Anthony Gargano’s Opening Diatribe- Phillies Steal Game 1
The Phillies managed to steal game 1. It was a tense game, that had us all on the edge of our seats. But they did it. They won the first game, to go up in the series. And you know Anthony Gargano was in his element this morning.
See his reaction to the Phillies winning Game 1 below…
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH RED OCTOBTER!
An incredible day yesterday. Wow. Are you kidding me?
All we wanted was to get the spilt. And we talked about it yesterday. Is it possible? Can they somehow squeeze out a win? And lo and behold they steal game 1. They go to Atlanta and steal it. What an incredible game.
It starts out and they get right to Max Fried. And the hero? How about that Nick Castellanos? After the most disappointing year by a Phillies free agent since Lance Parrish, he comes up huge. It was a wild game. They played small ball. Got timely hits. They nickeled and dimed Fried. You get out to the lead. It was 2-2. then 4-1, then 6-1. And then the next thing you know, you have to get through it. That game was a 4-hour drudge. It was high pressure, high stakes. Every inning, and every pitch, you were on the edge of your seat.
That 9th inning was just filled with angst and terror, it was awesome. Acuna leads off with that infield single. And then Swanson hits a shot. He gets held to a single because Castellanos plays the ball really well off the fence. So it’s first and third. Austin Riley is up, and Eflin gets Riley. Strikes him out. And here comes Olson. When the ball hits off his bat I’m thinking it is a warning track fly ball. Except, it starts to carry, and carry, and carry. And there is Marsh looking up, and it is out. OH MY GOD, IT IS 7-6! OH NO, DON’T BLOW THIS GAME, PLEASE.
In fact, I was watching at the City Tap, and the whole bar is freaking out. Eflin is shook. Here comes Contreras, and he hits a screamer. It was unbelievable because Nick Castellanos is obviously challenged in the field. In fact, all I kept thinking about was why is he still in the game. As the ball careens into right field, he begins to slide, and he makes the sliding catch.
I thought it was going to be Greg Luzinski Jerry Martin all over again. The ball is going to get by him, it’s going to be a triple, and the tying run is going to be on third with 1 out. They are going to tie the game. That is exactly what was going on in my mind in the 3 seconds it took to make the catch. But he makes the catch, WOW.
And then d’Arnaud grounds out to SS, ball game. Phillies Survive 7-6. We steal game 1, with Wheels up in Atlanta for game 2, and then Nola back home Friday in Philly for Game 3.”
Listen to Anthony’s Full Opening Diatribe Below…
