The Astros having taken both games in Philadelphia send Joe Niekro (20-12 3.55 Grade 13Z) to the mound against Larry Christensen (5-1 4.03 Grade 4YZ) for the Phillies.
The Phillies again come out of the gate a grab an early lead with a run in the 2nd. Bob Boone sends in Greg Luzinski with an RBI single. The Astros would answer with 2 big runs in the 3rd. Joe Morgan singles in Terry Puhl and Jose Cruz singles in Enos Cabell. The Phillies would answer right back with 2 of their own in the 5th. Bake McBride triples in Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt hits a sac fly to center to give the Phillies the 3-2 lead.
The bottom of the 4th was huge for the Astros as they plate 4 runs. Run scoring hits by Cesar Cedano and Craig Reynolds the big hits. The Phillies would keep coming. Down 6-3 they get a run in the 6th as Larry Bowa would single in Manny Trillo. In the 8th the Phillies would get to within 1 as they get a run on a Dave Smith error. Smith would work out of further damage and Joe Sambito would get them 1-2-3 in the 9th to secure the 6-5 win and the NLCS sweep for the Astros. The Astros will face the Royals in a what-if World Series. Our first what-if World Series in our replays.
Final Score: Astros 6, Phillies 5
WP: Joe Niekro (1-0)
LP: Ron Reed (0-1)
Save: Joe Sambito (1)