Philadelphia Phillies

The average cost for a World Series ticket to watch the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies play in Citizens Bank Park is over $3,200, per Molly McVety of the News Journal.

The Phillies will host the Astros for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) in the best-of-seven series at that stadium.

The first game at Citizens Bank Park will go down Monday evening before Game 4 on Tuesday and then Game 5 if needed Wednesday.

Houston is hosting Philadelphia for Games 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday, respectively in Minute Maid Park. Games 6 and 7, if needed, will occur Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5.

Houston home game ticket prices average around $1,500, per McVety, who provided more information on the cost it takes to watch the Fall Classic in person in Philadelphia:

"Philadelphia’s first home game will be played on Halloween night. The cheapest prices for two standing-room tickets are just under $1,000 on ticket resale website Stubhub. Lower-level tickets above the Phillies’ dugout are selling for around $4,000 on the same site. And one pair of Diamond Club tickets are selling for $17,100 each."

The Phillies are in the World Series for the first time since 2009 when they fell to the New York Yankees in six games.

The year before, Philadelphia defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win their second-ever World Series.

Houston is in the World Series for the fourth time since 2017. The Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers that year but fell to the Washington Nationals in 2019 and the Atlanta Braves in 2021.

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola will start Game 1 of the World Series against the Houston Astros and Zack Wheeler will get the nod in Game 2, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters Wednesday.

Thomson appeared on the 94WIP Midday Show on Tuesday and said he was leaning toward starting Nola in Game 1 on Friday.

Wheeler, 32, has been absolutely lights-out in his four postseason appearances, posting a 1.78 ERA in 25.1 innings with 25 strikeouts. In two starts against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, he held the team's dangerous lineup to four hits and two runs, striking out 16 across both wins.

Nola, 29, has been excellent himself this postseason, posting a 3.12 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. Those numbers were hurt by a tough start against the Padres in Game 2, when he gave up six runs, but in his wild-card round and NLDS starts, he gave up just nine hits and a run while striking out 12 batters in 12.2 innings.

That one-two punch, alongside a loaded lineup and strong postseasons from José Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez in the later innings, has propelled the Phillies to the World Series, where the fearsome Astros await.

While Houston was fantastic all season long, earning the top seed in the American League after a 106-win season, the Phillies were the final team to get into the postseason in the National League, winning 87 games in the regular season.

It's the ultimate front-runner vs. underdog matchup, and both Wheeler and Nola will have a major say in how it unfolds.

The waiting may be the hardest part for the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros.

With Philadelphia wrapping up its National League Championship Series win over the San Diego Padres in five games and Houston sweeping the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, there will be a four-day break before the World Series begins.

The schedule for the Fall Classic was released in full Monday:

• Game 1: Friday, Oct. 28 in Houston at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox
• Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 29 in Houston at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox
• Game 3: Monday, Oct. 31 in Philadelphia at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox 
• Game 4: Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Philadelphia at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox
• Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Philadelphia at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox
• Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, Nov. 4 in Houston at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox
• Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 5 in Houston at 8:03 p.m. ET on Fox

This is nothing new for the Astros.

They have been to four of the last six World Series and even beat the Yankees in three of the ALCS matchups to make it that far. However, they lost in the 2019 World Series to the Washington Nationals and the 2021 Fall Classic to the Atlanta Braves.

Philadelphia doesn't have that type of experience to fall back on given this is the team's first trip to the World Series since the 2009 campaign, but it looked anything but intimidated by the moment while cruising past the Padres in the NLCS after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Series and the Braves in the Division Series.

The Phillies have yet to lose a postseason home game in front of raucous atmospheres at Citizens Bank Park, and that puts the pressure firmly on the Astros' side at the start of the series.

If Philadelphia can find a way to split the first two games in Houston, it would have the opportunity to do just what it did against San Diego and win three straight at home to take the series.

From a fan's perspective, it is difficult to script a better matchup with plenty of star power to go around with names such as Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander, among others.

There is also an underdog story with a Phillies team that finished in third place in the National League East facing a powerhouse Astros club that has dominated the league of late.

It all starts Friday as Houston attempts to defend home-field advantage against a team that is playing its best baseball of the season.

The sixth-seeded Philadelphia Phillies will represent the National League against the top-seeded Houston Astros of the American League in the 2022 World Series.

A most unexpected match-up, it pits an Astros team that has yet to lose this postseason against a Phillies team that narrowly made the playoffs before captivating the baseball world with a relentless assault on the ball, thanks to the hottest bats in the Majors.

A resilient team who has proven the ability to hit its way out of any deficit, the NL champs are very much an unstoppable force heading for a collision with the unmoveable object in the Astros, who have been among the best in the sport for the last five years.

World Series 2022 Schedule*

• Game One: Friday, October 28 
• Game Two: Saturday, October 29 
• Game Three: Monday, October 31
• Game Four: Tuesday, November 1
• Game Five: Wednesday, November 2**
• Game Six: Friday, November 4**
• Game Seven: Saturday, November 5**

*Times to be determined. All games are broadcast on Fox.

**If necessary

Initial Reaction

The Astros belong in this series. They have been, for all intents and purposes, one of the best teams in the sport all year and definitely the best in their league.

The ease with which they swept both the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees in the divisional and championship series is reflective of a team who knows how good it is, wanted to show it and had little resistance to that goal.

The only thing left for them now is collecting the Commissioner's Trophy that has eluded them since their last title in 2017.

Their pitching is more than good enough to achieve that goal. There is enough talent in the Astros organization to fill multiple rotations and none has been better than Justin Verlander, who is likely to win another Cy Young.

Their hitting is equally as good. The team has lived for the long ball, with 12 of its 31 runs this postseason being via the home run. They are an efficient hitting team and can put up just enough runs to put any game out of hand. Their postseason .708 OPS, good for third in the Majors, says as much.

Except, for the team right in front of them in those rankings? The Phillies, with .750.

The NL champs have been unstoppable hitting the ball this postseason, thanks in large part to the $300 million man, Bryce Harper. The face of the franchise and, arguably, the biggest star in baseball came through big time in these playoffs. His five home runs are tied with the Yankees' Harrison Bader for the most in baseball while he and teammate Rhys Hoskins are responsible for the most RBIs in the postseason.

His SLG (.907) is the highest of any player with a minimum of five games played and his on-base percentage is just behind Atlanta's Matt Olson for No. 2 in the bigs.

Harper has been the star the Phillies needed and expected him to be when they signed him to that monster deal and he has helped fuel an offense that has never been out of any game, regardless of what the scoreboard said.

The key to the series will be Houston's ability to stimy those bats. Can Verlander, Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr., Jose Urquidy, Cristian Velez and Luis Garcia keep Harper, Hoskins, Kyle Schwarber, Jean Segura, JT Realmuto and the rest of the lineup from running up the score?

If the Phillies can hit off of the Astros rotation like they have the rest of their postseason series, and Harper can be a deciding factor like he has for this team since they narrowly snuck into the playoffs late in the regular season, the Phillies are going to win their first championship since 2008.

If they do not, and the Astros are able to hold them somewhere around three or four runs a game, the Astros can exploit the bend-but-don't-break nature of Phillies aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, and continue their run of dominance to that elusive world title, which would be the first for legendary skipper Dusty Baker.

It's a tradition quite literally unlike any other: Philadelphia fans climbing—or attempting to climb—up greased light poles in South Philly after a huge win for one of the city's major sports franchises.

So when the Phillies clinched a World Series berth with Sunday's 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres, thanks to a Bryce Harper two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that will live on in Philly sports history forever, you can bet the poles were being summited on the streets:

Sunday was a rainy day in Philadelphia, so it's possible some of that grease had washed away. Not that a wet light pole would be easy to climb.

But if you've ever met a joyous (and likely intoxicated) Philadelphia sports fan, you know that a little bit of adversity isn't going to get in the way of a good, dumb time. The City of Brotherly Love is partying on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Phillies are one win away from the World Series after outlasting the San Diego Padres, 10-6, in a slugfest in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

Philadelphia tied a franchise record for the largest playoff comeback after trailing 4-0.

San Diego landed the first haymaker with four runs, all with two outs, in the top of the first inning. Phillies starter Bailey Falter was pulled after Brandon Drury doubled to make it a 3-0 game.

Going into the bottom of the first trailing 4-0, the Phillies wasted no time attacking Padres starter Mike Clevinger. They scored three runs after four hitters to knock Clevinger out of the game without recording an out.

Both bullpens did settle into a good rhythm for a bit. They traded zeroes in the second and third innings before Bryson Stott's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at four.

The Padres responded in the top of the fifth when Juan Soto hit a two-run homer off Brad Hand.

San Diego's lead was shortlived after Rhys Hoskins tied the game with a two-run blast off Sean Manaea that also inspired an instantly iconic Philadelphia image.

The Phillies added two more runs in the inning on a Bryce Harper double and Nick Castellanos single to take their first lead of the game. They padded their advantage with solo homers by Kyle Schwarber in the sixth and J.T. Realmuto in the seventh.

After another memorable postseason performance that gave the Phillies an opportunity to clinch a berth in the World Series in front of their home crowd, Philadelphia fans were understandably fired up.

The Phillies were the final team to clinch a playoff berth this season. They didn't lock up the third NL wild-card spot until Oct. 3, two days before the end of the regular season. Their 87-75 record was the worst of the 12 teams that made the field.

Since the start of the playoffs, though, the Phillies have been red hot. They swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card round and needed four games in the NLDS to eliminate the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

Saturday's win was a different type of performance than the Phillies have had, but the end result was the same as it has been for most of the playoffs. Their 10 runs were the most by a Philadelphia team in the postseason since Game 1 of the 2011 NLDS (11).

Sunday will feature the aces for both teams dueling it out. Yu Darvish gets the nod looking to get the Padres back to San Diego for Game 6. Zack Wheeler will get the start with a chance to send the Phillies to their first Fall Classic since 2009.

Game 5 will begin at 2:37 p.m. ET from Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Jean Segura had a roller-coaster performance Friday, but in the end, he catapulted his team to a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

Segura had an adventurous day at the dish and in the field at Citizens Bank Park, to the point where there was only one way to sum up the outing:

In the top of the third, Segura made a diving stop on Trent Grisham to record an out.

The positive vibes from that play briefly withered away in the fourth, however.

The Padres had runners on the corners with one out and were down 1-0 when Jake Cronenworth hit a double-play ball to shortstop Bryson Stott, who tossed the ball to Segura at second. But Segura dropped the ball, a run scored and Philadelphia found itself in trouble.

Starting pitcher Ranger Suárez managed to wiggle out of the jam without further damage.

Segura more than made up for the blunder in the bottom of the frame, however, with a two-out, two-RBI single to put the Phils up 3-1.

The second RBI ended up being the difference. Unfortunately for Segura, he was promptly picked off first.

The second baseman got a chance to flash the leather in the sixth and seventh, though, to make his previous error an afterthought.

The Padres put runners on the corners with one out down 3-2 and Josh Bell up. A ground ball found Segura, and he promptly started a 4-6-3 double play to end the potential rally.

One inning later, Segura snared a Ha-Seong Kim ground ball to end the seventh.

The Phillies now lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 thanks largely to Segura, whose efforts were recognized on Twitter.

Game 4 will go down Saturday in Philadelphia at 7:45 p.m. ET.