Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he faced in the bottom of the first inning, Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh added solo shots in the second, then Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins went back-to-back in the fifth. All of the long balls came off Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr., who became the first pitcher to surrender five homers in a World Series game. That was more than enough for Ranger Suarez, the Phillies’ unheralded left fielder, who scattered three hits in five scoreless innings against the Astros’ strong lineup. From there Connor Brogdon, Kyle Gibson, Nick Nelson and Andrew Bellatti each added a scoreless frame to complete the inning and the Phillies’ first shutout in a Fall Classic game since 1993. “He’s just a guy with no heartbeat,” Philadelphia catcher JT Realmuto said of Suarez, a longtime Phillie who signed with the club as a teenager in 2012. “He looks like he’s playing a child’s game.” The Astros’ best chance came with two outs in the top of the fifth when Chas McCormick and Martin Maldonado reached base, but Suarez made a pop-up off Jose Altuve to retire the team. Moments later, Schwarber and Hoskins made back-to-back appearances to eject McCullers from the game while sending the crowd of 45,712 into pandemonium. “It was kind of shocking because he doesn’t give up homers,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said of McCullers. “He usually keeps the ball on the court. He was not satisfied with this. We were very surprised by that.” Long-suffering Phillies fans waited 4,746 days for baseball’s World Series to return to South Philadelphia – then one more day after Game 3 was postponed for 24 hours due to heavy rain Monday night – and gave the American League champions an earful from the first at-bat. The roars of “Cleaters! Crooks!” they came down from the upper deck throughout the night, a nod to the plate-stealing scandal in Houston that marred their first and only World Series title in 2017. Phillies dugout and fans react to Kyle Schwarber’s home run in the fifth inning. Photo: Jason Szenes/EPA “Walking onto the field, just coming home, it’s such a dynamic change for us just for the fact of our fan base,” said Harper, making his World Series debut three years after joining the Phillies at a then-record $330. m., 13-year contract. “We all come in here and we’re ready to go and we’re excited to go out on the field because we know they’re going to show up and there’s going to be 46,000 people here screaming and yelling and going crazy. “This whole city is so excited to be in this moment and we’re excited to be able to play in front of them and have this opportunity and be here with them.” On paper this year’s Fall Classic appeared to be a historic mismatch. Houston won 19 more games than Philadelphia during the regular season, the largest margin between World Series opponents in all but one of the 118 editions: when the 116-win Cubs were beaten by the 93-win White Sox in 1906. But the Phillies, the last team to make the playoffs and the first third-place team ever to reach the World Series, caught fire at just the right time. They improved to six wins from six at home in the postseason, totaling 17 at home in those contests, and appear determined to end matters here rather than return to Houston for the final two scheduled contests of the best-of-seven meeting. “The only thing I can really compare it to is a European football game,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said of the team’s home field advantage, likening it to a trip to Anfield to watch the Liverpool. “It’s tough to play here, even as a home baseman, but I can’t imagine what it’s like for the Astros right now. They just really have zero breathing room. This is good too”. The Phillies’ five homers in a World Series game set the record on three previous occasions: by the 1928 New York Yankees, the 1989 Oakland A’s and the 2017 Astros, who were found to have used cameras and video monitors to steal the plates of opposing fishermen. During history, when the World Series has been tied at one game apiece, the winner of Game 3 has won the title more than two-thirds of the times (41 of 61 overall). The streak continues with Game 4 on Wednesday night, when Houston will send Cristian Javier to the mound against Phillies ace Aaron Nola, who will be working on regular rest due to Monday’s postponement.
