If Citizens Bank Park wasn’t Bryce Harper’s house before, it definitely is now. The Philadelphia Phillies’ adopted franchise face followed up his series-clinching homer in the NLCS with a tone-setting homer against the Houston Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr. in World Series Game 3, his first swing in the series’ first game in Philadelphia. Next, he whispered some wisdom to third baseman Alec Bohm — who also homered — and the rout was on. The two-time MVP is now batting .382/.414/.818 in the playoffs and has the Phillies two wins from a championship.
That’s the goal, of course, but an even more specific goal is now on the radar: Try to put the series away without going back to Houston. To do that, they will first need to win Game 4 on Wednesday night.
Co-ace Aaron Nola gets the ball for the Phillies while the Astros will start Cristian Javier, who was really their third-best starter all season, and one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball. Nola, you’ll recall, got knocked around in Game 1, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings before the Phillies stormed back to win. The Phillies and manager Rob Thomson used the extra day afforded by Monday’s rain postponement to get Nola in Game 4 instead of Game 5.
Javier, meanwhile, has probably been underutilized after a breakout season. He’s pitched twice in the postseason, with his one start proving a great one: He tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Yankees, allowing only one hit.
The game starts at 8 pm ET on FOX. You can follow the action right here with Yahoo Sports.
How’d we get here? Catch up on everything you need to know for the World Series: