PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber extended his playoff record with his fifth career leadoff homer, launching the third pitch of Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Mets into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.
Schwarber had two hits, but the rest of the Phillies managed just three and fell 6-2 to the New York Mets in the series opener.
Schwarber’s homer came off Kodai Senga, who was a surprise Game 1 starter for New York after throwing just 5 1/3 major league innings all season.
“It was hard to map out because we didn’t know what we were getting out of Senga, to begin with,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoz said. “He was really good, by the way. Other than that pitch that Schwarber took him deep, he was really good.”
Schwarber, who hit 38 home runs in the regular season, including 15 from the leadoff spot, has 21 career playoff home runs in 66 games. That ranks him fourth behind Manny Ramirez (29), Jose Altuve (27) and Bernie Williams (22).
Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter each had three career leadoff home runs during the playoffs.
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