The Phillies must win Games 6 and 7 to become 2022 World Series champions.
The odds are against the Philadelphia Phillies to erase their 3-2 deficit and win Games 6 and 7 to become World Series champions under manager Rob Thomson.
Taking things “one game at a time” has been a motto used ever since the club dropped Game 5 in heartbreaking fashion on Thursday — the last home game of the 2022 season at Citizens Bank Park. If the Phillies can find a way to win Game 6 on Saturday, however, the current “doom and gloom” feeling around the team would greatly improve.
“We’ve faced adversity all year. So what a better storybook ending than if we can go there and win this in Game 7”
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 5, 2022
-Nick Castellanos on Phillies back in Houston tonight#WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/2VH3dilRUq
According to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, teams that won Game 6 to force Game 7 went on to become champions 33 of 59 times — a 56 percent success rate.
The 2019 Washington Nationals were the most recent team to accomplish such feat — on the road. Among the others to pull off Games 6 and 7 wins away from their home venue — after trailing 3-2 in the series — include the 2016 Chicago Cubs, 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1968 Detroit Tigers, 1958 and 1952 New York Yankees, and the 1934 and 1926 St. Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies had two chances to join this list —1993 against the Toronto Blue Jays and 2009 against the Yankees, notes John Stolnis. Just perhaps, the third attempt will be the charm for them in the 2022 postseason.
Coincidentally, the Phillies are looking for their third-ever World Series championship. And their most important player — reigning National League MVP and 2022 NLCS MVP Bryce Harper— wears No. 3.
Three is a magic number, but so is seven — as in Game 7. If the club can win on Saturday and force the ultimate series-decider on Sunday, it will be their first Game 7 in franchise history.