Zack Wheeler and two relievers combined on a one-hitter as the Philadelphia Phillies shut out the San Diego Padres 2-0 in Game 1 of the 2022 National League Championship Series at Petco Park.
Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber hit solo home runs, giving Wheeler all the runs he would need as Philadelphia stole home-field advantage from San Diego.
Padres starter Yu Darvish was terrific, giving up just three hits on two runs and with the bullpen not allowing anything, the combined four hits matched the fewest ever in a postseason game.
"I thought Darvish was really good and we couldn't get much going, but Harper, three straight games with a home run, and Schwarber's game was just completely flush", said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. "I mean, with the great pitching we had, that's all we needed."
Harper got Philadelphia on the board with an opposite-field homer into left field with one out in the fourth. It was his ninth career long ball in 26 playoff games.
Schwarber launched Darvish’s first pitch of the sixth 488 feet to break out of a 1 for 20 slump through the first six games of the postseason, had one of the most impressive home runs in recent memory.
With an exit velocity of 119.7 mph — the hardest-hit ball in any postseason since Statcast began tracking in 2015, it was the first to reach the right field upper deck at Petco Park, which opened in 2004.
He raised his right arm as he rounded first base and Harper stood in the dugout with his mouth agape in amazement.
"I thought it got pretty small pretty fast", said the reigning NL MVP. "I've never seen a ball go up in that section in Petco Park. Just very impressive."
Schwarber said "A lot of people just looked at me weird. It was a cool moment, but i'm happy that we got the win overall."
Even Austin Nola, the San Diego catcher, was impressed. "That ball was hit as far as i've ever seen. It was left over the middle --- it was up in the zone. He put a good swing on it."
While Darvish said his pitch to Harper that went out wasn't a mistake, he conceded that Schwarber's blast was.
"For Schwarber, that is on me. That is my mistake. I knew he was waiting on something off-speed. The ball kind of went into the middle area, and he got the most of it."
Wheeler, Harper, Schwarber lead Phillies in Game 1
Wil Myers singled in the fifth for the only hit off of Wheeler, who had retired 12 straight Padres hitters after Juan Soto drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the first.
He retired the final eight batters, totalling 83 pitches, impressing San Diego manager Bob Melvin.
"That's probably as good a pitching performance we've seen all year, is my guess", he said.
Seranthony Dominguez pitched a perfect eighth and turned turned it over to Jose Alvarado for the ninth, but he walked Jurickson Profar with one out and Soto reached on an errant throw by Alec Bohm.
Manny Machado flied out and Alvarado struck out Josh Bell to pick up the save and get the Phillies off to a good start in the series.
San Diego became the first team to throw a one-hitter, which they did in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card series against the Mets, and get one-hit in the same postseason.
Nola, Snell duel in Game 2
Aaron Nola takes the mound for Philadelphia for his third start of the playoffs. He's not allowed a run in his previous two starts, throwing 12 2/3 scorelss innings.
For San Diego, lefthander Blake Snell will look to get the Padres even. The lefthander is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA in two starts so far.
First pitch at Petco Park is set for 4:35pm Eastern time.