Bryce Harper has a birthday bash, and the Phillies remind who’s the favorite in Game 1 win over D’backs

PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper hadn’t played on his birthday before. It’s in the middle of October, after all. So, after bashing the first pitch of his first at-bat to the right-center field bleachers, he thought of an appropriate way to mark turning 31.

Raise three fingers on one hand. Hold up one finger on the other.

Then, blow out the candles.

Harper didn’t quite turn out the lights on the Diamondbacks with his first-inning blast. Or with his third-inning RBI single, for that matter. But as the Phillies claimed another homer-filled victory, 5-3 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, he did remind everyone of why they are such heavy favorites to get back to the World Series.

Because Harper’s smash came on only the fifth pitch of the game from Arizona starter Zac Gallen. Kyle Schwarber smoked Gallen’s first pitch – 117.1 mph off the bat, in fact – for a leadoff homer, the fourth of his career, a major-league record.

Citizens Bank Park, packed with 45,396 paying customers, rocked – and that was before Jason Kelce chugged a beer on Phanavision, and Tim McGraw joined the Phanatic on the field, and Zack Wheeler set down 15 consecutive batters, and Nick Castellanos joined Reggie Jackson as the only players in history with five homers in a span of three postseason games.

If it seems like too much, well, imagine how opposing teams must feel.

Before they got here, the Diamondbacks pumped in artificial crowd noise for a workout at Chase Field in Arizona to simulate the conditions in South Philly. But as first baseman Christian Walker, a Norristown, Pa., native, put it, “You won’t know for sure until you’re in it and you feel it.”

It’s different here. It’s sensory overload. And when the Phillies clock two homers in the first five pitches – three in the first 23 – and unleash high-90s fastballs from Wheeler and three relievers, it’s borderline unfair.

The Phillies are also orchestrating an eerie sequel to last year’s run to the World Series. They swept through the wild-card series, then ousted the NL East-champion Braves in four games in the divisional round, just like last year.

And they opened the NLCS with a bang from Schwarber.

Remember the upper-decker last October in San Diego that practically touched down in Tijuana? Well, after going only 4-for-25 with 10 strikeouts in the first six postseason games, Schwarber awakened by ambushing a 92 mph fastball from Gallen into the right-field seats.

It was Schwarber’s hardest-hit ball since that 119 mph shot against the Padres, and it caused the sold-out crowd to erupt.

The ballpark was still standing when Harper stepped to the plate. Never mind that he’s been the hottest hitter on the planet this month (to be fair, Castellanos probably can lay claim to that title, too). The Diamondbacks elected to pitch to Harper with the bases empty, and he teed off on a first-pitch fastball.

Happy birthday, indeed.

“I’ve always wanted to play on my birthday,” Harper said before the game. “A Game 1 win would be awesome. That’s what you want any time you’re in your own ballpark and doing that.”

Castellanos opened a 3-0 lead in the second inning. And as Harper stepped to the plate in the third, with Trea Turner on second base and first base open, the Diamondbacks surely were expected to walk him. Instead, they pitched to Harper, who punched an RBI single to right field.

Wheeler, meanwhile, allowed a broken-bat single to Corbin Carroll to open the game, then nothing else until Evan Longoria’s leadoff single in the sixth. The Diamondbacks sliced the margin to 5-2 with Geraldo Perdomo’s two-run homer off Wheeler in the sixth and added a run in the seventh against Seranthony Dominguez.

But the Phillies won Game 1 because they overwhelmed the Diamondbacks with power bats, high-velocity fastballs and a crowd that provides an unmatched home-field advantage.

And after Craig Kimbrel recorded the final out, two more postseason traditions followed: “Dancing On My Own,” the Phillies’ October anthem blared over the sound system, and owner John Middleton stood on the dugout and threw baseballs to lingering fans.