Postgame
Well that was easy, say Phillies fans. Ranger Suarez fired five scoreless innings while the lineup launched five home runs, destroying Lance McCullers Jr, who may or may not have been tipping his pitches. Now Philly, who are enjoying a large home field advantage these playoffs, send one of their aces, Aaron Nola, to the hill on Wednesday, with an excellent shot at taking a 3-1 series lead into Game 5. Cristian Javier will go for Houston, who surely won’t just roll over and die…right?
We’ll be back for more live World Series coverage tomorrow, but for now, wherever you are, thanks for sticking with us!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, Final
Phillies fans wave their towels as Bellatti runs the count full. He’s not going to walk McCormick is he?
Nope! He looks at strike three. That’s it. Phills win: they’re two wins from their third World Series title.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 9th inning
Mancini pops out to right field and the Astros are down to their final out. Here’s McCormick stepping in.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 9th inning
Matt Vierling is in right field in place of Castellanos. Andrew Bellatti is on the mound, and Yuli Gurriel is out after popping out to second.
Trey Mancini, acquired by Houston from Baltimore at the trade deadline, and disappointed ever since, is pinch-hitting for Hensley in the DH slot.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 8th inning
Castellanos strikes out, thank goodness.
Now it’s Bohm who fouls out deep in the right field corner.
Now we’re cooking! To the ninth!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 8th inning
Urquidy is back to keep mopping this mess up for Houston. He’s got Harper first – he started this homer fest for Philly back in the first. This time he pops out to Bregman at third base.
One down.
Castellanos is next.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Tucker does us all a favor and flies to left. Inning over.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Bregman finally walks as news breaks:
“Meghan says Prince Harry doesn’t care about Bregman’s reeally long eighth inning at-bat in a blowout 7-0 World Series game”
Two on, two out, and her’s Kyle Tucker looking to put the Astros on the board.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Ranger is a cool name, you have to admit.
Bregman is engaged in a very long at bat, which means it is going to take longer for me to get the whipped cream. Someone needs to tell these type a’s that it’s over.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Alvarez hits a ball off the moon. When it lands, it’s inside the glove of Marsh for the second out.
Man, that was some space junk that came down to earth.
Two down for Bregman, who is always booed, no matter the score. For whatever reason.
Updated
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Pena walks as I think about eating whipped cream directly from the can.
One out, one on.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 8th inning
Gar-bage time continues with the appearance of Nick Nelson, who has not pitched for Philadelphia since early October as Thompson wisely keeps his bullpen core on the pine.
FOX tells us that the Game 3 winner has won 69% of all World Series, but conveniently leaves out that 31% of the Game 3 losers have also gone on to win the World Series.
All of this happens while Altuve grounds out to the shortstop. Now Pena comes to the plate.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 7th inning
Realmuto goes down on strikes. To the eighth!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 7th inning
This time Hoskins flies out to center field. Two outs. Realmuto is up.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 7th inning
Urquidy is back for more, and this time, more, is the top of the Philadelphia lineup.
Schwarber is up for his gar-bage-time at-bat and works the count full.
He laces a ball to Europe but it’s foul.
Now Schwarber whiffs. One down. Here’s Hoskins, who has a homer tonight (doesn’t everyone?)
Take me out to the ballgame!
Take me to the kitchen, I’m hungry.
Updated
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 7th inning
Gibson is pitching like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
Relief? Who cares. World Series? Who cares.
Maldonado bounces back to Gibson, who has a cup of coffee, reads the paper, and then throws over to first for the final out of the inning.
Stretch time in Philadelphia!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 7th inning
McCormick pokes one into right field. The shift was on, so the hole was large and McCormick took advantage.
Here’s the nine hitter Martin Maldonado.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 7th inning
Here’s Kyle Gibson on in relief for Philadelphia. He was a possible starter for the fifth game, but now he comes on to try and rest the Phills bullpen even further.
He starts off by getting Gurriel to fly out to Marsh in CF.
Now Gibson makes short work of Hensley, who strikes out. No struggle in a relief role for Gibson then.
Two outs. McCormick is at the plate.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 6th inning
Marsh flies to the edge of the left field grass – Alvarez puts it away for the third out. No further bloodletting.
To the seventh!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 6th inning
Segura pops out to the shortstop. Two down, and here comes the long-bearded Marsh who has two hits, including a home run already tonight.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 6th inning
Stott strikes out, but then Urquidy throws a wild pitch advancing the runners.
So we have runners on second and third, with one out, and Segura at the plate.
Curses?
The Phillies are laughing in the dugout, while readers are calling for curses. Readers like Pat Reilly:
The Curse of the Cheaters
On second thought, please wait until the Phillies wrap it up
Too late Pat, it’s out there now!
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 6th inning
Jose Urquidy is the latest Astros pitcher in to pick up the pieces. Castellanos greets him with a leadoff hit to right.
And now Bohm draws a walk.
Storm clouds are gathering over Dusty in a World Series once again.
Was McCullers tipping his pitches?
Twitter thinks so…
— Steve Johnson (@LegKickNationOG) November 2, 2022
Suarez
The kid had it tonight:
5IP 3H 0R 0ER 1BB 4K 0HR
Yup, that’ll do.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 6th inning
Tucker waves at a changeup from Brogdon, and so I guess Thompson is pushing the right buttons. Inning over.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 6th inning
Alvarez lines out to Castellanos, postponing potential rage from this grumpy old man.
Now Bregman pops out to third for the second out of the inning.
It’s up to Tucker, who is 0-2 tonight, to extend the inning.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, top 6th inning
Suarez was great, so naturally Thompson lifts his starter after five.
I’ll get you his line in a little bit.
For now, get off my lawn.
Connor Brogdon is on, and of course, Jeremy Pena has a knock off the righty.
The leadoff runner is on for Alvarez.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Harper swings and misses at a fastball away, and thee side is retired. But not before some serious damage.
I am going to need more bad Halloween candy to get through this.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Realmuto waves at a splitter for strike three. Two down. Here’s Harper.
Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Righty Ryne Stanek is in to try and restore some sort of order. He faces Realmuto first.
And there’s a reminder from the Philly crowd that “Houston sucks”.
HOME RUN! Astros 0-7 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Batting practice continues in Philadelphia!
This time Hoskins feasts on a hanging breaking pitch your mom could’ve hit out of the park.
Count it, five homers for the Phillies.
And that will do it for McCullers. Dusty gets his man.
Here’s the line:
4.1 IP 6H 7R 7ER 1BB 5K 5HR
Well, he only walked one.
HOME RUN! Astros 0-6 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Schwarber lifts it deep to center field – that’s up and over the wall.
A no doubter for Schwarber is the fourth home run off McCullers this game!
What was that I just wrote about keeping McCullers in?
FOX TV in the US is speculating that McCullers may be tipping his pitches…it’s certainly possible.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
Marsh hits the ball hard, again – this time he stays in the yard but lines a single to right. One on, one out, and here comes the top of the order.
Schwarber steps in.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 5th inning
McCullers is ahead of Segura 0-1 and steps off the mound, much to the chagrin of the Philly faithful. When he gets back to work, he entices the Phills second baseman into a bouncer to third which becomes the first out of the inning.
Now it’s Marsh, who went deep his last time up.
If McCullers keeps this up, does Dusty stick with him?
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 5th inning
Altuve pops it up to the right side – Hoskins is there to put it away, and the inning is over.
Suarez fires five blanks against high-octane Houston on his home mound: more than you could have possibly asked for tonight if you’re a Philly fanatic.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 5th inning
Maldonado checks his swing on a pitch high and away – the local crowd disapproves.
The Astros catcher is ahead 2-1, before lining a single up the middle.
McCormick holds at second, and it looks like Philly manager Rob Thompson is flirting with a pitching change…or not.
Suarez will stay in to face Altuve.
Bellatti had been warming in the bullpen, but he sat down, so it’s up to Suarez to get out of this little jam he’s in.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 5th inning
McCormick works the count even and then wastes a 2-2 breaking ball. Now Suarez runs a fastball that is inside and the count is full.
Suarez’s next pitch is down and in, ball four, and the Astros have a two-out baserunner. That’s Suarez’ first walk of the night, and it opens a window of opportunity for Maldonado.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 5th inning
Suarez continues his groove, getting Gurriel to ground harmlessly to second. It’s easy for Segura, who fires over to first for the out.
Except for the early threat, it’s been mostly 60 stress free pitches to Houston’s struggling lineup.
Now a Bugs Bunny curveball misses Hensley’s bat for his fourth strikeout of the game. A quick two outs, and here’s McCormick. And it’s 0-2 already – the crowd is on their feet…
Updated
Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 4th inning
Castellanos grounds out to shortstop and Bohm pops out to center. Here’s the McCullers that Houston needed a bit earlier in the game.
Now Stott bounces to first, easy for Gurriel, who tosses to McCullers for the third out.
That’s back-to-back 1-2-3 innings for McCullers. His ability to settle down and take pressure off the Houston bullpen could actually impact this series for the long term, so in all seriousness, that’s a credit to him.
A-Rod
It’s amazing that even while Alex Rodriguez appeals for donations to help hurricane recoveries, as he’s doing in-between innings on FOX TV in the US, he sounds insincere.
Maybe it’s just me. Probably not.
Here comes Castellanos to lead off the Phillies fourth.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 4th inning
I’m eating Tootsie Rolls and Milk Duds…
Meanwhile, it’s 2-2 to Bregman, who hits a bouncer behind the first base bag – Hoskins makes a somewhat difficult play look easy before tossing to the covering Suarez for the second out.
Two down, it’s up to Tucker in the Astros fourth. He quickly flies out to center field, and that’s seven straight retired by Suarez.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 4th inning
Suarez gets ahead on Alvarez 0-2 before the slugger works the count even. Then he throws a cutter away and thee count is full.
The payoff pitch is bounced down to first, easy for Hoskins, who fields it cleanly and steps on the first baser bag for out number one.
Here’s Bregman, greeted with expected boos from the Philly crowd.
Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 3rd inning
Realmuto strikes out and Harper bounces out to second. That means McCullers has a 1-2-3 inning, finally! He needs to get through two more to help his team out.
Phillies 4-0 Astros, bottom 3rd inning
Hoskins waves at a changeup. One out, here’s Realmuto.
Updated
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 3rd inning
It feels like a party in Philly – there is definitely mojo in that ballpark.
Altuve lines a shot right out Suarez, who sticks out his glove in self defense. The ball drops, the southpaw calmly collects and fires to first, in time to get Altuve.
Two down now and here’s the ALCS MVP Jeremy Pena, looking to try and get something, anything going.
He grounds hard to third – Bohm bobbles, but also calmly collects the baseball before throwing over to first, getting Pena by a step. Side retied.
That’s three shutout innings for the lefty.
Updated
Astros 0-4 Phillies, top 3rd inning
Suarez falls behind in the count 3-0 before firing two strikes past Maldonado. That means it’s a full count to the Astros catcher, as the crowd stands waiting for the K.
They got it.
It’s his third strikeout of the night.
Top of the order now for Houston, that means Altuve.
Updated
I think the Phillies are seeing McCullers well. @LengelDavid
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) November 2, 2022
Hunter has seen a lot of baseball. I think he’s on to something…
Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 2nd inning
So the 1000th and 1001st home runs are hit before Schwarber grounds out to first to end this inning.
Amazingly, FOX TV in the US says it’s the first time in World Series history, all 118 years of it, that three homers have been hit in the first two innings of a Fall Classic encounter. How about that?
Updated
HOME RUN! Astros 0-4 Phillies, bottom 2nd inning
Marsh hits a fly ball deep to right: Tucker goes back, back, and…the ball falls. McCormick is not playing it in. That ball looks to be gone!
The replay folks take a look at it, but it’s the Phillies third home run of the game and the second this inning! Wow!
McCullers can’t establish his fastball going so it’s open season right now. We’re getting into “take one for the team” territory as Dusty doesn’t want to tax his bullpen too early.
That said, Hunter Brown starts to get loose, as the crowd chants “Houston sucks”, which at least for now, seems accurate.
Updated
Astros 3-0 Phillies, bottom 2nd inning
Segura swings and misses at for the second out.
Now Ken Rosenthal of FOX TV in the US is back in the Phillies dugout, this time to ask Bohm what Harper told him. “It’s between us” says Bohm, as politely as possible.
It’s weird. Stay out of the dugout Ken.
Updated
Astros 3-0 Phillies, bottom 2nd inning
Stott looks at a slider for strike three and order is restored, for now. Here’s Segura.
Updated
HOME RUN! Astros 3-0 Phillies, bottom 2nd inning
Remember when Bryce Harper called over to Bohm to tell him something about what he saw from McCullers? Well, Bohm launches a line drive home run to left field to extend the Philadelphia lead!
Looks like the junk McCullers was throwing v the Yankees last week has made its way to Philadelphia, and the home team is taking advantage.
How long will Dusty stick with his man?
Updated
Astros 0-2 Phillies, top 2nd inning
Suarez’ 30th pitch is sizzling cutter, inside that McCormick waves at. It’s 1-2, but the Astros CF wisely takes at a fastball high.
Now Suarez reaches back and fires a sinker that McCormick looks at – umpire Iassogna punches out McCormick, threat over, inning over, and the Phills survive.
Updated
Astros 0-2 Phillies, top 2nd inning
Suarez throws a changeup in the dirt to run the count full. Hensley takes the next pitch right up the middle, and because there’s no shift on, that’s a base hit, like it was for 100 years until recently.
So now it gets interesting – McCormick is up with runners at the corners as the inning continues.
Updated
Astros 0-2 Phillies, top 2nd inning
Bryce Harper is interviewed by FOX TV in the US after his two run home run. I guess he has nothing better to do as the DH than speak to Ken Rosenthal. He says little of value, as you can expect from an in-game interview.
Meanwhile, Kyle Tucker bounces to short for a routine second out.
Then Yuli Guriell hits a slow roller down the third base line. Bohm wisely puts it in his pocket, and the Astros have a two-out baserunner.
Now Hensley, who is DH-ing in a bid to energize a sleepy lower part of Houston’s lineup, steps to the plate.
Updated
Astros 0-2 Phillies, top 2nd inning
Bregman is up for Houston, and Suarez gets him to ground over to third. That’s no issue at all for Bohm, and the Phillies lefty has the first four Astros down in order.
Updated
Astros 0-2 Phillies, bottom 1st inning
Castellanos bounces to third – easy for Bregman who throws in time to first, side retired. But the Phillies take an early lead thanks to a punishing blow from Bryce.
Updated
HOME RUN! Astros 0-2 Phillies, bottom 1st inning
Harper crushes a two-run blast to the right field stands as Bryce gets his first true World Series moment. That will get him a few votes if he does run for Governor.
That ball was absolutely hammered.
Harper calls Bohm, who is in the on-deck circle, over for a chat. Perhaps he’s sees something….
Updated
Astros 0-0 Phillies, bottom 1st inning
McCullers, whose control is slightly off early on, runs the count full on Realmuto. The crowd is up as McCullers deals: Hoskins fouls it off. We go again.
Pitch: Pop up. Maldonado throws his mask away, gets under it and makes the play. Two down, and here comes Bryce Harper. The sign in the crowd says “Bryce for Governor”, which I do not recommend, even with the crap candidates in Pennsylvania.
Updated
Astros 0-0 Phillies, bottom 1st inning
Hoskins is another Phillies bat that was red hot during the NLCS, but has yet to find the groove in the World Series. He’s in the hole 0-2 before chasing a 1-2 slider away in the dirt. The strikeout means it’s one out and one on for the catcher Realmuto.
Updated
Astros 0-0 Phillies, bottom 1st inning
So a good start from Suarez: let’s see how McCullers fares. First up is beefy Kyle Schwarber, who has cooled off some from the NLCS v the Padres.
Lance is behind 3-1 to Schwarber, who looked like he was about to head to first after a borderline breaking ball strike was called. That loads up the count.
The 3-2 pitch looks like the 3-1 pitch, but home plate umpire Dan Iassogna calls it ball four, so Philly has the leadoff man on for Hoskins.
Updated
Astros 0-0 Phillies, top 1st inning
Yordan chases a deuce, and the curveball strikes out the slugger Alvarez. The Astros go 1-2-3 in their half of the first inning, and here come the Phillies!
Updated
...and we're off!
Suarez deals the first pitch to Altuve, who had three hits in Game 2 after a huge postseason slump. Here he lifts a ball to right but Castellanos is charging, Castellanos is sliding, and he comes up with the catch! How about that for a start! A catch similar to the game saving play he made in Game 1 down in Houston!
Now Pena hits a slow bouncer to short where Stott makes a neat little pick up, firing to first in time for the second out.
Two quick outs for Suarez and now the big man, Yordan Avarez heads to the plate.
The @Phillies crowd makes the games in Houston sound like it was bingo night at A Place For Mom #RingTheBell
— John Kincade (@JohnKincade) November 1, 2022
It’s gonna get loud…
National Anthem
It’s singer/songwriter Chloe (Bailey) who gets the nod in Game 3, and she delivers a relatively solid version of the Star Spangled Banner, avoiding the boos while putting together a relatively traditional rendition. Her Super Bowl singing experience shine through, so she gets a healthy 8/10, with a little bonus for getting out of Philadelphia alive.
Lineups
Here’s the home team lineup:
1. Kyle Schwarber, LF
2. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
3. JT Realmuto, C
4. Bryce Harper, DH
5. Nick Castellanos, RF
6. Alec Bohm, 3B
7. Bryson Stott, SS
8. Jean Segura, 2B
9. Brandon Marsh, CF
LHP Ranger Suarez gets the start for Philadelphia.
Lineups
Phillies fans are getting some pregame boos in as they announce the Houston Astros who are lining up down the third base line at Citizens Bank Ballpark. Having said that, here’s the batting order for the visitors.
1. Jose Altuve, 2B
2. Jeremy Pena, SS
3. Yordan Alvarez, LF
4. Alex Bregman, 3B
5. Michael Tucker, RF
6. Yuli Gurriel, 1B
7. David Hensley, DH
8. Chas McCormick, CF
9. Martin Maldonado, C
RHP Lance McCullers Jr is on the hill for Houston.
Tickets and TV
Right now there’s a real advantage for the Phillies fans at the ballpark because they don’t have to listen to Derek Jeter on the FOX pregame show in the United States broadcast. If you think he had nothing to say in all those postgame interviews, well, let’s just say very little has changed.
Meanwhile Game 3 is a relatively hot ticket in Philly, where you can get in the building for a bit under $1K USD, and if you really want to go for it, up to $9K USD.
Meanwhile, there have been more watching at home, with Game 1 of the World Series racking up more than 11m US viewers, which is pretty close to the average viewership of the 2021 NBA Finals of over 12m: not bad at all, and up from a low in 2019. Of course, it’s all a far cry from the glory days of 1975 when the Red Sox and Reds averaged over 50m viewers during the Fall Classic.
Updated
Hola!
Hello folks and welcome to our live coverage of the 118th World Series. After a wet Halloween temporarily banged Game 3, the nut jobs in the City of Brotherly Love will finally get a chance to watch their 87-win heroes play a Fall Classic home game for the first time since 2009. The Astros will wear their road uniforms, complete with battery-deflecting armor as Citizens Bank Ballpark builds towards the expected ruckus that only the genteel city of Philly can provide.
When we last left off, the Astros successfully recovered from the Game 1 where they coughed up a 5-0 lead, defeating the Phills while preventing another rally from the underdogs with a 5-2 win to even the series at a game apiece.
We’ve got a solid if not spectacular pitching matchup for you tonight. When we last saw Lance McCullers, he was gassed and throwing total garbage and the Yankees in Houston’s ALCS clinching Game 4. New York couldn’t capitalize despite being extremely hittable. Now going on a solid bit of rest, so I expect a much better version of the righty tonight.
Philly has Ranger Suarez on the hill, fresh off a 155+ inning season for the Venezuelan, the most he’s thrown as a big leaguer. The southpaw gave Philadelphia 5.2 relatively clean innings against San Diego in a start and relief appearance, earning a win in Game 3 of the NLCS at home.
And home has been the key for Philadelphia during this unexpected postseason run, where they’ve gone 5-0 and thundered San Diego and Atlanta by 20 runs.
We’ll have some tidbits as we head towards first pitch, so stick with me and my kids Halloween candy, as we guide you towards and through Game 3 of the World Series.
Prelude
David will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look back at Houston’s series-tying win in Game 2.
