Rangers in control in ALCS

Harper, Phillies take NL championship series opener

MANILA, Philippines — The defending champion Houston Astros are in trouble as they head out on the road against Texas.

Meanwhile, star slugger Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies are off to another powerful start at home in the NL Championship Series.

Harper smashed the first pitch he saw on his 31st birthday into the seats, Kyle Schwarber hit his first homer of this postseason and Nick Castellanos went deep again to lead Philadelphia past the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 in Game 1 on Monday night.

Concocting a suitable celebration on the fly, Harper held up three fingers on his left hand and one on his right and pretended to blow them out like candles on a cake as he crossed the plate. Harper, who also walked, scored twice and knocked in two runs, hit his 10th homer in two postseasons with the Phillies.

Zack Wheeler struck out eight in six innings to help the reigning National League champions win their seventh Game 1 of the last two postseasons.

Arizona was handed its first loss of these playoffs after ripping off five straight wins against the Brewers and Dodgers. Merrill Kelly starts Game 2 for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night against Aaron Nola.

In Houston, Jonah Heim homered, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six effective innings and the Texas Rangers beat Framber Valdez and the Astros 5-4 for a 2-0 lead in the ALCS.

Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe each hit an RBI single during Texas’ four-run first inning against Valdez. José Leclerc closed it out for the Rangers after Yordan Alvarez powered an Astros rally with two home runs.

The Rangers improved to 7-0 in the playoffs, including six wins on the road. Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Arlington, with three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer scheduled to start for Texas against Cristian Javier.

Scherzer has been sidelined since Sept. 12 because of a muscle strain in his shoulder.

Despite not feeling well, Alvarez hit two solo homers to become the sixth player in major league history with two multi-homer games in one postseason.

The Rangers are the current betting favorites to win the World Series at +110, followed by the Phillies (+140), Astros (+750) and Diamondbacks (+800), according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Before his big performance in the NLCS opener, Harper revealed he’d love to take a swing at the Olympics.

The Phillies slugger said it would be a dream to play for Team USA when baseball returns for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Harper has long been an advocate of Major League Baseball taking a break during the season to let major leaguers play in the Olympics.

“You talk about growing the game, and that’s the way you grow it at the highest peak,” Harper said. “You let guys that are playing in the league take that break just like in the NHL and see what happens. I think it would be really cool. I think it would be a lot of fun. I don’t know if they’ll ever go for it, but I would love to put USA on my chest and represent it at the highest level.”