PHILADELPHIA – The ball left J.T. Realmuto’s bat and a stadium roaring with anticipation seemed to grow silent.
Citizens Bank Park is a cozy ballyard, not known to contain well-hit balls, and so when Houston Astros center fielder Chas McCormick glided to his left toward the fence, the World Series in the balance, a command performance from the Houston Astros bullpen and a career milestone from their ace in jeopardy, the championship fate of two clubs lingered in the balance.
“I thought it had a really good shot to go out,” says Astros first baseman Trey Mancini. “When he jumped up, I was holding my breath.”
Seconds later, Houston could exhale.
McCormick’s fantastic catch against the fence in right center field culminated an excellent night of pitching and added to the frustration of a Philadelphia Phillies team that was stymied for two consecutive games. Moments later, the Astros secured a 3-2, Game 5 victory that left them with two shots at home to capture their second World Series championship in six years.
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Game 6 will be Saturday night at Minute Maid Park, after the clubs fly to the Southwest on Friday. There will be plenty to unpack from a pivotal, unforgettable Game 5.
Start with Justin Verlander, the 39-year-old ace who toted an 0-6 record, a 6.07 ERA and a dose of self-doubt from eight previous World Series starts. Verlander gutted through five innings, surviving a bases-loaded mess in the second inning and a 10-pitch battle royale against Nick Castellanos, his final batter of the night, to end the damage.
Continue with rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña, who drove in Houston’s first two runs with a single and a home run, adding to his lore as a clutch player less than seven months after his debut.
And finish with a bullpen that has put together the greatest run in postseason history, crystallizing in a heroic escape by closer Ryan Pressly, who came in with two runners on oin the eighth and high-wired his way to a five-out save, the penultimate coming on McCormick’s catch.
“I just keep replaying Chas jumping into the wall for me,” says Pressly, who has saved five postseason games for the Astros. “I think I owe him a beer, or dinner, or something.
“That’s the beauty of our defense. If you make a mistake, they can bail you out.”
So, too, can the bullpen.
One night after covering the final three innings of the first combined no-hitter in World Series history, the Astros’ relief corps took up for their 39-year-old ace who was good for just five innings, stared down a fearsome group of Phillies sluggers and survived until their offense could provide just enough wriggle room.
And while Bryan Abreu and Pressly may not find their names engraved on an MVP trophy, for the second consecutive night, they dominated when it mattered most.
Citizens Bank Park emptied out for the final time this year in the wee hours, but the famously raucous facility found itself silenced all night, first by Verlander, who recorded his first career World Series victory in his ninth attempt, and then by a bullpen quartet that wobbled but never wavered against the roaring pleas of the 45,693 on hand.
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Why would they start now?
After covering the final four innings, striking out six and giving up one run, the postseason numbers look like this: Just five earned runs allowed in 51 ⅓ innings, 67 strikeouts and just 21 hits. Their 0.88 ERA is the best in postseason history for any bullpen with at least 45 innings pitched, bettering the 2013 Red Sox’s 1.28 mark.
And in Game 5, the Astros needed them more than ever.
The final dose of dominance came from closer Pressly, who stranded two runners in the eighth inning and then retired the heart of the order in the ninth.
McCormick’s catch was the centerpiece.
“It sounded good. I thought he hit it out,” says McCormick of Realmuto. “I was going no matter what, I reached up, and I thought about playing basketball.
“I used to be able to dunk a basketball. I’d go up like an alley oop.”
This time, he dunked on the Phillies.
Pressly then hit Bryce Harper with a two-out pitch before retiring Nick Castellanos to end it.
Exhale.
After winning 106 games and easily capturing the AL West, after sweeping aside the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees to win their first seven playoff games to reach yet another World Series, and after big innings led to simpler victories in World Series Games 2 and 4, the Astros found themselves in a game tense enough to churn stomachs.
The hairiest point came in the bottom of the eighth inning, after Hector Neris and Abreu covered the first six outs but Rafael Montero, part of the combined no-hit magic a night earlier, finally faltered, walking two and giving up Jean Segura’s RBI single that cut the deficit to 3-2 and parked the tying run at third and go-ahead run at first. A moribund ballpark thrummed with anticipation.
But manager Dusty Baker sensed the game was in front of him and did not hesitate, summoning Pressly for a five-out save.
The execution was swift.
Pressly, a right-hander facing two lefties in the biggest spot of the year, simply snapped off a series of nasty curveballs, punching out Brandon Marsh with three consecutive sliders, with the dangerous Kyle Schwarber next.
He induced a foul ball on yet another slider before leaning on his curve to get Schwarber off balance. Finally, he clubbed a slider over to first base, where reserve Trey Mancini short-hopped the ball and simply stepped on the bag.
The biggest threat – the tensest inning in this Series since the 10-inning Game 1 – was over. And Pressly continued the magic in the ninth, attacking the heart of the order to notch his fifth save this postseason. It was just his second five-out save this season, and it came one night after Pressly threw 19 pitches in Game 4.
“Just because it’s a little bit louder, and there’s more lights, more cameras and it’s on a bigger stage, it don’t matter. You still got to make quality pitches,” says Pressly. “When you do that, when you slow your heartbeat down, you’re going to have success.”
A well-deserved off day awaits.
Verlander, roasted badly in his final two innings of work in Game 1, gave up a home run to Schwarber on the first pitch he threw. That would be the final run he’d allow, but the road was not always smooth.
No sequence was bigger than the second inning, when walks to No. 9 batter Brandon Marsh and Schwarber loaded the bases for Rhys Hoskins. Verlander, after throwing eight balls in his previous 10 pitches, somehow found himself, jumping ahead of Hoskins 0-and-2 before striking him out with a slider.
The Phillies would place just one more runner in scoring position until the fifth, when Bryce Harper hit a two-out double. Verlander was at 84 pitches. Castellanos would be his final batter.
And as Verlander emptied the tank, Castellanos refused to let him go easily, staying alive with emergency hacks and working Verlander for 10 pitches, including five foul balls. But Verlander won the battle, getting Castellanos to fly to right.
His night was done, with a win soon to follow. Come Saturday night, another championship opportunity awaits.
“There’s going to be a lot of energy in our park,” says Baker.
