(Phoenix) Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and J. T. Realmulto hit homers and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Saturday, taking a 3-2 lead in the NL Championship Series.
Zack Wheeler pitched for seven innings, allowing one run and six hits.
He struck out eight batters and allowed just one walk.
The Phillies are one win away from making the World Series for the second year in a row.
They had lost the lead in their last two games, ending with one point in favor of Arizona.
The score was 2-0 before long solo slaps from Schwarber and Harper in the sixth. The bullet crossed 461 and 444 feet, respectively.
Realmuto added a two-run homer in the eighth.
The series will continue Monday in Philadelphia. The Phillies are undefeated in six games since the start of the series. A big reason is their 17-gun haul at Citizens Bank Park.
Aaron Nola (Phillies) and Merrill Kelly (Diamondbacks) will be the starting pitchers.
Wheeler is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in the current postseason. In 26 innings, he struck out 34 batters and walked only two times.
Alek Thomas homered for the Diamondbacks. It was his fourth home run since the start of the series.
Schwarber reached the milestone of 20 career postseason home runs.
Harper also stole home plate, a first for the Phillies in a playoff context. In the history of major league baseball, there have only been 22 steals of the plate during the playoffs.
Torey Lovullo, who manages the D’Backs, gave Pavin Smith his first start since the start of the playoffs, placing him fifth in the lineup as the go-to hitter.
Smith was 0 for 4, however.
Tommy Pham was left out, after going 1 for 13 since the start of the series.
With weather reading over 35 degrees Celsius in Phoenix, the roof of Chase Field was closed for a third straight game.
The ceremonial throw was performed by legendary swimmer Michael Phelps, a 28-time Olympiad medalist.
In the crowd of 47,897 was Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, a key figure in the Diamondbacks’ 2001 World Series triumph.
There were also Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, from the Phoenix Suns.
