The Phillies opened their NL wild-card round matchup against the Cardinals with a bang Friday thanks to a historic showing in the ninth inning.
After going scoreless through eight innings, Philadelphia stunned St. Louis with a six-run rally in the final frame to overcome a 2–0 deficit and claim a 6–3 Game 1 victory.
The Phillies joined rare company following their unlikely win as they are now the first MLB team in postseason history to score six-plus runs in the ninth inning or later when entering the inning scoreless, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Philly is also just the 10th playoff team in history to achieve the feat.
Friday’s thrilling finish began with the bases loaded as Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm stepped up to the plate. Facing Cards closer Ryan Helsley with one out, Bohm watched the first pitch go by for a ball and recorded a foul ball on the second pitch before getting the hit on the third.
The play brought All-Star J.T. Realmuto home from third base as infielder Edmundo Sosa came into the game for an injured Bohm. From there, the Phillies bats began to heat up in short order as shortsop Jean Segura crushed a two-run single to drive in Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper from second and third, respectively.
The barrage continued with the next batter in infielder Bryson Stott who grounded into fielder’s choice to bring Sosa home. Brandon Marsh then added a single to drive Segura in followed by Kyle Schwarber sac fly to center on the ensuing at-bat to bring Stott in. The inning finally ended after Rhys Hoskins struck out looking.
Phillies reliever Zach Eflein eventually salted the game after influencing two flyouts and striking out Cards great Yadier Molina while giving up one run.
After kicking off the series in emphatic fashion, the Phillies won’t have long to celebrate their historic accomplishment. The teams will meet for Game 2 on Saturday at 8:37 p.m. ET.
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