Thomson manages Game 1 like Game 7 and Phillies' bullpen makes it worthwhile

HOUSTON -- Game 1 of the World Series? Rob Thomson managed like it was Game 7.

Clutch hitting, sound defense, a heroic effort from the Phillies' bullpen and Thomson's decisiveness Friday night are the reasons why the Phils were able to stun another favored opponent and jump out to another series lead that could change the complexion of the games to come.

"Every game's a Game 7 for us," David Robertson said after closing out the 6-5, extra-inning win.

Aaron Nola didn't have it Friday night. Kyle Tucker crushed two early home runs off of him to put the Astros up five runs while Justin Verlander was busy retiring the first 10 hitters he faced. 

This game looked to be over after the third inning -- that is unless you've watched the 2022 Phillies. All year long, even before any of this seemed possible, they've come back against aces and elite relievers, mounting rallies to overcome sizable early deficits or close ones late.

Thomson's seen his team do it all year and the Phillies did it again, getting to Verlander for three two-out runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to tie the game. 

Thomson stuck with Nola to begin the fifth inning but lifted him after a strikeout of Jeremy Peña with the middle of Houston's order due up. Lefty slugger Yordan Alvarez was next with Tucker in the hole, so the move was to use a left-hander. 

Early as it was, Thomson went to Jose Alvarado, the same Jose Alvarado who has routinely pitched at the back end of playoff game this month. The score was tied with the toughest pocket of the Astros' lineup looming, so it didn't matter to Thomson that it was the fifth inning. He treated it like the high-leverage situation it was.

Alvarado popped up Alvarez, struck out Alex Bregman to end the inning and retired Tucker to begin the bottom of the sixth before handing the ball back to Thomson.

Job well done. It kicked off a run of 5⅔ scoreless innings by five different Phillies relievers against a difficult, dynamic Astros lineup.

"I thought when Rob brought Alvarado in that early in the game in that big of a spot, I thought that was kind of the key in the game," said J.T. Realmuto, who knotted things up with a two-run double in the fifth and won it with a solo homer in the 10th.

"We had just scored those runs. We had come back, tied the ball game. And he even said on the mound, he's like, 'This is the earliest I've ever brought him in but these outs are huge right here. We have the momentum on our side, we need to get these outs against three of their toughest hitters.' 

"I thought that was huge. Not all managers would bring one of their best guys in that early in the game. And he just pushed all the right buttons from there and the guys responded. Everybody that we brought in threw the ball well."

Alvarado went an inning and Zach Eflin pitched 1⅓. The next time those tough lefties came up, Thomson again went to a lefty pitcher. But it wasn't Brad Hand. It was Ranger Suarez, the Phillies' assumed starter in Game 3 Monday night.

Suarez, who has bounced between so many different roles for the Phillies over the last two seasons -- starter, closer, long man, lefty specialist -- struck out Alvarez to end the seventh. The king of fielding comebackers then nonchalantly snatched one off Bregman's bat for the first out in the eighth.

"I just think no moment's too big for him," Realmuto said.

"He can flat-out pitch," Robertson said.

Eflin took it a bit further.

"He's got ice in his veins, man," he said. "You can't teach that, it doesn't matter how many pitching coaches you have, how many pitching gurus you go to, you can't teach that. I love Ranger. He's easy to root for."

The Phillies will check with Suarez Saturday to see how he feels and whether he'll be available to start Game 3. Worst-case scenario, they flip-flop and use the bullpen for Game 3 with Suarez in Game 4 a day later.

Seranthony Dominguez kept the train rolling after Suarez with five outs, three of them strikeouts, before Robertson recorded the final three under tense circumstances with two men in scoring position.

"You gotta do what you gotta do to win games when you're this far along," Eflin said. "Rob pushed all the right buttons like he has the whole postseason and season. That was a great team win, just everybody picking each other up. It's really what we've been doing the whole postseason."

As Thomson's instincts have paid off, opposing managers have been criticized for their bullpen decisions against the Phillies. Why didn't Bob Melvin use Josh Hader earlier in Game 5 of the NLCS? Why did Dusty Baker use Hector Neris for only five pitches? Why wasn't Ryne Stanek, who had a 1.15 ERA in the regular season, the choice instead of Luis Garcia to begin the 10th?

Those are the sorts of questions Thomson hasn't had to field lately -- because he's managed aggressively and because his relievers have made him look like a savant.

"When he makes a move, we all have his back. We trust him," Kyle Schwarber said. "He's done it throughout the whole year."

One game into the World Series, the Astros' home-field advantage is gone. The Phillies have their ace, Zack Wheeler, starting Saturday before playing three in a row in the jungle of Citizens Bank Park.

"We've gotten punched a lot, had our backs against the wall," Eflin said. "How are we going to respond? We've done it all postseason. 

"To get Game 1 is absolutely massive. Obviously, we still have three more we've got to win but it puts us in a good spot. Confidence is through the roof right now."

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