Philadelphia — Two scenes, one money superstar, and one crazy night here that brought this Philadelphia Phillies team to the brink of immortality.
Bryce Harper stood at second base, essentially center stage at this point, in a deafening sell-out crowd of 45,467. He had just scored his RBI double, his blow in the final tiebreaker for his Padres in his 10-6 victory over San Diego on Saturday night in Philadelphia.
A round of applause poured over Harper, and he exclaimed, “This is my home! Only the booming sound grew in the waves.”
The second scene occurred some 45 minutes after the victory was sealed, with this entire city already on high alert, indicating Sunday and a potential clincher. It was quiet now, and Harper was finishing up in his press conference room. As he exited and the next player entered, Harper paused and announced dramatically.
“Rhys Hoskins, folks! There he is!
Four games in this National League Championship Series made it clear that the Padres would have to work tremendously to stop the Phillies. And now, facing a 3-to-1 deficit, even extraordinary may not be enough.
The Phillies found four 1st runs on the Padres in Game 4. Their opener was Bailey, who hadn’t pitched since Oct. 5. He was a little-known fellow named Falter, who went on to hit six just before being sent to the shower. All signs showed him going 2-2 over San Diego this series evening.
And the Phillies lowered the boom.
Hoskins smashed two two-run homers. Kyle Schwarber scored his three runs, hit a 429-foot solo homer, and at one point during his at-bat during the game, showed a bunt at a 3-for-1 count to see if it actually happened. I was so enthusiastic that I made it look like.
“For example, you’ll never see Kyle Schwarber do that outside of the regular season,” Hoskins raved afterwards. He knew we needed to do a little rally.
“It’s good baseball. It’s fun to be a part of.”
The top five hitters in the Phillies lineup—Schwarber, Hoskins, JT Realmut, Harper, and Nick Castellanos—combined went 9-18 with four homers, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored.
It was beating, domination, annihilation.
It was thorough, oh so complete.
“I think we’re just upset. We adapt on the spot and play baseball,” Castellanos said. “We’re rolling. We’re stepping up, defending, and turning the page.”
And they did pretty much everything in an evening that started off as if it belonged in San Diego.
As the Phillies returned to the dugout following San Diego’s four-run first inning, Hoskins said they were calm, cool, and businesslike. Many others repeated the mantra, including: 27 outs. They hadn’t even taken their first lick yet. They knew they had a long way to go. They knew the Padres were essentially matching them in the bullpen game. Pitchers may be used outside of their normal role.
Given all of that, the Phillies knew they were going to be “slugs,” Hoskins said.
This is the team that had to scrape all the way to the regular season finish line just to grab the breadcrumbs, the last of the NL’s six playoff spots
It was then. Now this team is going strong and looks poised to win his NL pennant for the ninth time on Sunday.
“I’m looking for someone to say, ‘This is what I saw, this is how he pitches,’ as soon as we’re done at bat.”
In the first inning, which stretched into the 48th minute after Philadelphia went at bat, the Phillies ran out San Diego starter Mike Clevinger before getting a single out. Things didn’t turn for the better for Sean Manaea, his third of his six pitchers for the Padres.
“We’ve always had that battle all year long,” Schwalber said. “We believe in ourselves. We feel that no matter what the score is, we will never get out of it.
“We are going to keep fighting.”
That’s the problem with the Padres on Sunday. They led 4-0 and 6-4 in Game 4 and went empty. So what are you going to do?
The Phillies could qualify for the World Series for the first time since 2009 on Sunday afternoon with Zach Wheeler on the mound. In his three postseason starts this month, Wheeler has allowed only three earned runs in 19⅓ innings with a 1.40 ERA. Combining both regular and postseason play, Wheeler pitched 25⅔ consecutive scoreless innings in eight starts against the Padres.
The Phillies feel it’s their moment, they act as if it’s their moment, and the crowd at Citizens Bank Park this month is just as if they know something. I was going crazy.
On Saturday night, chaos erupted around him with Real Mut, who had just taken Harper out on his own at second base to lift the Phillies to a 7-6 lead.
“It was just so much fun just having all of us together in that moment,” Harper said, referring to 26 Phillies and 45,467 people standing and screaming in the stands. By itself, we are all participating in the entire city of Philadelphia and every Phillies in the organization.
“The fans turned up for us every night.
Speaking before the game, Padres manager Bob Melvin said: Even more so when we lost the game the day before. ”
By the end of the evening, Philadelphia had updated it from every day to every inning for the Padres. They were on the brink all Saturday night and now have nowhere else to go. they are on the precipice.
“Hey, it’s hard to play in the jungle,” Castellanos said. “It’s been cheering, loud, and rough all night long. It definitely affects the game.”
That said, from Castellanos to Schwalber and everyone else in the Phillies’ clubhouse, they’ve all gone to extremes to emphasize that there’s no disappointment now.
Castellanos said in response to a key question, “I think it’s hard to say that we delivered the knockout blow. ‘They’re a good team over there.’
But so far, the Phillies are the better team.
“I don’t think any of us are shocked, but I can say that I’m standing here, grateful, and understanding that this opportunity is huge.” It’s one of the last teams out there and it’s really cool to see.
Both Harper and Castellanos emphasized the joy of the moment. “I look forward to waking up and playing baseball again as the night goes on,” Castellanos said.
Harper repeated it.
“I appreciate the opportunity to come to the ballpark every day,” he said. “I’m grateful to these fans for how cool and how fun it was for them to show for us.”
Just one win away from his first World Series, Harper is gearing up for more fun.
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