, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 Saturday night in Game 5 of the League Championship Series national team to win a 3-2 series.  lead.<\/p>\n<p>Game 6 is scheduled for Monday night in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are 6-0 in the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we&#8217;ll be in a good position,\u201d Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, Saturday&#8217;s winning pitcher, said after the game.  &#8220;But we can&#8217;t anticipate too much. We have to play Monday&#8217;s game and return to Philadelphia, where we love to play.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Choice<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Bryce-Harper-Kyle-Schwarber-launch-Phillies-to-3-2-NLCS-lead.jpg&#038;w=130&#038;h=130&#038;scale=crop&#038;location=center.jpeg\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\"\/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Philadelphia slugger Bryce Harper set the tone for Game 5, stealing a base in the first inning, then hitting a 444-foot home run in the sixth.  He joined Randy Arozarena as the only players in postseason history to steal home and hit a home run in the same game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to be aggressive here,\u201d Harper said.  \u201cBryson [Stott] got the green light.  He went for it, and I just tried to make the best decision to get there and get that point.  \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>This happened after <a href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/2116\/kyle-schwarber-ties-reggie-jackson-mark-phillies-take-2-0-nlcs-lead\/\">Kyle Schwarber<\/a> had already crossed home plate with the first run of the game.  Arizona starter Zac Gallen was more cautious in the first inning Saturday than in Game 1, when Schwarber and Harper hit him.  This time, Schwarber got to first on an infield single before Harper got him to second and Stott&#8217;s single brought Schwarber home.  That put runners on first and third with JT Realmuto at the plate.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when Harper took off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew he was going to go,\u201d Stott said of Harper.  \u201cIt\u2019s the playoffs, and Gallen is really good there, and you don\u2019t know how many chances you\u2019re going to get.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Bryce Harper hit one of the Phillies&#8217; three home runs in Game 5, bringing their postseason total to 23, the second most all-time in 11 postseason games. <cite>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno took second as Harper headed home.  Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo made a short jump to Moreno, who was hit by Harper at the plate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI play baseball,\u201d Harper said.  &#8220;Big collision at home plate. I was making sure he was OK. Kind of like he fell, I was making sure he was good and stable. I never wanted those moments or anyone to get hurt. But just a good position to put ourselves in and be able to pick ourselves up in that situation.<\/p>\n<p>Moreno remained in the game after being dealt with by the Diamondbacks training staff.<\/p>\n<p>With the finesse portion of their game over, the Phillies got to work on hitting.  Gallen kept them in the park until the sixth, when Schwarber destroyed a baseball, sending it 461 feet into the right-field <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/stands\/\"   title=\"stands\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">stands<\/a>.  Two batters later, Harper&#8217;s shot also left the field, as he belted it 444 feet from home plate.  The rout was underway when Realmuto added a home run an inning later.<\/p>\n<p>The tours helped spark many milestones:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>The Phillies are the sixth team all time with at least 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases in a single postseason.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>With three home runs in Game 5, the Phillies have hit 23 home runs in the postseason, the second most all-time in 11 postseason games (24 by the Houston Astros in 2004).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Schwarber is only the fifth player to reach 20 career home runs in the postseason.  He got there in 63 games, the fastest in history.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Harper and Schwarber have combined for 22 home runs over the past two postseasons (11 each), the most by a duo over a two-year span in postseason history.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Philadelphia&#8217;s offense supported Wheeler, who once again dominated his opposition in the postseason.  On a night when the Phillies bullpen wasn&#8217;t fully available, Wheeler pitched seven innings, allowing six hits while striking out eight and giving up one run (a solo shot by Alek Thomas).<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler helped reduce his team&#8217;s starting ERA in the postseason to 1.48, the lowest ever in a rotation through the first 11 games of the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told him after the game, \u2018You\u2019re one of the best pitchers I\u2019ve ever played with,\u2019\u201d Harper said of Wheeler.  \u201cI\u2019ve played with a lot of good players, and he\u2019s easily in the top three.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler appreciated the sentiment as well as the offensive support.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Schwarber downplayed his accomplishments, saying he&#8217;ll &#8220;appreciate it&#8221; when he&#8217;s done playing baseball.  That doesn&#8217;t mean his teammates can&#8217;t take advantage of his superhuman strength.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a strong country,\u201d Harper said of Schwarber.  &#8220;It&#8217;s amazing. Just the way he goes and the way he swings. He uses that lower half so well. He goes through the floor. Any time you&#8217;re able to put your feet in the floor and stay in the ground. ground, it\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gallen wondered how exactly to stop these Phillies.  He challenged them early in the first game, and it didn&#8217;t work.  On Saturday, Gallen picked up more speed in the first inning \u2013 and they still scored two runs.  He later returned to the fastball, and two of them were propelled into the Chase Field crowd, which was subdued after two nights of exhilarating victories by the home team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing about Harper and Schwarber is that those guys are so smart,\u201d Gallen said.  &#8220;They exist. You have to hope to be one step ahead of them. It&#8217;s difficult. And the fact that they can leave the site at any time is what makes it even more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s wild. Solo homers don&#8217;t beat you, but a team that hits a lot of solo homers, they tend to add up after a while.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Phillies have hit 10 homers in this series alone, and they go home with a one-game advantage.  After losing in Games 3 and 4, Philadelphia got everything it wanted in a Game 5 win.  There is only one game left before the Fall Classic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a great response,\u201d Schwarber said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber launch Phillies to 3-2 NLCS lead\u060c Jesse Rogers, ESPN editorOctober 22, 2023, 6:38 a.m. Close Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. PHOENIX \u2013 Playing their way to a victory away from a return trip to the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2181,2182,2363,118,2084,868,244,2445],"class_list":["post-3539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-bryce","tag-harper","tag-kyle","tag-launch","tag-lead","tag-nlcs","tag-phillies","tag-schwarber"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3541,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions\/3541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}