The Philadelphia Phillies reclaimed the series lead in the NLCS against the San Diego Padres, winning 4-2 on Friday night in the first NLCS game at Citizens Bank Park since Oct. 23, 2010. Much to the delight of 45,279 fans crammed into Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies came out on top in an entertaining game from start to finish.
The Phillies, who earned a six-out save from closest Serantony Domínguez, now have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
Let’s run it.
Schwarber left with a bomb
It didn’t take long for the Phillies to sign on to the board. Frontman Kyle Schwarber took care of it.
Schwarber had a brutal first two rounds of the playoffs, but he hit a monster shot — 488 feet — in Game 1 and now that one put the Phillies up 1-0 early. Schwarber became only the second Phillies player with a first playoff homer after (who else?) Jimmy Rollins, who did it three times (via ESPN statistics and information). He hit seven first regular season homers and it was his 11th career playoff homer in his 137th at bat.
Jean Segura rode the Game 3 roller coaster
Some good and bad extremes for Phillies second baseman Jean Segura, who was the active player with the most regular season career games and no playoff appearances just a few weeks ago.
The bad…
There’s been a lot of talk about the Phillies being the worst defensive team remaining in the playoffs — and that goes back two rounds — and it bit them in the top of the fourth. The Padres had runners on first and third after a ground player with a Brandon Drury out ran through the wide-open right side. The Phillies had a 1-0 lead at the time, so they had the corners, ready to throw home on a ground ball. The midfielder was back, playing for the double play. Phillies starter Ranger Suárez did his job and got a grounder in Bryson Stott at short notice. They had a chance for a double play and it was a good pass, but Segura just dropped the ball in second. We can’t be sure the double set would have been shot, but we never got the chance to find out.
Good
In the bottom half of the set, Segura found runners at second and third in a 1-1 draw. With two strikes, he fended off a breaking ball from Joe Musgrove, hitting it to the center right to bring home two runs. It was an impressive shot to make contact and float him to the outfield to score two runs.
Evil again
He was then retired to end the inning. Thanks to Segura getting nailed early and Nick Castellanos hitting a double play after a Bryce Harper single, the Phillies went 4-for-5 late in the fourth and scored two runs. It’s certainly not a bad inning, but it looks like they should have continued after 4 for 5, right?
The good, again
Segura then put on some great defensive play to end the top of the seventh inning with a Padres runner on base, his second diving stop of the night. It was quite an eventful night for the veteran who is a playoff rookie.
Perhaps that best sums up Segura’s night.
Suárez was slightly better than Musgrove
With no more byes left in the series, the last thing either coach had to deal with was a starting pitcher who couldn’t get his team out of the first innings.
Ranger Suárez was on point for the Phillies. He started the game on fire, getting Ha-seong Kim and Juan Soto with strikeouts. It would end up going five innings and only needed 68 pitchers to do it. As such, he would be fresher if there was a Game 7. He allowed just two runs on two hits, but only one run was earned as his defense was shoddy behind him, committing two errors.
Musgrove was a bit more of a mixed bag.
He started opposite Suárez, dropping the first bomb to Schwarber, then walking twice in a row before Bryce Harper hit in a double play. He settled in after that, getting stronger as he went. the game was progressing. He had problems in the fourth and can’t blame the defense. He just got hit. Credit Segura on the two-man knockout we discussed above as well.
Musgrove then hit the side in the fifth. He also got two groundouts to start the sixth, but then Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm hit back-to-back doubles and gave the Phillies a 4-2 lead. Juan Soto misplayed Bohm’s hit in a double, but it ultimately didn’t matter, as Bohm wouldn’t score.
Musgrove Last Line: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
You need to give both starters credit for throwing well enough to avoid bullpen being taxed. Suárez was definitely the better of the two, though.
The Phillies bullpen was stellar
Even with Suárez throwing well, the Phillies needed a big job on their oft-maligned bullpen. Zach Eflin worked a scoreless sixth and even though he gave up two hits, manager Rob Thomson correctly pointed out on the show that all he was doing was his job to get field balls. Two just turned out to be hits.
From there, Thomson passed the baton to his top two relievers. José Alvarado struck out two in his working inning and came back for the eighth, but he gave away a first single to Juan Soto. It’s worth noting that the ball wasn’t hit well, but let’s also give credit to Soto for fighting off a two-strike pitch for a left-shifted single. Thomson then turned to Seranthony Domínguez with six outs to go.
The only Phillies pitcher to record a six-out save in the playoffs was previously Tug McGraw. He did it once in the 1980 NLCS and then twice in the World Series, most recently Game 6, exactly 42 years ago.
Domínguez hit Manny Machado to set the tone. He emerged unscathed from the eighth. Josh Bell singled to lead the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but a strikeout (on a check-swing call that Jurickson Profar didn’t care about), an out and a strikeout put out end to the threat.
Heavy lifting from Domínguez there, and he might not be available for Game 4. Alvarado also threw 27 pitches, but the bottom line is the Phillies needed to hold onto that lead and they did. Well run game by Thomson and good job from the Phillies big back up guns to get it home.
The Padres bullpen is rested
Something to file for Game 4, however, is that Padres relievers Tim Hill and Pierce Johnson finished the game without allowing more Phillies runs. It kept their team in the game but, more importantly, allowed manager Bob Melvin to avoid using Nick Martinez, Luis García and, most importantly, Robert Suarez and closer Josh Hader (who becomes himself again).
And after?
We’ll do it again on Saturday night for Game 4. It’ll be 7:45 p.m. ET this time and those extra eight minutes of rest will surely loom large for both fighters after Friday’s 7:37 p.m. start time.
Seriously, though, it goes without saying that we’re on major territory here on the show. A Phillies win means a 3-1 series lead and only a sniffle away from the World Series while a Padres win means we’d be heading into Game 5 with the series tied at two and a very real chance at an epic seven player.
The Padres will start Mike Clevinger. He’s clearly behind the Padres’ top two right-handers in Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, but he’s capable and can be dominant. That wasn’t the case in Game 1 of the NLDS, when he allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Dodgers. The only time he faced the Phillies this season, he went five scoreless innings on May 17.
For the Phillies, it will be left-hander Bailey Falter, who hasn’t pitched since the regular season. Noah Syndergaard, who started Game 4 of the NLDS, could be used behind Falter.
