Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber each homered Saturday night, and Harper stole home to boot, as the Phillies topped the Diamondbacks 6-1 on Saturday night to take a 3-2 lead in the NLCS.
PHOENIX — Slugging and running their way to within one victory of a return trip to the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Saturday night in Game 5 of the NLCS to take a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6 is scheduled for Monday night in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are 6-0 this postseason.
„I think we’ll be in a good position,“ Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, the winning pitcher Saturday, said after the game. „But we can’t think ahead too much. We have to play the game on Monday and get back to Philly, where we like to play.“
Slugger Bryce Harper set the tone for Game 5, stealing home in the first inning, then hitting a 444-foot home run in the sixth. He joined Randy Arozarena as the only players in postseason history to steal home and hit a home run in the same game.
„We’re going to be aggressive right here,“ Harper said.“ Bryson [Stott] had the green light. He went, and I just tried to make the best decision to get there and make it happen to score that run.“
It came after Kyle Schwarber had already crossed the plate with the game’s first run. Arizona starter Zac Gallen was more careful in the opening inning Saturday than he was in Game 1, when Schwarber and Harper homered off him. This time, Schwarber got to first on an infield single before Harper singled him to second and Stott’s single brought him home. That put runners on first and third with JT Realmuto at the plate.
That’s when Harper took off.
„I knew he was going to go,“ Stott said of Harper. „It’s the postseason and Gallen is really good over there and you don’t know how many chances you’re going to get.“
Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno threw down to second as Harper took off for home.
