If ever there was a perfect illustration of the phrase "money well spent," it's what $527 million worth of Philadelphia Phillies stars did in Game 1 of the 2022 National League Championship Series.

Take a bow, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. And especially you, Zack Wheeler.

The three of them put their fingerprints all over the Phillies' 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday night. Wheeler pitched seven shutout innings, while Harper and Schwarber provided the offense with solo home runs.

Anyone who's just now hearing about Schwarber's long ball should know that they might have literally heard it when it happened. Because when a ball leaves the bat at 120 mph and travels 488 feet, it makes quite the sound.

After scoring 31 runs in seven games against the 101-win New York Mets and 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Padres offense basically didn't show up on Tuesday. In addition to zero runs, it mustered just one hit.

Thus did the Phillies put San Diego on the losing end of the kind of game that it enjoyed on Oct. 9. They're now just three wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Wheeler Continues to be a $118 Million Bargain

There was no shortage of surprised expressions when the Phillies originally signed Wheeler to a five-year, $118 million contract in Dec. 2019.

He was, after all, a guy with great stuff but not a whole lot to show for it. As a New York Met between 2013 and 2019, he lost two seasons to Tommy John surgery and otherwise pitched to an average 100 ERA+.

Brodie Van Wagenen, who was then the Mets' general manager, didn't seem terribly saddened to lose Wheeler. In response to the hurler's back-handed comments about the Mets in Feb. 2020, Van Wagenen clapped back by saying that the team had "helped him parlay two good half-seasons over the last five into $118 million."

Cut to now, and Van Wagenen is out of a job and Wheeler is arguably the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.