The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres 10-6 on Saturday night in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. The Phillies now hold a 3-1 lead over the Padres in the best of seven series heading into Game 5 on Sunday. With a victory, the Phillies will move on to their first World Series since 2009, where they will await the winner. of the American League Championship Series from the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. (The Astros lead this series 3-0.)
The Phillies fell behind early, with the Padres taking a 4-0 lead early in the first inning. Philadelphia fought back with three runs all on its own in the bottom half of the frame, leaving both starting pitchers on the outside watching before the second inning even rolled around. The Phillies would then tie the game in the fourth.
The Padres regained the lead in fifth on a two-point shot from Juan Soto, his first of the playoffs. Alas, it was not San Diego night. The star Phillies attacked again, turning a 6-4 deficit into a 10-6 lead in the span of three innings. Rhys Hoskins hit two homers, Bryce Harper had a pair of RBI doubles, and Kyle Schwarber and JT Realmuto added solo homers for insurance runs.
The Phillies bullpen managed to hold that lead to the end. As a result, the Phillies are now one win away from claiming the NL pennant.
Here are six more things to know about the Phillies’ Game 4 win.
Starters wobble
Phillies starting pitcher Bailey Falter got two quick outs to start the game, but that was it. He gave up a home run to Manny Machado before a single, a walk and a double and his day was over with the Padres already leading 3-0. It would be 4-0 before getting to the bottom of the first. A first single followed by a home run from Rhys Hoskins, a walk and then a brace from Bryce Harper meant it was 4-3 and Padres starter Mike Clevinger was also finished. Clevinger did not register a withdrawal.
It was the second time in MLB playoff history that neither starter came out first. The whole story here.
Martinez, Brogdon fix things
Unlike the starters, Padres reliever Nick Martinez and Phillies reliever Connor Brogdon were excellent early in the game, taking things mid-inning at 4-3 Padres. Brogdon allowed his legacy runner to score on a hit, but it would be the only hit he gave up in 2 1/3 innings.
Martinez was better. He was exceptional, in fact. He struck out all nine batters he faced in three perfect innings. He struck out three and caused weak contact.
Padres left-hander Sean Manaea, meanwhile, was down five runs in 1 1/3 innings, allowing the Phillies to take the lead in a fifth-inning four-run.
Soto’s Great Blow
Juan Soto was relatively discreet during these playoffs. Hell, he’s been relatively quiet since the Padres caused a stir before the trade deadline to acquire him. Heading into Game 4, Soto was hitting 0.231/0.302/0.282 in the playoffs. He did a huge brace in Game 2, but that was basically his big impact so far.
In the top of the fifth inning of Game 4, however, Soto had it.
Earlier in the game, some Phillies fans could be heard chanting “overrated”. Soto hit five homers in the 2019 playoffs en route to a Nationals World Series title. It was his first homer of the 2022 playoffs.
Phillies stars strike back
The Phillies weren’t deterred by Soto’s home run. On the contrary, the top of their order got to work in the lower half of the fifth.
The rally began with Rhys Hoskins throwing his second home run of the night to tie the game at 6-6. Hoskins’ performance was only the eighth multi-home postseason game in Phillies history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
JT Realmuto would walk, then score on a brace from Bryce Harper to give the Phillies another lead. Harper then scored on an original Nick Castellanos single that bounced off second base and put the Phillies by an 8-6 margin.
The Phillies weren’t done either. In the sixth, Kyle Schwarber hit a huge shot for his side to extend the lead to 9-6:
And then in the seventh, Realmuto made a solo home run to make it 10-6:
Add it all up and the Phillies’ top five hitters — Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper and Castellanos — combined for nine hits, four home runs and nine RBIs.
What history says about the Phillies’ chances
The Phillies now have a 3-1 series lead thanks to their win on Saturday night. Historically, teams that go 3-1 in best-of-seven series go on to win the series 85% of the time, according to WhoWins. This seems to bode well for the Phillies’ chances of qualifying for their first World Series since 2009. Who knows, they might even end the series on Sunday in front of their home crowd.
Next
We’ll start again on Sunday afternoon with Game 5. This one will be a morning, as the first pitch is scheduled for 2:37 p.m. ET (weather permitting).
On the mound, it will be a rematch of Game 1. Yu Darvish was very good in the playoffs and allowed just two solo homers in seven innings of work against the Phillies on Tuesday. Of course, he was beaten by Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler allowed just one hit and one walk in seven scoreless innings.
After what we just witnessed in Game 4, both teams are likely hoping to get some length from these starters again.
