Wheeler's Gem Leads Philadelphia Phillies to Shutout Victory in NLCS Game 1

The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 1 of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

Zack Wheeler has proved to be worth every penny of the five-year, $118 million contract that he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in Dec. 2019.

In three seasons with Philadelphia, the right-hander has pitched to an impressive 2.82 ERA across 437.1 innings, and now, Wheeler is getting the chance to prove himself in the postseason.

So far, the Phillies' ace has delivered. In Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres, Wheeler tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit, a walk, and striking out eight. 

He absolutely dominated the Padres' lineup, and he very well could have pitched deeper into the game, but Manager Rob Thomson elected to lift him after just 83 pitches. Although it seemed like a decision that could backfire, Seranthony Domínguez entered for the eighth inning, and retired San Diego in order while collecting two punch outs.

José Alvarado was brought in for the ninth inning, looking to pick up the save. The hard-throwing lefty walked Jurickson Profar with one out, and an Alec Bohm error allowed Juan Soto to reach. With two on and only one out, Alvarado got Manny Machado to fly out to right and ended the game with a strikeout of Josh Bell.

The Phillies' offense needed just two runs on three hits to pick up the win in Game 1. Their first run came on a Bryce Harper solo home run to left field in the fourth inning; It was his fourth homer of the postseason.

BRYCE BLAST💣 #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/qwBBaHbxYb

— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) October 19, 2022

Prior to Harper's solo blast, the Phillies' offense was struggling to figure out Padres' starter Yu Darvish. The veteran wound up throwing seven innings and fanning seven batters.

The second run Darvish allowed came in the sixth inning off of the bat of Kyle Schwarber. The slugger mashed his first home run of the playoffs, and it was worth the wait. Schwarber smoked the ball at 119.7 mph, and it traveled 488 ft.

The most majestic Schwarbomb we might ever see💣 pic.twitter.com/MBRmBewvA7

— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) October 19, 2022

After going just 1-for-20 in the previous two series, Schwarber's bat seems to be waking up. He was 2-for-3 with the home run, a single, and a walk in Game 1. Schwarber returning to form would be huge for Philadelphia in this series.

With the 2-0 victory, Philadelphia takes a 1-0 lead in the NLCS. The two teams will be back at it again on Wednesday afternoon at 4:35 p.m. at Petco Park with Aaron Nola on the mound for the Phillies, and Blake Snell for the Padres in Game 2.

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