3 Incredible Phillies statistics from postseason clincher against Astros

Phillies feats to remember from Aaron Nola, Rob Thomson and Kyle Schwarber

For the first time since 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies are postseason-bound. With the Milwaukee Brewers coming from behind to win in their respective game, interim manager Rob Thomson’s squad was able to punch a ticket to Red October by its own doing — and they did just that, blanking the Houston Astros, 3-0, Monday evening.

Aaron Nola was dominant. Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott provided all the offense with a combined trio of solo home runs. Jose Alvarado and Zach Eflin notched the hold and save, respectively, in relief. The Phillies beat a 104-win Astros team in perfect fashion, and can now look ahead to a three-game Wild Card series starting Friday.

Calling the final out was Phillies television broadcaster Tom McCarthy:

“Eflin’s got his signs. Realmuto sets up outside. The 3-2 pitch. Swing and a fly ball. Shallow center field. Coming on is Marsh. Still coming on. Makes the catch! The ballgame is over! The drought is over after 11 seasons! The Philadelphia Phillies are going back to the postseason. They’ll represent the National League as a Wild Card representative! And they celebrate behind the mound and this is a long time coming!”

Lost in the excitement of the Phillies finally clinching a postseason appearance after a decade-plus-long drought were three incredible statistics. The first relates to their starting pitcher. As SportsRadio 94 WIP’s Joe Giglio notes, Nola became just the second pitcher in Major League Baseball history to strike out at least 230 batters (235) and walk 30 or fewer (29) in a season.

Nola took a perfect game into the seventh inning, punched out nine Astros batters and walked none in the postseason-clincher. Including his Monday evening effort, he struck out nine or more batters in 10 of his 32 starts. Nola had 12 starts this season with zero walks surrendered.

Nola won’t win the Cy Young Award, but the right-hander had incredible regular season stuff that hopefully will translate to meaningful postseason baseball, starting this weekend in the Wild Card Series.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has put up an incredible first of at least four seasons in red pinstripes. Through Monday, the eight-year veteran has slugged 21 doubles, three triples, 46 home runs and 94 RBI across 154 games and 575 plate appearances.

There have been only three other Phillies players and five overall single-season performances in franchise history in which a batter has hit more home runs — Ryan Howard (58, 2006); Mike Schmidt (48, 1980); Howard (48, 2008); Jim Thome (47, 2003); and Howard (47, 2007).

Schwarber will go down as one of the Phillies’ 2022 regular season Most Valuable Players — and he has particularly made all of the difference in the past three games against the Washington Nationals and Astros, helping the Phillies overcome the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League standings to clinch its first-ever Wild Card berth. Over the stretch, Schwarber has slugged an impressive total of four home runs and seven RBI.

The two-time All-Star’s Monday-evening, two solo-home run effort secured his eighth multi-home run game of the season — setting a Phillies franchise record. Entering the night, Schwarber was in a four-way tie with Dick Allen (1968), Howard (2006) and Chase Utley (2006) for the most ever multi-home run games in a single season among Phillies players.

The impressive feat does not stop there. According to OptaSTATS, Schwarber is just one of two players in MLB history with two multi-home run games in October in a single regular season.

The Phillies have lifted a huge weight off of their shoulders. Now, it is Dave Dombrowski-constructor roster’s time to shine in Red October postseason baseball. As the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves have proven in recent seasons, any team can string together enough wins to come out as World Series champions. Just perhaps, 2022 will be the Phillies’ year.