ST. LOUIS — The Philadelphia Phillies showcased plenty of plucky resilience all season, bouncing back from a poor start and the firing of their manager to qualify for Major League Baseball’s postseason for the first time in more than a decade.
It was going to take more than a two-run deficit in the ninth inning Friday to keep them down, even against the playoff-tested St. Louis Cardinals.
Philadelphia rallied for six runs in the ninth, silencing a sellout crowd at Busch Stadium with a 6-3 victory in the opening game of a wild-card series to start the National League playoffs.
It was the first time in 94 postseason games that NL Central Division champion St. Louis, an 11-time World Series winner, had blown a lead of at least two runs going into the final frame, according to Sportradar.
“It’s what we do. We fight,” said Alec Bohm, who was plunked on the shoulder by Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley with the bases loaded to drive in the first run. “We’re never out of it. That’s just kind of who we are.”