World Series Game Two: A Game of Inches

With their first loss of the 2022 Postseason, the Houston Astros had their backs to the wall. Game Two was a must win for the Astros, because going down 2-0 heading on the road could be certain death for the team. On the flip side, a 2-0 lead would be absolutely golden for the Philadelphia Phillies, as they would face the benefit of not needing to play all three of their home games. The pitching matchup was Framber Valdez (HOU) vs Zack Wheeler (PHI), and for the latter, it was not a good start, as the Astros struck him for three first-inning runs.

Valdez was coming off blanking the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, and his dominant pitching continued. The Phillies couldn't touch him, he was absolutely lights out. To add even more anguish to the Phils, Alex Bregman went yard in the fifth inning; a two-run shot to make it 5-0. Yes, the Astros were up 5-0 for the second straight game, but would they learn from their Game One mistakes?

The answer? Yes, but it wasn't easy.

Jean Segura's seventh inning sac fly ended the shutout, but it was only one run. The eighth inning was quite interesting. With the count at 2-2, Kyle Schwarber believed that he had cut their deficit in half with a two-run shot; it was even called a home run by the umpires. However, it looked like it was just foul, and a group of Astros fans seated in the area had the best view of Schwarber's fly ball. A crew chief's review resulted in the right call: overturned, foul ball. Schwarber's next pitch would be hit high, hit far, but miss a home run by mere inches and end up caught. A Jeremy Peña throwing error resulted in Bryce Harper coming to the plate with two on, but he would pop up to end the inning. Brandon Marsh managed to drive in a run in the ninth inning, but any chance to have Schwarber bat in a possible game-tying situation was snuffed out with out #27.

The Astros won Game Two by a score of 5-2, and the 2022 World Series is dead even at one. This is the 62nd World Series to be tied 1-1, and out of the previous 61, the Game 2 winner won the Series 31 times, barely over half of the time. Thanks to the Game One loss, salvaging a split was the best that Houston could accomplish, but they did accomplish it. They definitely learned from the mistakes they made when they led 5-0 in Game One, as the pitching in Game Two was much better.

The Series now switches to Philadelphia for the next three games, with Game Three taking place on Halloween night. The game will take place two days shy of the 13 year anniversary of the last Series game played in Philly; all the while, I just now noticed that I have already uttered "Halloween" and "13" in the same paragraph. Winning Game Three is very important following a 1-1 Series tie, as the winner of that game goes on to win the Series at least 70% of the time, and that percentage has been much higher in the last two decades. It will be Noah Syndergaard (another former Mets starter) taking the mound for Philly in Game 3, doing so against Lance McCullers Jr.

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