The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 6-5 in Game 1 of the MLB World Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on Friday, to lead 1-0 in the series.

As the sixth seed of the National League (NL), the Phillies upset three teams that had better regular season records than them – St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres – on their way to the World Series, which the Phillies have missed for 14 years.

However, they trailed 5-0 after three innings against the Astros, which were the only American League (AL) team that won over 100 games during the regular season. Right fielder Kyle Tucker hit two home runs, one single and one triple, while catcher Martin Maldonado added an infield single in the second and third innings.

The Phillies soon counterattacked as right fielder Nick Castellanos, third-baseman Alec Bohm and catcher J.T. Realmuto scored one single, one double and one double respectively in the following two innings to tie the score for their team.

No team has ever overcome a five-run deficit to win in a World Series game in 20 years, but Realmuto wanted to break that record for the Phillies. Facing Luis Garcia in the 10th inning, Realmuto hit the first homer of both and his team in this game for them to lead 6-5 for the first time on Friday.

"All in all, it was a great game, a great come-from-behind victory, and it just showed the resilience of the club again and how tough they are and they just never quit," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

The Astros had more than one chance to avoid this loss. Shortstop Jeremy Pena hit a blooper in the ninth inning when there was one teammate on the second base with two outs, but Castellanos made a remarkable grab to drag the game into the 10th inning.

The Astros had two runners on the second and third bases in the 10th inning with two outs. Pitcher David Robertson threw three straight balls against pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz. The third one almost sent Diaz to the first base if plate umpire James Hoye hadn't ruled that Diaz leaned into the pitch.

Diaz grounded out on a 3-1 throw, blowing the final chance for the Astros.

"Disappointing, yeah, for sure," Astros ace pitcher Justin Verlander said. "I need to do better. No excuses."

Game 2 will happen at Minute Maid Park again on Saturday.