The Phillies defeat the Astros in the opening game thanks to two crucial defensive plays and a strong bullpen.

There are weekends like the Phillies just had in Kansas City, where they outscored the Royals 22-5 over two days, and then there are postseason-style games that the club needs to re-learn how to win.

Monday was a piece to that puzzle, and they did it against a postseason-bound team, too, in the Houston Astros. It wasn’t Zack Wheeler’s best outing, but it was enough to give the offense a chance to battle back. They did, then finished the job in extra innings against one of the best relievers in the sport, who’s been particularly dominant recently.

And two key plays by two of the Phillies’ best defenders gave them the chance to do it.

A laboring Zack Wheeler ran his pitch count up early, but he managed to get by unscathed — until the fourth. Shay Whitcomb hit a bloop double down the left-field line to score two with two outs. It had an expected batting average of .030.
Brandon Marsh has been heating up a bit as of late. He continued that trend in the fifth.

Bryce Harper hit a 105-mph hustle double leading off the sixth, advanced to third on Alec Bohm’s soft grounder to short and scored on a Nick Castellanos RBI knock to tie the game at two.
Matt Strahm stranded the zombie runner in the 10th with the help of two great plays in the field. Harper made a nice scoop on a Yordan Álvarez chopper down the line and raced to tag the base before Johan Rojas robbed Yainer Díaz with a diving play to end the inning.
Harper finished the job with a walk-off single, scoring Schwarber, in the 10th. It came against Josh Hader, who did not appear in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS.

Notes

The Phillies’ bullpen — Orion Kerkering, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez, Matt Strahm — allowed two hits, a walk and no runs in four innings.
Bryson Stott went 2-for-4. He’s 9-for-19 in his current five-game hitting streak.
(This is now 6-for-15 with four strikeouts, but still.)