Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Phillies social team
It started with Bryce Harper’s sixth home run of the postseason and the Philadelphia Phillies never looked back as they piled on four more bombs on Houston Astros’ starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. to take Game 3 of the World Series 7-0.
The series was elongated by a day after Mother Nature pushed Game 3 in Philadelphia from Halloween night to the start of November.
However, the Phillies made sure the weather didn’t put a damper on the city’s parade as the team defended Citizens Bank Park emphatically.
For the first time in 13 years, the Phillies not only hosted a World Series game for the first time but were the first to score in bringing back the Fall Classic to the city as star outfielder Bryce Harper continues to cement his case for World Series MVP with a no-doubter.
The no doubter of all no doubters 😱
Philadelphia is going WILD.
📺: FOX and the FOX Sports App pic.twitter.com/3NxznCXDtm
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 2, 2022
“It’s our fanbase,” Harper said after the game of the home-field advantage. “They keep us going, keep us fired up. They believe in us and we believe in them.
With Philly in an absolute frenzy, the Phillies followed up with a solo shot from Alec Bohm in the second inning and then another from Brandon Marsh.
The loudest of the home runs came from the left-handed Kyle Schwarber, who launched a home run to dead center, capping the shutout win to take command of the series.
HOLY SCHWAR-BOMB 😱 443 FEET! pic.twitter.com/hdryEJXC8v
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 2, 2022
With the Phillies having the one-up on McCullers with five home runs in the 20 batters he faced, talks of the right-hander tipping his pitches came into question. There’s no rule against a team figuring out what a pitcher might throw and Philadelphia took full advantage.
“We just had a great approach,” Harper said. “We said before the game to try to get on him early and try to get on him often. He’s a really good postseason pitcher so we had to get the jump on him early. We got to keep it going the next few days.”
Ranger Suarez went to work on the mound for Philadelphia and shut the Astros down across five innings, only allowing three hits and striking out four. The bullpen, anchored by Andrew Bellattti, backed up Suarez with four shutout innings.
Game 4 will be back in Citizens Bank Park Wednesday night as Houston is expected to send Cristian Javier out to try to even the series again while Phillies ace Aaron Nola will try to give his team a commanding 3-1 series lead. The game is scheduled to air on FOX at 8:03 p.m. ET.
