This World Series Is Showcasing the Many Thrills of Baseball

Also in this Five-Tool Newsletter, Justin Verlander’s comeback season, Houston’s game-saving defense and more.

Jeremy Peña is the first rookie shortstop ever to hit a home run in the World Series :: David J. Phillip/AP

This World Series has been an absolute success so far, a wonderful display of baseball and all the different ways it can thrill us.

First, of course, was the Phillies’ six-run, extra-inning comeback win in Game 1, demonstrating the truth behind the “ain’t over till it’s over” Yogism. It also set up a most-fitting redemption arc for last night’s Game 5 (more on that in a bit).

Game 2 was the perfect follow-up for the opener, because once again the Astros plated five runs off a Philadelphia co-ace, Zack Wheeler in this case, after they did the same against Aaron Nola the night before. And because the Phillies, with all their Team of Destiny vibes from throughout the postseason, had just faced the same deficit and found a way to win, it made a potential second comeback feel not just possible but probable. That Houston held on revealed to us what we had known all along but at the moment couldn’t help but overlook: it’s incredibly difficult for teams to win after trailing 5–0, especially in the World Series.

The first World Series game in Philadelphia since 2009, delayed one night on account of rain, was just as electric as the most extreme forecasts expected. It began with the third spectacular (and surprising) Nick Castellanos sliding catch of the postseason, this time to rob Jose Altuve of a single. Then, with one on and two out in the bottom of the first, Bryce Harper clobbered the most predictable home run of the year when he turned on a hanging curveball from Lance McCullers Jr. This was the first of five home runs smashed by the Large Lovable Lads Who Crush Dingers, and it set the tone for a 7–0 Phillies win.

And then in Game 4, as if by magic, Cristian Javier and his phantom fastball silenced the Philly lineup, which had mashed its way through most of the playoffs and was unstoppable the previous night. Combined no-hitters are stupid, as I wrote in yesterday’s newsletter, but there’s no denying how utterly baffled the Phillies were at the plate. That’s a testament to the four Astros hurlers who held the Philadelphia batters hitless for 27 outs, even if such a joint effort lacks the beauty and mystique of one pitcher taking down an entire team.

Last night’s Game 5 was different from the rest. It featured all the tension that fills all the empty pockets of scoreless space and builds as the game progresses. We never know which play will snap the highwire tightrope we’re all traipsing together, so we hang on every single moment, alternately holding our breaths and inadvertently reacting with yelps, shrieks, nervous laughs, shouts and Keith Hernandez sighs.

Altuve led off with a three-bagger, the most exciting play in baseball. (I say three-bagger instead of triple here because it was technically ruled a double and an error, but that didn’t make it any less exhilarating.) The Phillies brought the infield in with nobody out in the first inning, and rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña grounded one up the middle to give the Astros an early lead.

Then came the first momentum-changing play. Righthander Noah Syndergaard is the worst pitcher in baseball at holding runners on (he allowed 30 steals on 33 attempts) and Peña was 11-for-13 on stolen-base attempts during the regular season. Syndergaard threw over to first four times during the plate appearance to keep Peña honest, but as was the case in Game 2 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Padres when Mookie Betts reached first with Yu Darvish on the mound, almost everybody watching knew at some point Peña would take off for second. Adding even more intrigue was Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, whose 44% caught-stealing rate (30-for-68) led the majors.

The count was 3–and–2 to Yordan Alvarez when Peña took off. Foul ball. He went again on the next pitch, a high fastball above the zone. Alvarez chased it and swung through it. Realmuto ascended from his crouch as the pitch was coming, caught it, quickly turned his body and his glove and grabbed the ball with his throwing hand, brought it parallel to his right ear and snapped a perfect, a low lining one-hopper right to Bryson Stott, who dropped his glove to tag Peña’s extended left arm. Strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. Alex Bregman then struck out on three pitches, and the Phillies avoided what could’ve spiraled into a big inning for Houston.

Moments later, with Astros ace Justin Verlander on the mound looking for his first World Series win, Kyle Schwarber turned on the second pitch he saw and ripped it into the right-field seats. Just like that, Verlander had blown another World Series lead. It was obvious right away that the future Hall of Famer had nowhere near his best stuff—his fastball command was erratic and his breaking pitches were inconsistent. Yet, somehow, that leadoff blast was the only run he surrendered in five innings of work. He seemed to find a bit of a rhythm after escaping a second-inning jam that began with a two-out single Jean Segura single, followed by two walks, and ended when Rhys Hoskins whiffed at a tight, late-breaking slider.

Schwarber has five home runs this postseason :: David J. Phillip/AP

Syndergaard had settled in for the second and third inning, getting some uncharacteristically ugly swings from Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel. Then, the leadoff man in the fourth, Peña, fouled off a couple of tough two-strike pitches before launching a solo home run to left, his second go-ahead RBI in as many at bats, knocking Syndergaard from the game.

That was all of the scoring until the top of the eighth, despite several prime opportunities for each team to push one across. Harper smoked a double with two outs in the fifth, and free-swinger Nick Castellanos worked a 10-pitch at bat before he flew out to left. The Astros got two on in the sixth against José Alvarado before Tucker grounded out to end the threat; the Phillies did the same in the home half of the inning but Schwarber stranded them.

In the seventh, Gurriel led off with a bloop double—which ricocheted off the glove of a diving Brandon Marsh in shallow center—off Philadelphia’s highest-leverage right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez, and advanced to third on a wild pitch with nobody out. However, after a groundout, Gurriel ran on contact on a grounder to third baseman Alec Bohm, who fired home to Realmuto, beginning a rundown that ended as an unusual 5–2–6–3 fielder’s choice. Gurriel took a knee to the head trying to avoid Hoskins’s tag, and at first remained in the game but was replaced by Trey Mancini the next inning.

The Astros began the eighth with runners on the corners and nobody out for Alvarez, prompting Phillies manager Rob Thomson to bring in veteran righthander David Robertson, who induced a grounder to first. Hoskins, charging hard to try and get Altuve breaking for the plate, knocked it down but couldn’t corral it. By the time he picked it up, his only play was at first. The play went in the book as an unassisted putout at first, but it was a defensive miscue on a grounder that a better first baseman probably would’ve made. Two-run Astros lead.

Philadelphia also finally scored again in the eighth, when Segura roped a single to score Castellanos and chase reliever Rafael Montero from the game. Closer Ryan Pressly entered for a five-out save, something he had never done in any of his previous 39 postseason appearances. After a strikeout of Marsh, Schwarber rocketed a ground ball down the first-base line that was destined for a double to drive home the game-tying and, possibly, go-ahead run. Except Mancini, playing his first inning at first base since Oct. 5 (the final day of the regular season) after subbing in for the injured Gurriel, reached toward the line, tumbled over and somehow gloved the shot to preserve the lead.

Two eighth-inning grounders to first base for each team, one botched and one snagged, made the difference in Houston’s one-run win. If the game was played again, with the events taking place prior to the eighth inning and in the lead-up to each of the two plays within their respective half-inning, the outcome could have been the opposite. After all, Hoskins had the easier play, and he’s the one who has been playing first base for his team every game. Yet, because this is postseason baseball, Mancini is the defensive hero and the Astros head back home leading the series, 3–2.

Have any questions or comments for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

1. THE OPENER

Verlander entered last night’s Game 5 with an 0–6 record and a 6.07 ERA in eight World Series starts :: Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

“Justin Verlander was dripping with water, beer, mustard, ketchup and happiness. Laundry will take care of the liquids and condiments. The joy never will be cleansed.”

That’s how Tom Verducci begins his excellent feature story from this morning about Verlander. In the piece, Tom details Verlander’s return from Tommy John surgery, his dominant regular season, his previous World Series struggles and, finally, his first Fall Classic win.

Justin Verlander Completes Incredible Comeback Season With First World Series Win by Tom Verducci
The Astros ace returned from Tommy John surgery and once again was the best pitcher in the American League. Still, there was one thing missing.

2. ICYMI

Let’s get you caught up on our two other stories from Game 5.

Trey Mancini Saves the Astros With His Glove as His Impact Bat Fails Him by Stephanie Apstein
The former Orioles star was traded to Houston to add some thump to the lineup. Instead, his signature moment came on defense.

Three Thoughts as the Astros Outlast the Phillies in World Series Game 5 by Emma Baccellieri
Jeremy Peña had three key hits to put Houston one win away from its second title in franchise history.

3. WORTH NOTING from Matt Martell

Earlier in the newsletter, I wrote about how dreadful Syndergaard was this season in preventing stolen bases (not to mention throughout his career). Intriguingly, though, he was much better once he was traded to the Phillies. Indeed, 25 of the 26 swipes he allowed came in his 15 starts with the Angels, an abysmal 4% caught-stealing rate; runners were 5-for-7 in the 10 games (nine starts) he pitched with Philadelphia. That’s a 29% caught-stealing rate; the league average is 25%. Part of this improvement was probably due to having Realmuto behind the dish, but Max Stassi, the starting catcher in Anaheim, is not a bad thrower. He caught 12 of the 56 runners attempting to steal off him this year (21%), and if you exclude the 17 steals against Stassi with Syndergaard pitching, his caught-stealing rate is actually well above average (31%). All of this indicates why Syndergaard, for any Strat-o-Matic players out there, has a +9 hold rating, and speaks to the perfection of Realmuto’s throw last night.

4. W2W4 from Nick Selbe

And just like that, the Astros are one win away. After taking a 2–1 series lead with a pair of home games ahead, the Phillies have been outscored, 8–2, and hit a combined 6-for-50 with 26 strikeouts, moving their season to the brink. It will be up to Zack Wheeler to keep them alive on Saturday, giving way to a to-be-determined pitching matchup in a potential Game 7. Wheeler was untouchable in the run-up to the World Series, but faltered in his Game 2 start, allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings with three walks and just three strikeouts. It will be a tall task for the Phillies to win twice on the road, but this is precisely the situation the Nationals were in back in 2019—trailing in the series, 3–2, heading back to Houston. There are a lot of parallels with these Phillies and the ‘19 Nats, so it would be a fitting conclusion to the story if Philadelphia is able to come back. Up against Framber Valdez and, potentially, Cristian Javier again, they most definitely would have earned it.

5. THE CLOSER from Matt Martell

With this spectacular catch, Astros center fielder and lifelong Phillies fan Chas McCormick crushed the souls of his closest friends who were rooting for Philadelphia :: Matt Slocum/AP

As most of you probably know by now, Astros center fielder Chas McCormick, who is from Westchester, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, was a huge Phillies fan growing up, and most of his loved ones root for the Phillies. Several of his close friends told Stephanie Apstein before the games in Philly that they’d be rooting for their buddy to have an excellent World Series, so long as he didn’t get in the way of a Phillies win. Well then, the final defensive gem of Game 5 must have been especially soul crushing for them.

Leading off the ninth with Philly down a run, Realmuto hammered a slider 387 feet into right-center. Off the bat, it looked like it’d be a game-tying homer, but it at least would’ve been a double, maybe even a triple. And, don’t forget, he had an inside-the-park home run at Citizens Bank Park in Game 4 of the NLDS vs. Atlanta. However many extra bases it would’ve been, it was trouble for Houston. Except, of course, for McCormick, who raced it down, covering 92 feet, before leaping and banging against the wall to make the catch.

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.