It'll go down as one of the most iconic blasts in postseason history while highlighting just how dangerous the Phillies lineup can be.
Kyle Schwarber hit an absolute bomb that landed 488 feet away from the plate and into the second deck at Petco Park in the sixth inning on Tuesday night. The ball left his bat at 119.7 mph and gave the Phillies an insurance run, leading to a 2-0 victory in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Bryce Harper also hit a homer in the victory, while Zack Wheeler tossed seven outstanding innings, surrendering one hit.
Aaron Nola will take the mound on Wednesday in Game 2 as the Phillies aim to secure a commanding lead before the series comes to Philadelphia on Friday.
“It's huge,” Harper said. “Anytime you go up 1-0, you kind of take home-field advantage away from them, it is always big for you. That's what we kind of talk about, just coming in, no matter where we were at playing, just trying to win games, no matter what, at all costs.”
The Schwarber blast was historic; it was the hardest-hit and second-farthest postseason homer in the Statcast era dating to 2015.
"A lot of people just looked at me weird," Schwarber said of the moment when he came into the dugout. "But yeah, it was cool. Cool moment. Happy that we got the win overall. The biggest thing here is trying to get a win at the end of the day. It doesn't matter who it is or whatever. If we can get a win at the end of the day, that's what it's about."
Wheeler threw 24 pitches in the opening frame, but settled down nicely. The lone hit came on a Wil Myers single up the middle in the fifth inning. He whiffed eight on the night and walked just one batter.
“I think I had to settle down the nerves a little bit,” Wheeler said. “I had the nerves going. As much as I try to stay calm out there, I'm human, also.”
Wheeler has a 1.40 ERA over three starts this postseason and is a significant reason why the Phillies are sitting just three wins shy of a spot in the World Series.
Seranthony Dominguez needed just nine pitches to toss a clean eighth inning. Jose Alvarado encountered a bit of trouble in the ninth with a walk and an Alec Bohm throwing error, but he got Manny Machado to fly out to rightfield before whiffing Josh Bell to eliminate the threat.
Wheeler had thrown just 83 pitches before being lifted after the seventh. It appeared he could have gone longer, but manager Rob Thomson elected to go to the bullpen.
"I thought [Wheeler's] performance was outstanding," Thomson said. "I mean, he threw 24 pitches in the first inning and then settled right in, got a lot of first-pitch outs, two-seamer was really good. All his pitches were good, secondary pitches. Gave us seven quality innings, and can't say more about it. It was really good."
The Phillies could take a commanding lead with a victory on Wednesday when they face lefty veteran Blake Snell.
"It's huge," Schwarber said. "[We're] looking forward to getting out here tomorrow and playing behind [Nola] and trying to score some runs for him."
