ST. LOUIS — Jean Segura wasn’t even halfway down the first-base line when he leaped in the air, looking more like Mikhail Baryshnikov than the player who delivered a game-winning hit in the Phillies’ first playoff game in 11 years.
It was pure joy, 5,195 career at-bats in the making.
That’s how long Segura waited to play in the postseason. So, with the bases loaded and the Phillies down to their final two outs Friday, Segura punched a two-run single through the right side. The Phillies had a lead, part of a six-run inning, in a rousing 6-3 come-from-behind victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the best-of-three National League wild-card series.
As the stunned sold-out crowd of 45,911 filed out of Busch Stadium, the Phillies were faced with this pinch-me reality: If they are able to win one of the next two games, they will advance to the divisional round against the Atlanta Braves.
Zack Wheeler dazzled for 6 1/3 innings, just as the Phillies drew it up when they planned his return from the injured list last month. They looked at the schedule, counted the days, and charted a course for him to start Game 1, their first playoff game in exactly 11 years. It marked their surest path to advancing beyond the newly formed wild-card round.
But there was another part of the plan. They needed to get a lead for Wheeler.
It didn’t happen. And after Wheeler turned over a scoreless game to lefty reliever José Alvarado, Cardinals pinch-hitter Juan Yepez sneaked a two-run homer inside the left-field foul pole, a blow that looked for a while like it may be decisive.
Alvarado hadn’t given up a run since Aug. 23, a span of 13 2/3 innings. He hadn’t allowed a homer since July 30. In short, he’d been one of the most dominant relievers in the game, emerging as interim manager Rob Thomson’s most trusted late-inning option over struggling Seranthony Domínguez and veteran David Robertson.
So, when he issued a two-out walk and hung a first-pitch cutter to Yepez, it seemed like it would be another chapter in the book of bad things that have happened to the Phillies on Oct. 7, perhaps the darkest day on the calendar in their 140-year history.
— In 1977, the Phillies gave up three runs in the ninth inning of a Game 3 crusher against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, a loss that became known as “Black Friday.”
— A year later, they were eliminated by the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS.
— In 2011, the Phillies’ last trip to the playoffs, Ryan Howard clutched his left leg and collapsed on the first-base line after blowing out his Achilles on the final out of an elimination game against the Cardinals.
All along, though, these Phillies have maintained that they’re different. They’re resilient. They bounce back from adversity. And in a season filled with stirring comebacks, this may have been the most improbable.
It began harmlessly enough with J.T. Realmuto’s one-out single against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley. Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos walked to load the bases before Helsley hit Alec Bohm in the arm with a 101-mph fastball.
Helsley left the game, and Segura notched the go-ahead single against reliever Andre Pallante. The Phillies had a lead. They kept adding on, too, until it grew to 6-2.
Neither team mustered much offense for six innings. While Wheeler held the Cardinals to two hits in 6 2/3 innings, St. Louis starter José Quintana gave up two hits in 5 1/3 innings.
On the eve of the series, Wheeler anticipated feeling the natural nervousness that comes with a first career postseason start.
But he couldn’t have channeled it much better.
Of the 18 pitches thrown by Wheeler in the first inning, 13 topped 97 mph and seven registered at least 98. After a leadoff single by Lars Nootbaar and a deep fly ball to center field by Albert Pujols, Wheeler struck out Paul Goldschmidt on a 98.6-mph fastball and got fellow MVP candidate Nolan Arenado to fly out on a 98.8-mph heater.
The Cardinals thought they had Wheeler on the ropes in the sixth inning with two on and nobody out. As Alvarado loosened in the bullpen, the Phillies elected to stick with Wheeler, who got Pujols to ground into a double play and Goldschmidt to ground out.
Wheeler was superb, just as the Phillies knew he would be.
In the end, they gave him the help he needed.
