The 2022 World Series might not exactly be David vs. Goliath, but it doesn’t seem too far off from that.
The Astros tore through the American League in 2022, winning 106 games during the regular season — the second-most during its dynastic run that began in 2017 — and has not lost a playoff game. The Phillies won only 87 games and reached the playoffs as the last NL wild-card team, and they have had to grind out series wins against the reigning World Series champion Braves and a loaded Padres squad.
Philadelphia is not the typical underdog. The club has been loading up for this run for some time. It signed Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber as free agents and acquired J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura and Noah Syndergaard in trades. Only the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees had a larger payroll in 2022.
The investments have paid off. Harper has been an integral part of the postseason run and Wheeler has given the team a dynamic 1-2 punch in the rotation with Aaron Nola.
MORE: Watch the 2022 World Series live with fuboTV (free trial)
But make no mistake, the Astros are the titan to beat. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman have powered the team to another World Series, its fourth in six years, and the revitalized Justin Verlander has anchored a strong rotation that also includes Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia.
The 2022 Fall Classic opener will feature a highly anticipated pitching matchup between Nola and Verlander. Nola led all pitchers with 6.3 fWAR (Fangraphs’ wins above replacement), helped by a 3.25 ERA 29.1 percent strikeout rate and 3.6 percent walk rate. Verlander, who led American League pitchers with 6.1 fWAR, had a Cy Young-worthy campaign in his return from Tommy John surgery at age 39. He pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings with a 27.8 percent strikeout rate and 4.4 percent walk rate.
The Sporting News will be tracking live scores and highlights throughout Game 1 of the 2022 World Series. Follow for complete updates of the Phillies vs. Astros matchup.
Phillies vs. Astros score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| Astros | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
Phillies vs. Astros live updates, highlights from 2022 World Series
All times Eastern
10:20 p.m. End Top Sixth: Abreu gets Segura swinging to retire the side in order.
10:18 p.m.: Abreu locks up Stott looking at a fastball down and away for the second out.
10:17 p.m.: Jam-shot from Bohm goes out to right, but it’s right at Tucker, who catches it for the first out.
10:14 p.m.: Verlander’s night is over. Bryan Abreu will come in to start the sixth.
10:13 p.m. End of Fifth: Alvarado carves up Bregman, and the Astros go down in order.
10:11 p.m.: Alvarez lofts the second pitch he sees from Alvarado to short for the second out.
10:07 p.m.: Pena goes down swinging at a changeup, and that will be the final batter for Nola. Jose Alvarado will face Alvarez in a lefty-lefty matchup.
10:02 p.m. End Top Fifth: Verlander gets Castellanos chasing on the curve, but the damage is done. The Astros will bat in the bottom of the fifth in a 5-5 game.
9:58 p.m.: Harper bounces out to Pena in the shift, but Realmuto moves to third to give Castellanos a chance to bat with the go-ahead run 90 feet away from scoring.
9:56 p.m. Phillies scoring play: Double by Realmuto off the top of the left field wall, and this is a tie game. Phillies tie the game at 5-5.
9:54 p.m.: Towering popup by Hoskins to shortstop for the first out of the frame.
9:53 p.m.: The Phillies add another baserunner as Schwarber takes ball four to put runners on first and second with no out and Hoskins coming up to bat.
9:49 p.m.: The run by the Phillies keeps going as Marsh ropes a double down the left-field line to give Philadelphia a baserunner in scoring position to start the fifth.
9:45 p.m. End of Fourth: Altuve lofts it up to left right at Schwarber, who catches it for the final out to end the fourth.
9:43 p.m.: Maldonado is the second out of the frame as he hits a hard grounder to short, and Stott throws him out at first.
9:41 p.m.: McCormick goes down swinging to start the Astros’ half of the fourth.
9:37 p.m. End Top Fourth: Segura pops out to second, but the Phillies aren’t going anywhere as they made this a two-run game in the fourth.
9:35 p.m.: Stott draws a walk, and Verlander is not out of the woods yet. Tying run on first as Segura comes up to bat.
9:28 p.m. Phillies scoring play: This game is getting interesting again. Bohm rips a 109.5 mph double down the left field line to drive in both Harper and Castellanos and make it a two-run game. Astros still lead 5-3.
9:28 p.m. Phillies scoring play: Castellanos flips a base hit into shallow left to drive in Hoskins and move Harper up to third. Bohm coming up with two on. Astros still lead 5-1.
9:25 p.m.: Harper ropes a 103.9 mph single into right, but Hoskins is held up at third. Castellanos now batting with runners on the corners.
9:23 p.m.: Realmuto hits a comebacker to Verlander, but he can’t quite hang on for the catch. He still has enough time to make the throw over to Gurriel for the out, but Hoskins moves up to second with Harper coming up and two away.
9:22 p.m.: The Phillies break into the hit column as Hoskins lines a base hit into center.
9:21 p.m.: Make it 10 straight outs to start the game as Schwarber flies out to center to lead off the fourth.
9:15 p.m. End of Third: Mancini grounds out to third to end the frame.
9:13 p.m.: Hard grounder from Gurriel, but right at Segura on the right side for the second out.
9:11 p.m. Astros scoring play: Tucker does it again. Another mistake pitch from Nola that stays middle-in and Tucker hammers it to right. 395 feet to right, 105.3 off the bat. Astros extend their lead to 5-0.
9:06 p.m.: Nola’s pitch to Bregman is up and in, and the Astros third baseman takes the free pass to first. Tucker back up to bat with runners on the corners and one away.
9:03 p.m.: Indeed, Alvarez is out at first, but Pena is at third with Bregman coming to the plate with one away.
9:01 p.m.: Alvarez hits a slow roller to Bohm at third that is ruled on the field as a single, but a replay could overturn this. Certainly looks like the throw just beat him to the bag at first.
9 p.m.: The Astros rookie shortstop leads off the bottom of the third with a double to right. Pena ropes that 95.6 mph pitch from Nola down the line at 104.4 mph to give Alvarez a chance to bat with a runner in scoring position.
8:55 p.m. End Top Third: Make it nine straight outs for Verlander as he catches Brandon Marsh looking at a curveball on the outside edge for strike three.
8:54 p.m.: Segura bounces one over to Bregman, and a hard throw by the Astros third baseman just nabs the speedy second baseman for the second out.
8:52 p.m.: The veteran gets the better of the rookie as Verlander gets Bryson Stott swinging on a high fastball for the first out of the frame.
8:47 p.m. End of Second: Altuve grounds into a 6-4-3 double play as Nola escapes further damage.
8:46 p.m. Astros scoring play: Maldonado pushes a single through the right side of the infield with McCormick running on the play, and catches Jean Segura heading to the bag. The single scores Gurriel and moves McCormick up to third. Now to the top of the order with Altuve. Astros extend their lead to 2-0.
8:41 p.m.: A little inside-out action as Chas McCormick catches a pitch way inside and flips it over the right side of the infield for a base hit. Gurriel advances to third to give Martin Maldonado a chance to hit with runners on the corners and only one out.
8:39 p.m.: Mancini is down swinging on a curve down and away for the first out of the inning.
8:36 p.m.: Yuli Gurriel follows up the homer from Tucker with a single up the middle. Trey Mancini up to the plate with a runner on first and no one out.
8:34 p.m. Astros scoring play: Kyle Tucker hits a no-doubt moonshot on a changeup to right off Nola to put the Astros on the board first. Felt like it went a lot farther than the listed 359 feet. Astros take a 1-0 lead.
8:30 p.m. End Top Second: Alec Bohm hits a dribbler back to the mound, and Verlander flips on to first for the out.
8:29 p.m.: On Harper’s strikeout, an impressive stat on his matchup against Verlander from The Athletic’s Jayson Stark. Two swings and misses from Harper against Verlander, only one in the NLCS.
Bryce Harper didn’t swing and miss at a single pitch in the strike zone during the entire NLCS.
He just whiffed on two in a row in his first AB of the World Series.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 29, 2022
8:28 p.m.: Quick out the next at-bat as Nick Castellanos pops a fastball on the outer half of the plate up to the right side of the infield. Two away.
8:27 p.m.: Bryce Harper chases a fastball up in the zone for the first out of the frame.
8:22 p.m. End of First: No hits in the first inning for either side as Bregman pops up to end the inning.
8:21 p.m.: Yordan Alvarez lays off a pitch down and in for ball four to give Alex Bregman a chance to bat with a runner on first and two away in the bottom half of the inning.
8:18 p.m.: Nola has his second straight strikeout as he catches Jeremy Pena looking at a fastball on the corner down and away for the second out.
8:16 p.m.: Off-balance swing on a cutter outside the zone from Altuve marks the first out for Nola and the Phillies.
8:11 p.m. End Top First: J.T. Realmuto lines out to right, and the Phillies go down in order.
8:08 p.m.: Hoskins just gets under one and pops it up to center. Two away.
8:07 p.m.: Schwarber is caught looking at a breaking ball for the first out of the game.
8:05 p.m.: Justin Verlander’s first pitch is a strike at the top of the zone to Kyle Schwarber to start the World Series.
7:50 p.m.: Black Pumas’ Eric Burton singing the national anthem.
7:46 p.m.: Now, to the tune of the Avengers’ theme, the Astros’ lineup is announced.
7:43 p.m.: Starting lineups ahead of Game 1 of the World Series are being announced, starting with the visiting Phillies.
7:28 p.m.: Rhys Hoskins explained to Ken Rosenthal the keys for the Phillies beating the Astros in the World Series, including getting a pair of strong starts from Nola and Wheeler.
Red-hot coming off his NLCS performance, @rhyshoskins spoke with @Ken_Rosenthal about what it will take for the @Phillies to take down a strong Astros team. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CmhenbJBQp
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2022
7:20 p.m.: Jose Altuve spoke with Tom Verducci before the game about improving his hitting and new shortstop Jeremy Pena.
Tom Verducci sits down with @astros 2B Jose Altuve before Game 1 of the #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/tLGnvafJ3k
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2022
7:15 p.m.: The Phillies have a powerful lineup that could put up some eye-popping numbers in Houston, a notorious hitter’s ballpark, as Codify breaks down.
Every one of these @phillies fly balls were outs but all of them would have landed in the seats had they been hit in Houston. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/HzOTGSaohU
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 28, 2022
6:50 p.m.: Want to catch the batters taking BP ahead of tonight’s game? Here’s a look at their pregame swings.
Join us live in Houston for BP before #WorldSeries Game 1! https://t.co/w7bsnLGz21
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2022
6:20 p.m.: Here’s a look at the two lineups for Friday night’s matchup.
Lineups for Game 1. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/Ccp3lTNbGy
— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) October 28, 2022
World Series start time today
The 2022 World Series is expected to start at 8:03 p.m. ET, when Justin Verlander pitches to Kyle Schwarber to begin Game 1.
How to watch the 2022 World Series
- TV channel (U.S.): Fox
- TV channel (Canada): Sportsnet
- Live stream: fuboTV
All World Series games will be carried by Fox in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada. The Fox broadcast will be led by Joe Davis calling play-by-play with John Smoltz providing analysis from the booth. Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci will report from field level.
Streamers can find the game on the Fox Sports Go app or by using fuboTV, which comes with a free trial.
