PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies put a 7-0 hurt on the Astros in World Series Game 3 on Tuesday, and they are now set up incredibly well for Game 4 on Wednesday. The Astros pitching staff is in great shape as well, but that's due to how deep they are. The Phillies have a 2-1 series lead and find themselves in the Fall Classic driver's seat due to some luck, good play and help from the opposing dugout.
On the luck side, the rainout for Game 3 helped them. Their pitching staff isn't nearly as deep as the Astros so the extra day off allowed them to go with lefty Ranger Suárez in Game 3, even though he was used in relief in their Game 1 victory. Generally speaking, too, this is a team with a pitching staff where they basically want to use a small handful of relievers in high-leverage situations and they were able to avoid using those pitchers in Game 2 before two days off.
Oh, and they avoided using any of their most important relievers in Game 3, too.
On the good play part, we've got to give the Phillies props for their Game 3 performance. The Astros have been a juggernaut all season and were 7-0 in the playoffs coming into this series. And the Phillies thoroughly dominated the Astros on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. One could focus on the Lance McCullers Jr. start, but at the end of the day, the Phillies pounded him with excellent approach and the Astros didn't even score a single run.
Astros manager Dusty Baker gets an assist, too.
Baker in Game 1 stuck with starting pitcher Justin Verlander too long and the third time through the order got his ace as the Phillies stormed back to win.
Tuesday night in Game 3, it was 4-0 Phillies when the third time of the order came up against McCullers. Lefty-swinging Kyle Schwarber came to bat against the righty with a runner on base. Schwarber was one of the best sluggers this season against slow breaking stuff (.525 slugging percentage). He also led the NL with 46 homers. He just hit three home runs in the NLCS. There was just no reason at all for McCullers to face Schwarber.
And then Schwarber homered to make it 6-0. And Baker still left McCullers in the game. Rhys Hoskins, the next batter, hit the Phillies' fifth and final homer of the night.
"The thought process was the fact that he had had two good innings, two real good innings, and then they hit a blooper, a homer, and then I couldn't get anybody loose," said Baker after the game.
Just like that, the Phillies had stud lefty reliever José Alvarado sit down in the bullpen. Stud righty Seranthony Domínguez never even had to throw, nor did third and fourth options Zach Eflin and David Robertson.
Had the score remained 4-0, surely Phillies manager Rob Thomson would have at least used Alvarado and Domínguez for a few outs, meaning they'd be available for Game 4 but not as fresh and then that would have potentially compromised a Game 5 plan of going bullpen heavy behind starter Noah Syndergaard.
Instead, the Schwarber and Hoskins home runs opened things up and Thomson didn't need his big bullpen guns.
The third time through the order thing is not some newfangled, made-up nonsense. MLB hitters this season hit .238 with a .688 OPS the first time they saw a pitcher in a game and .264 with a .770 OPS the third time they saw one. Plus, given that this is the World Series, the hitters and relievers are better than average.
There's also this stat: So far in the World Series, the starting pitchers have given up 23 of the 25 runs -- and one of the reliever runs allowed was unearned. Astros starters have given up 13 runs and six of those came the third time through. Astros relievers have given up two runs total.
To circle back to Baker's quote, it's worth pointing out that he had ample time to decide to have someone in the bullpen ready for the third time through the order. He still needs to be better at being proactive instead of reactive in the playoffs. Saying you didn't have time to get a pitcher ready just doesn't cut it. This isn't the regular season. These are all must-win games and he's losing his battle with Thomson, who is managing each game like they absolutely have to win it. And the astounding thing here is the Astros have such a deep and talented bullpen. There's really no reason at all to desperately try to get a starting pitcher through the fourth or fifth or sixth inning.
As noted in the intro, the Astros are still in really good shape with their pitching heading to Game 4. They have a great starter in Cristian Javier going and they didn't burn any of their best relievers in Game 3, either. They are also losing the series, 2-1, and had the chance to make the Phillies lean heavily on the likes of Alvarado, Domínguez, Eflin and maybe Robertson.
Instead, Baker's stubborn sticking with McCullers -- and, again, Verlander in Game 1 -- along with the Phillies' excellent play and the weather have put the Phillies on top and in excellent position.
