Friday, October 28, 2022 – 8:03 p.m. EDT – Minute Maid Park – World Series Game 1; Road 1 – FOX/94WIP
RHP Aaron Nola (2-1, 3.12 ERA) vs RHP Justin Verlander (1-0, 6.30 ERA)
NLCS RECAP: The Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres, 4-1, in a best-of-7 National League Championship Series for the franchise’s eighth National League pennant … After splitting games 1 and 2 in San Diego, the Phillies returned home to Citizens Bank Park where they won the next three games.
GAME ONE: Philadelphia is 18-7 all-time in Game 1 of a postseason series and their .720 winning percentage in Game 1 ranks 2nd among all MLB clubs in history (min. 10 G) behind only BAL (17-6, .739) … They are 9-2 (.818) all-time in Game 1’s on the road and have won six straight: Game 1 of the 2008 World Series at TB, Game 1 of the 2009 NLCS at LAD, Game 1 of the 2009 World Series at NYY, Game 1 of the 2022 National League Wild Card Series at STL, Game 1 of the 2022 NLDS at ATL and Game 1 of the 2022 NLCS at SD … Philadelphia’s .818 winning percentage in Game 1’s on the road is best among all MLB clubs in history (next: BAL, 7-2, .778) and they are only the second MLB club in history to win six consecutive postseason Game 1’s on the road, joining the San Francisco Giants (9 straight), Oct. 2, 2002-Oct. 5, 2016.
REMEMBER THE FIGHTINS: After starting the season 21-29, the Phillies went 66-46 the rest of the way to clinch their first postseason berth since 2011 … The Phillies are only the fifth team in major league history to start 21-29 or worse through their first 50 games and then make the World Series, joining the 2019 Washington Nationals (19-31 start), 2005 Houston Astros (18-32 start), 2003 Florida Marlins (21-29) and 1914 Boston Braves (20-30).
FOUR MORE, THOMPER: The Phillies are National League champions for the eighth time in franchise history (1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2022) and four wins away from their third World Series title (1980, 2008) … At 9-2, Philadelphia’s nine wins this postseason are most among all MLB clubs (next: HOU, 7) and their .818 winning percentage ranks 2nd among all MLB clubs in the postseason behind only Houston (7-0).
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS: The Phillies and Astros are facing off in the postseason for only the second time ever, the previous instance being the 1980 National League Championship Series, a best-of-five which Philadelphia won 3-2 … The Phillies and Astros last met earlier this month in the final series of the 2022 regular season, Oct. 3-5, 25 days ago … Per Elias, this World Series marks the first time that two clubs met in the World Series after playing their final series of the regular season against each other.
RISP AND REWARD: This postseason, the Phillies are slashing .295/.366/.474 in 96 plate appearances with runners in scoring position – their .295 AVG ranks 3rd out of all 12 MLB clubs who made the postseason, and their .840 OPS ranks 4th … The Phillies finished the regular season with a .269 AVG with RISP which ranked 3rd in MLB behind only LAD (.272) and HOU (.270).
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DOC: In his last start in this ballpark, Aaron Nola sent the Phillies to the postseason for the first time since 2011, on the same mound, in the same park, where the Phillies last clinched a postseason berth on Sept. 14, 2011 … In that game, Hall-of-Famer Roy Halladay tossed a 9.0-inning complete game shutout – striking out Jose Altuve to end the game … In 2022, Aaron Nola retired the first batter he faced, Jose Altuve and the next 19 batters in order and was perfect into the 7th inning … Nola became the first Phillies pitcher to retire the first 20 batters of a game in order since Halladay did so in his perfect game, May 29, 2010 at FLA … Nola, who led all MLB pitchers in fWAR this season at 6.3, became the first Phils pitcher to lead MLB in fWAR since Halladay in 2011 (8.7).
BEDLAM AT THE BANK™: The Phillies have won all five postseason games at Citizens Bank Park this year … All-time in the postseason at CBP, the Phillies are 21-9 (.700 win %) with a +62 run differential (169-107) … Since Oct. 3, 2007, the day CBP hosted its first postseason game, Philadelphia’s .700 winning % during the postseason at home is best in MLB (min. 25 G) – the Astros at Minute Maid rank 2nd (.651), Red Sox at Fenway 3rd (.649), Giants at Oracle 4th (.643) and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium 5th (.623) … Per Elias, the Phillies are only the fourth team in MLB history to reach 20 wins in as few games at a home venue in the postseason, joining the Cardinals at Busch Stadium III (20-9, from 2006-13), Cardinals at Busch II (21- 8, from 1967-1996) and the Mets at Shea Stadium (20-9, from 1969-2000) … Over their last 28 postseason games at CBP (since 10/1/08), the Phillies are 21-7 (.750 winning %).
RED OCTOBER: Since Oct. 1, 2008, there are 11 major league clubs who have played at least 40 G in the postseason and of those 11, the Phillies have the best winning percentage at .667 (36-18) … The Giants rank 2nd at .655 (38-20), the Astros (.605) rank 3rd, Red Sox 4th at .565, Dodgers 5th at .526, Yankees 6th at .506, Braves 7th at .500, Rangers 8th at .476, Cardinals 9th at .456, Cubs 10th at .452 and Rays 11th at .452.
MR. OCTOBER: 2021 National League MVP Bryce Harper is slashing .419/.444/.907 in 46 plate appearances (11 G) this postseason … He is 18-for-43 at the plate with 11 extra-base hits (6 2B, 5 HR), 10 runs and 11 RBI … He has reached base safely in all 11 games this postseason and has hit safely in 10 straight (.450 AVG, since 10/8) … His 11 extra-base hits are the most in a single postseason in franchise history and rank t-6th all-time among MLB players in a single postseason (Randy Arozarena (2020 with TB) and David Freese (2011 with STL) hold the ML record with 14 XBH) … There have been 872 players with at least 40 plate appearances in a single postseason in MLB history – among those 872, Harper’s .419 AVG ranks T-9th, his .444 OBP ranks 45th, his .907 SLG ranks 5th, his 1.351 OPS ranks 6th and his .526 wOBA ranks 4th.
WIN ONE FOR THE TOPPER: On Oct. 10, the Phillies announced that Rob Thomson signed a two-year contract as manager for the 2023 and 2024 seasons … Thomson, the 56th manager in Phillies history, has been with the club since Dec. 5, 2017, when he was first hired as bench coach … Thomson, 59, took over a Phillies club that was 22-29 (.431 winning percentage) entering play on June 3 and guided them to a 65- 46 record (.586 winning percentage) and the franchise’s first postseason berth since 2011 … Per Elias, Thomson, is the first Canadian born manager to ever manage a game in the postseason … Thomson is only the fourth manager in MLB history to take over a team at least seven games under .500 and lead them to the postseason – he is joined by Dick Howser in 1981 with the Royals, Cito Gaston in 1989 with the Blue Jays and Jim Tracy in 2009 with the Rockies.
PHILLIES INFO
Record: 87-75
Home: 47-34
Road: 40-41
Current Streak: Lost 2
Last 5 Games: 3-2
Last 10 Games: 4-6
Series Record: 24-22-5
Sweeps/Swept: 8/8
Run Differential: 747-685 (+62)
- Regular season totals only
PHILLIES VS. ASTROS
2022 Record: 1-2
2022 at Home: 0-0
2022 at HOU: 1-2
All-Time Record: 294-281
All-Time at Citizens Bank Park: 16-18
All-Time at Minute Maid Park: 19-29
Current Streak: Lost 2
- Regular season totals only
PHILLIES ON ROAD
Games Played: 81
Record: 40-41
Run Differential: 351-349 (+2)
AVG/OBP/SLG: .247/.309/.404
Runs/Runs Per Game: 351/4.3
Home Runs: 98
Stolen Bases: 62
ERA: 4.21
Starters W-L: 26-27
Starters ERA: 3.95
Relievers W-L: 14-14
Relievers ERA: 4.67
Saves/Opp: 22/31
PHILLIES AT A GLANCE
March: N/A Monday: 9-4
April: 11-11 Tuesday: 8-17
May: 10-18 Wednesday: 15-10
June: 19-8 Thursday: 12-7
July: 15-10 Friday: 17-9
Aug: 18-11 Saturday: 16-11
Sept: 11-14
October: 3-3
Sunday: 10-17
vs NL East: 41-35 Day: 24-28
vs NL Central: 20-13
vs NL West: 17-16
Night: 63-47
vs AL: 9-11
- Regular season totals only
AARON NOLA • RHP #27
Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 Age: 29 (born: 6/4/93)
2022: 11-13, 3.25 ERA Career: 78-62, 3.60 ERA
TONIGHT’S START:
• First Round to Fall Classic: Nola, selected No. 14 overall in 2014 by PHI, is just the second Phillies draft pick to start Game 1 of a World Series for the team, joining Cole Hamels in 2008 … Aside from those two, only four other Phillies draft picks (Brett Myers, Charles Hudson, Dick Ruthven and Larry Christenson) started any World Series game for the team, and all but Hudson (12th round) were first-round picks
• Start Off Strong: Seven different pitchers have started Game 1 of a World Series for the Phillies: Cliff Lee (2009), Hamels (2008), Curt Schilling (1993), John Denny (1983), Bob Walk (1980), Jim Konstanty (1950) and Grover Cleveland Alexander (1915) … Those pitchers were 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the last 4 World Series Game 1s, all of which have come on the road
• Houston, We Have a Problem: Nola started the postseason clincher on 10/3 at HOU, retiring the first 20 batters he faced in a career-long 6.2-inning perfect game bid … He was the first Phils pitcher to retire the first 20 batters since Roy Halladay in his perfect game, 5/29/10 at FLA … Nola has tossed 12.2 scoreless IP with a 0.55 WHIP (1 BB, 6 H), 1 XBH (2B) and 19 SO in his first 2 career starts against HOU, both of which came in years HOU won at least the AL pennant (2017 and 2022) … Since 2017, Nola is the only pitcher in baseball to have multiples scoreless starts with 1 BB or fewer and 9 or more SO against HOU, let alone consecutively
2022 POSTSEASON:
NOLA – 2022 POSTSEASON
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2-1 3.12 3 3 17.1 16 7 6 3 18
• Nola’s 11.2-inning scoreless streak to begin his playoff career was the longest ever by a Phillie … He had a 19.1-inning scoreless streak from 9/28-10/14, encompassing 5.0 IP in the Phillies’ first home playoff game in 11 years, a Wild Card Series-clinching game and a postseason-berth-clinching game
• With 2 starts of at least 6.0 IP and 0 ER in his first 2 career playoff starts, Nola became just the third pitcher since 1992 (and 1st Phillie ever) to begin his postseason career with 2 such starts, joining Corey Kluber (2, 2016) and Matt Cain (3, 2010)
• Held STL scoreless for 6.2 IP in the NLWCS-clinching Game 2 on 10/8 in his first career postseason start
• His 203 starts were most ever by a Phillie whose whole career was spent with the team before making his first postseason start and second most among all active pitchers (Jordan Lyles, 214)
• Became the second Phillie ever to start a postseason berth-clinching game and a postseason series-clinching game in the same year joining Cole Hamels in 2010 (9/26 vs NYM, NLDS Game 3 vs CIN)
• Became the 2nd Phillie ever to deliver a scoreless start in a potential postseason series clincher on 10/8 at STL, joining Cole Hamels, who shut out CIN on 10/10/10, in Game 3 of the NLDS
ROAD:
• 2022: 5-9, 3.00 ERA (36 ER, 108.0 IP) in 16 starts
• Career: 34-38, 4.05 ERA (270 ER, 600.2 IP) in 102 starts
2022 SEASON:
• NL rankings: 1st in fWAR (6.3), SO/BB (8.10), BB% (3.6%), BB/9.0 IP (1.27), T-1st in SHO (1), 2nd in IP (205.0), bWAR (4.0), CG (2), 3rd in SO (235), SO% (29.1%), T-3rd in starts (32), 4th in WHIP (0.96), SO/9.0 IP (10.32), OPP OBP (.256), 7th in OPP AVG (.219), 8th in OPP OPS (.603), 9th in HR/9.0 IP (0.94), OPP SLG (.347)
• Nola finished 2022 with the following all-time Phillies rankings (for rate stats, min. 1,000 IP): 1st in SO/BB (4.23), SO% (27.5%) & SO/9.0 IP (10.11), 4th in WHIP (1.13) & 10+ SO games (27), 7th in SO (1,380), 8th in bWAR (29.9), 9th in fWAR (29.9), 10th in starts (203), 11th in quality starts (113, since ER became official in 1912)
• Struck out a career-best 235 batters and issued just 29 walks, joining Jim Whitney (270 SO, 27 BB, 336.0 IP for 1884 Boston Beaneaters, when a BB was 6 balls) as the only pitchers ever with 220 or more strikeouts and fewer than 30 walks in a season
• Led all pitchers with 6.3 fWAR, becoming the first Phillie to lead all pitchers in fWAR since Halladay in 2011 (8.7)
• His 8.10 SO/BB was the best ever by a qualifying Phillies pitcher and the 18th-best in ML history
• Surpassed 220 strikeouts for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season (2018-19, 2021-22), becoming the only Phillie with four 220-strikeout seasons before age 30 and second at any age (Carlton)
• Surpassed 200.0 IP for the third time (others: 2018-19) and made 30 or more starts for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season
CAREER:
• His 10.11 SO/9.0 IP (1380 SO, 1,228.1 IP) is 10th-best all-time (min. 1,000 IP)
