3 Phillies players to celebrate for important NLCS Game 1 win

Kyle Schwarber started the party early for the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night by drilling the first pitch he saw into the seats in right field, and the rest of the team took it from there, staking themselves to a series lead behind a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Since the start of the 2022 MLB playoffs, the Phillies are 7-0 in Game 1s, never failing to capitalize on momentum early in every series.

Behind three home runs — from Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos — and dominant pitching from the staff, the team never looked back once it got an early 5-0 lead. Let's take a look at three players who played an important role in cementing the ever-important Game 1 win in front of the home fans at Citizens Bank Park.

Zack Wheeler

It was ace vs. ace on the mound, as the Phillies countered the Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen with Zack Wheeler.

The Phillies jumped on Gallen early, knocking him out after five innings and five earned runs. Wheeler, on the other hand, was dominant through the early part of the game.

The Phillies staked Wheeler to an early lead, and it only took the right-hander four innings to rack up seven of his strikeouts, putting on a lights-out display for the home crowd.

After Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll led the game off with a single, Wheeler retired 15 straight batters.

In the sixth inning, third baseman Evan Longoria led off with a single, and two pitches later shortstop Geraldo Perdomo smashed a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in right field. It was one of the very few mistakes Wheeler had on the night. After the home run, the 33-year-old settled right back in, setting down the next three batters in order and keeping the lead at three.

Wheeler finished the game with eight strikeouts and one walk and gave up only three hits and two earned runs through six strong innings. He was efficient throughout the night, finishing with 81 total pitches, 56 of which were strikes. Sixteen of the 21 batters he faced saw a first-pitch strike.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke with reporters after the game about Wheeler's performance: "He was power stuff. Just like get up and go, here it comes. Whether it was two or four seam, it was just really, really impressive stuff."

After this start, Wheeler's 0.70 WHIP is the lowest of any pitcher in postseason history (minimum five starts), according to Paul Casella of MLB.com. Depending on how the next few games go, the Diamondbacks could face the righty once more in this series.

NEXT: The birthday boy has his cake and eats it too, or at least blows out the candles.

Bryce Harper

The birthday boy gave himself even more reasons to celebrate Monday night.

Four pitches after Schwarber's leadoff homer, Harper decided to unleash on the first pitch he saw and send a fan home with a souvenir.

As he approached home, he had a birthday celebration ready to go, blowing out 31 candles in honor of the big day.

In his next at-bat in the bottom of the third, he came to the plate with Trea Turner in scoring position. Again, he turned on the first pitch, sending the ball to right field and driving in another run to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Diamondbacks pitched around Harper, walking him on five pitches. After getting to second on a wild pitch, he scored on a single by J.T. Realmuto, pushing the lead to 5-0.

Overall on the night, Harper went 2-for-3 with one walk and two RBI, lifting his 2023 postseason batting average to .409.

Speaking on Harper's performance after the game, Schwarber said the following, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today: "This guy, he is looking for the moment, and he wants it. He's doing such an unbelievable job for us. When he is going up to the plate, you are just thinking that he is going to do something special every time. Can that be unfair to have an expectation on a player? Sure. But that's what everyone is thinking when you're in the dugout, 'Man, what's this guy going to do next?'"

It's probably fair to say he'll continue to try to smash it out of the park as he chases Phillies history.

With his home run in the first inning, Harper is now only one home run shy of tying the record set by Jayson Werth for most home runs in Phillies postseason history. While it took Werth 40 games to get to 11, Harper is sitting at 10 through 24 games.

NEXT: The hammer out of the Phillies' bullpen.