Built For Power, The Phillies Are Two Wins Away From A World Series Championship

Image credit: Bryce Harper (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies sought power, paid for power and got power.

As a result, they’re two wins away from a World Series championship.

The Phillies bashed five home runs off Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. to roll to a 7-0 rout of the Astros in Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night. The Phillies lead the Astros two games to one heading into Game 4 on Wednesday.

Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins all homered as the Phillies tied the record for the most home runs hit in a World Series game. McCullers became the first pitcher to ever give up five homers in a single World Series game.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Harper, whose two-run homer in the first inning got the scoring started. “I mean, we all talk about the top of our lineup, right, but also the bottom of our lineup … they’ve shown up all year long.

“Each guy in our lineup, we have all the faith in the world in them to go out there and perform, and we just gotta keep doing that the next two days.”

The Phillies power came from all avenues. Harper and Schwarber, two free agents they invested significant money in, each launched two-run homers. Hoskins and Bohm, two draftees turned homegrown starters on a World Series team, each had solo shots. Marsh, a midseason trade deadline acquisition, added his second homer of the postseason.

In free agency, the draft and trades, the Phillies added power. On baseball’s biggest stage, they are reaping the benefits of it.

“I mean, again, a lot of really good hitters in the lineup” said Bohm, whose homer in the second inning was the 1000th home run in World Series history. “I think tonight we were locked in and collectively we got a few mistakes and we didn’t miss them. On any given night you can get those mistakes and maybe foul it off or miss it or whatever, but tonight we had a couple homers that didn’t really go out by much and a couple that went out by a lot.”

 

Teams are now 22-6 when they outhomer their opponents this postseason. Teams are also 25-8 when they outhit their opponent, a nearly equivalent winning percentage.

The Phillies, to be clear, are capable of hitting for both contact and power. They’ve actually outhit their opponents more times (eight) than they’ve outhomered them (seven) during this postseason, an aspect of their game they are intentional about highlighting.

“(The power) is a lot of fun,” Hoskins said. “But I also think too that we have enough guys sprinkled in through the lineup that they get on base, that maybe play with a little bit more speed. It’s not just all slug.

“I think that when you couple those things together, you can score runs quickly. And we’ve shown an ability to do that and I think that the rest of baseball knows that. We can score runs in a hurry, and that type of fear is something that it’s great to have.”

Indeed, the Phillies have instilled that fear in opponents. They have hit 22 home runs in only 14 games this postseason and are averaging nearly three home runs per game at home in the playoffs. Again and again, their power has been on display when the stakes are highest to and propel them through their Cinderella run. 

From Kyle Schwarber’s 488-foot shot at Petco Park to Bryce Harper’s NLCS-winning homer to J.T. Realmuto’s go-ahead blast in extra innings in Game 1 of the World Series to Tuesday’s record-tying performance, the Phillies power has created signature moments throughout the postseason.

Now, in large part because of it, they’re just two wins away from a World Series championship.

“I think it’s just a collective group effort of just having good at-bats and trying to move the line along and get the next guy up and set him up for success,” Bohm said. “And you know, you look back and Schwarber hit one 450 feet and Bryce is coming up now. It’s a deep lineup, so I think when we get momentum and guys are building on each other, that just kind of happens.”