2022 National League Championship Series

2022 National League Championship Series

Philadelphia Phillies 87 - 75 in the NL	4 - 1 Series Summary	San Diego Padres 89 - 73 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Padres: Bob Melvin | Phillies: Rob Thomson

Padres

Phillies

Umpires[edit]

Brian Knight, Ted Barrett (crew chief), Adam Hamari, Quinn Wolcott, Doug Eddings, Todd Tichenor

Lance Barrett was the reserve umpire, moving into the rotation as home plate umpire in Game 2

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Philadelphia Phillies 2 San Diego Padres 0	October 18	Zack Wheeler (1-0) Yu Darvish (0-1)	8:07 pm
2	Philadelphia Phillies 5 San Diego Padres 8	October 19	Aaron Nola (0-1) Blake Snell (1-0)	4:35 pm
3	San Diego Padres 2 Philadelphia Phillies 4	October 21	Joe Musgrove (0-1) Ranger Suarez (1-0)	7:37 pm
4	San Diego Padres 6 Philadelphia Phillies 10	October 22	Mike Clevinger (0-0) Bailey Falter (0-0)	7:45 pm
5	San Diego Padres 3 Philadelphia Phillies 4	October 23	Yu Darvish (0-1) Zack Wheeler (1-0)	2:37 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Phillies	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	1
Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
WP: Zack Wheeler (1-0); LP: Yu Darvish (0-1); SV: José Alvarado (1)
Home Runs: PHI - Bryce Harper (1), Kyle Schwarber (1)

Attendance: 44,826

Game 1 was a classic pitchers' duel, featuring only 2 runs and 4 hits, with the Phillies coming out on top, 2-0, by virtue of two of their three hits being homers. The Padres were limited to just one hit - a single by Wil Myers - by three Philadelphia pitchers, and that was never going to be enough to win the game. The two stars of the game were the starting pitchers, both making their third start of the postseason: Zack Wheeler for the Phillies, and Yu Darvish for the Padres. Darvish had won both of his previous starts, even though he had given up three solo homers in his Division Series start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a failing that would haunt him again today. However, with just 2 runs allowed on 3 hits and 1 walk over 7 innings, he would have been a winner in most other circumstances - just not on this night. Wheeler had in fact suffered a similar fate in his previous start, the Phillies' only loss to the Atlanta Braves in the other Division Series, when a three-run outburst in one inning, marred with some sub-par defensive play, cost him a loss as the Phillies were blanked. He was outstanding in this game, also going 7 innings, and allowing just one hit and one walk.

As explained, above, there was little action on the bases during the game, given the dominance of the pitchers. The Phillies did threaten in the 1st inning as Kyle Schwarber drew a lead-off walk from Darvish and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a first out, he advanced to third base on a ground ball by J.T. Realmuto, but was stranded there when Bryce Harper lined out to second. The Padres also benefitted from a 1st-inning walk, this one to Juan Soto with one out, but he could not even make it to second base before the inning ended. Schwarber collected the game's first hit, a single with two outs in the 3rd, but Darvish then ended the inning by striking out Rhys Hoskins, while the Padres were hitless through three. In the 4th, Bryce Harper opened the score by looping a homer into the second row of seats in left field, as Jurickson Profar tried to climb the fence but could not reach the ball. It was already Harper's fourth long ball of the postseason. The Padres finally got their first hit in the 5th, a one-out single up the middle by Myers, but like Soto in the 1st, he could not even advance one base before the inning ended. Leading off the 6th, Schwarber, who had been in a significant slump before this game but had led the National League in homers during the regular season, crushed Darvish's first pitch, sending in 488 feet into the third deck in right field for what was both the longest homer of his career, and the longest hit at Petco Park in the Statcast era.

The score would remain 2-0 until the end of the game. In fact, there was no other hit after Schwarber's titanic blast - and not even a single baserunner until the bottom of the 9th. In the 8th, both managers went to their bullpen, with Nick Martinez retiring the Phillies in order, and Seranthony Dominguez doing the same against the Padres. In the 9th, Luis Garcia mowed down the Phils, and José Alvarado was delegated to save the game. He got Austin Nola to ground out for the first out, but walked Profar. On Alvarado's next pitch, Soto hit a grounder to 3B Alec Bohm, but in his rush to start a potential game-ending double play, he threw the ball wide of second and everyone was safe on his error. It was the first time the Padres had a runner reach second, or either team had placed more than one man on base. However, Alvarado got Manny Machado to fly out to right field, with the runners staying put, and then struck out Josh Bell to end the game.

Game 2 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Phillies	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	8	0
Padres	0	2	0	0	5	0	1	0	x	8	13	1
WP: Blake Snell (1-0); LP: Aaron Nola (0-1); SV: Josh Hader (1)
Home Runs: SD - Brandon Drury (1), Josh Bell (1), Manny Machado (1); PHI - Rhys Hoskins (1)

Attendance: 44,607

Game 2 was a big contrast to Game 1, a high-scoring affair in which both starting pitchers were victimized by a big inning. There were four homers hit in the game, but all were solo shots, and it was the ability to cash in runners and take advantage of the other team's mistakes that led to most of the runs. The Padres staged a very nice comeback, overcoming a four-run 2nd inning in which they looked particularly inept to score 8 unanswered runs and run away with the game. The two starting pitchers were Blake Snell for San Diego and Aaron Nola for Philadelphia, but they gave up 4 and 6 runs respectively, and neither got further than the 5th inning. For Nola, the occasion was doubly special as he was facing his brother Austin Nola, playing for the Padres and the pair became the first siblings to ever bat against one another in a postseason game.

Snell had a great 1st inning, needing just six pitches to retire the Phillies in order, while Nola allowed a two-out double to Manny Machado but nothing else. However, the roof caved in on the Padres in the 2nd. Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos led off with back-to-back singles, neither hit particularly hard, and Harper missed a chance to advance to third as he did not properly judge the flight of his teammate's hit. Alec Bohm followed with a single to right on which RF Juan Soto threw wildly to third, allowing Bohm to take an extra base while Harper scored and Castellanos advanced to third. After one out, Matt Vierling hit a double as RF Soto lost a catchable ball in the sun, although Bohm had to stop at third, expecting the ball to be caught. Edmundo Sosa hit another single, driving in a third run, and Vierling advanced to third, from where he scored when 1B Brandon Drury failed to execute what looked like a tailor-made double play grounder by Kyle Schwarber. The inning finally ended on a fly ball by Hoskins, but not only had the Phillies taken a 4-0 lead, but the Padres had let Snell down with some very sub-par fielding. This could easily have broken the Padres' spirits, especially as Aaron Nola had been almost untouchable since the start of the postseason, but instead Drury made penance for his misplay by homering on his second pitch in the bottom of the inning, and on the very next pitch, Josh Bell curled a very long fly ball around the right field foul pole for another homer, cutting the lead to 4-2.

After his rough inning, Snell settled down and pitched very well for the next three innings, giving up just one walk. Nola was good as well until the bottom of the 5th, when it was the Padres' turn to have a big inning, and it was a huge one. Ha-Seong Kim led off with a single to left and after one out, he was running on the pitch when Austin Nola singled off his brother, and he circled the bases to score without even drawing a throw. And then everything came crashing down on the Phils: Jurickson Profar singled, then Soto doubled to the right field corner, driving in the tying run. After a second out, Rob Thomson decided to bring in lefty Brad Hand to face Jake Cronenworth. That turned out to be a disastrous decision as Hand faced the minimum three batters but did not retire anyone, as he hit Cronenworth with a pitch, gave up a two-run single to Drury, and then an infield single to Bell that scored a fifth run. Andrew Bellatti became the third pitcher of the inning, and he walked Kim before finally recording the third out by striking out Trent Grisham. By then, the Padres had a 7-4 lead and had the game under control.

Bob Melvin used his top relievers to nail down the win, using Nick Martinez for two innings, followed by one by Robert Suarez and giving the 9th to closer Josh Hader. Thomson used a different approach, saving his best arms and seeing what second-tier pitchers like Connor Brogdon, David Robertson, back after missing the previous round with a calf injury, or Kyle Gibson could give him. The answer was that Brogdon was good, Gibson was all right, but Robertson struggled badly, giving up a solo homer to Machado and two more hits before Gibson finished the 7th inning. For the Phils, Hoskins surprised Suarez by blasting his first pitch in the 8th into the left field stands for a homer, but it had no big effect, simply cutting a four-run lead to three runs. Hader was once again dominant in the 9th, striking out the side on 13 pitches and the two teams headed to Philadelphia tied at one win apiece.

Game 3 @ Citizens Bank Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	7	0
Phillies	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	x	4	9	2
WP: Ranger Suarez (1-0); LP: Joe Musgrove (0-1); SV: Seranthony Dominguez (1)
Home Runs: PHI - Kyle Schwarber (2)

Attendance: 45,279

Game 3 was not the most crisply played of games, with some sloppy defensive work and baserunning. Phillies 2B Jean Segura epitomized the up-and-down nature of the game, by getting a key base hit and making some nice defensive plays, but also committing an important error and getting picked off at first base. But in the end, the good outweighed the bad for him and for the Phillies, who came out on top, 4-2. Their starter, Ranger Suarez, atoned for a poor first start in Game 1 of the Division Series with a winning outing this time, while Joe Musgrove for the Padres had a shaky night after two outstanding performances in the previous rounds.

Suarez retired the Padres in order in the 1st, but Musgrove coughed up a homer to the Phils' first batter, Kyle Schwarber, then walked Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto, setting the tone for a start in which he would always be looking to keep the roof from completely caving in on him. He got Bryce Harper to ground into a double play and Nick Castellanos to ground out as well, escaping what could have been a disastrous inning with only one run allowed. There was no scoring in the next two innings, with both teams getting just one hit, but in the 4th Suarez made a mistake when he plunked Juan Soto with a pitch right in the back as he led off the inning. After one out, Soto moved to third base on a single by Brandon Drury. Jake Cronenworth followed with what looked like a routine double play grounder to SS Bryson Stott. However, Segura dropped Stott's throw and while umpire Doug Eddings initially said Drury was out at second, the Padres challenged and the replay confirmed that Segura had never had the ball in his glove, so everyone was safe. Soto had scored the tying run as soon as the ball had dropped to the ground, but the question was now whether this would turn into a big inning with two on and just one out. Suarez did not let that happen, retiring the next two batters to leave the score at 1-1.

If Segura had been the goat in the top of the 4th, he redeemed himself in the bottom of the inning. Harper led off with a single but was immediately wiped out on a double play. However, Alec Bohm followed with another single and Stott hit his second double of the game to put runners on second and third. Segura then hit a single to drive them both in, giving the Phillies back the lead, 3-1. He then became a goat again when he was immediately picked off first base by Musgrove. The roller coaster continued in the 5th as it was now Hoskins' turn to commit an ugly error, as a routine grounder by Trent Grisham bounced past his glove at first base, allowing the batter to reach second to lead off the inning. He moved to third on a grounder by Austin Nola and scored on another ground ball, by Ha-Seong Kim, to cut the lead to 3-2. However, once again, Suarez had managed to limit the damage caused by his fielders and in the 6th gave way to Zach Eflin. Eflin gave up a pair of one-out singles to Drury and Cronenworth, putting runners on the corners and Bob Melvin called on Josh Bell to pinch hit for Wil Myers. In what was probably the key at-bat of the game, Segura atoned himself once again by starting a beautiful double play that ended the inning and prevented Drury from scoring what would have been the tying run. Melvin then decided to leave Musgrove, who had not been sharp all night, for another inning, and it cost him when after two outs, he gave up back-to-back doubles to Nick Castellanos and to Bohm to make the score 4-2.

That is how the game would end, as the relievers took over from that point, with Tim Hill replacing Musgrove to end the inning, and José Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez handling the final three innings for the Phillies. Segura made another nice play to end the 7th inning, throwing out Kim, and Dominguez took over when Alvarado gave up a single to the lead-off hitter in the 8th, Soto. In the 9th, Bell opened the inning by singling through the box on a ball that Dominguez deflected but could not field and Jurickson Profar was convinced he had worked a walk on a full count, getting out of the way of an inside pitch. However, third base umpire Todd Tichenor ruled he had failed to check his swing, a decision that was not entirely supported by available footage, and an irate Profar was ejected for kicking at his helmet in anger and disbelief. That strikeout changed what could have been a perilous situation. Dominguez then completed the six-out save by getting Grisham to pop up and striking out Nola. The game may not have been a classic, but it sure was entertaining.

Game 4 @ Citizens Bank Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	6	8	0
Phillies	3	0	0	1	4	1	1	0	x	10	11	0
WP: Brad Hand (1-0); LP: Sean Manaea (0-1)
Home Runs: SD - Manny Machado (2), Juan Soto (1); PHI - Rhys Hoskins 2 (3), Kyle Schwarber (3), J.T. Realmuto (1)

Attendance: 45,467

Both teams had to go deep into their pitching rotation to find a starting pitcher for Game 4, with San Diego going with Mike Clevinger, whose only previous start in the Division Series had been an ineffective one, while the Phillies had originally designated Noah Syndergaard then on the day of the game changed their minds and tapped rookie Bailey Falter instead. Neither pitcher was any good and indeed they were both gone before the 1st inning ended, with Clevinger even managing to add his name to the short list of pitchers who had failed to record even one out in a postseason start. It would thus turn out to be a wild game, featuring 16 runs, 19 hits, six homers and two comebacks by the Phils before they ended up on top, 10-6, pushing the Padres to the brink of elimination.

The 1st inning was a crazy affair the likes of which had not been seen in the postseason for a long time. Falter retired the first two batters, Jurickson Profar and Juan Soto, and then completely fell apart, allowing in order a solo homer to Manny Machado, a single to Josh Bell, a walk to Jake Cronenworth and a two-run double to Brandon Drury. Indeed, Falter had faltered. He then gave way to Connor Brogdon, who allowed a fourth run on a single by Ha-Seong Kim before ending the inning by striking out Trent Grisham. But given a four-run lead, Clevinger also looked a batting practice pitcher. His ordeal went thus: single to Kyle Schwarber, home run by Rhys Hoskins, walk to J.T. Realmuto, double by Bryce Harper for run number 3, and a departure for the showers. Nick Martinez took over, retiring the next three batters, including the last two by strikeout to end the frame. It looked at that point like all sorts of scoring records could be set, but both Brogdon and Martinez did good work over the next couple of innings, calming things down for a spell.

However, things started boiling again in the 4th, after Andrew Bellatti had pitched a perfect top of the inning for the Phillies. Bob Melvin made the fateful decision of sending in his fifth starter, Sean Manaea, who had not been used thus far in the postseason after a decidedly mediocre season, and it was once again open season for the Phillies' batters. Nick Castellanos opened the inning with a double, then scored on a one-out single by Bryson Stott, but the Phillies ran themselves out of a potential big inning when Stott was caught stretching at second base. The game was now tied, but the Padres took the lead again against Brad Hand, who had failed to retire anyone in a catastrophic outing in Game 2. He improved on that admittedly low bar by getting Austin Nola to ground out, but then walked Profar and allowed a homer to Soto for a 6-4 lead. Few people would have thought at that point that he was on his way to earning the win in this game, but that is what he did by getting the next two outs, and then watching the Phillies tee off on Manaea in the bottom of the 5th. After striking out Brandon Marsh - the last out he would record - Manaea walked Schwarber, then teed up Hoskins for his second two-run blast of the game, which tied the score at 6-all, walked Realmuto, and allowed a double to Harper to make it 7-6 - the first Phillies' lead of the game. Luis Garcia, who arguably should have been there to start the inning given Manaea had not reassured anyone with his 4th-inning performance, replaced him, but he gave up a single to Castellanos to make it 8-6 before recording the final two outs. Syndergaard came out as Philadelphia's new pitcher in the 6th and had a solid inning, while Garcia gave up another run in the bottom of the inning, on a long homer to deepest center field by Schwarber, uppercutting a low pitch with his left knee practically touching the ground. For his part, Syndergaard lasted only two more batters, being replaced after a one-out single by Profar in the 7th, which brought out David Robertson, another pitcher who had failed to impress anyone in Game 2. He did better this time, giving up another single, but getting Bell, who by this time represented the tying run, to strike out to end the inning without a run scoring. Philly then added another insurance run when Realmuto led off the bottom of the inning with his team's fourth long ball of the evening against Steven Wilson. There was little else to report after that. Adrian Morejon, another pitcher who would probably have been a better choice than Manaea, pitched the 8th for San Diego, and Zach Eflin was asked to close the game with a comfortable lead. He retired the Padres in order, one of the few pitchers to manage the feat for either team on the night.

Game 5 @ Citizens Bank Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	3	5	0
Phillies	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	x	4	6	0
WP: Jose Alvarado (1-0); LP: Robert Suarez (0-1); SV: Ranger Suárez (1)
Home Runs: PHI - Rhys Hoskins (4), Bryce Harper (2); SD Juan Soto (2)

Attendance: 45,485

The Phillies completed their sweep of the three games played in their home ballpark with a 4-3 win in Game 5, thereby punching their ticket into the World Series. The game started under sunny conditions on a Sunday afternoon, but by the 6th inning, a steady rain was falling and while the game was never stopped, the grounds crew had to work hard between innings to keep the mound and basepaths in passable conditions. On the mound the two starters from Game 1 were back at it, Zack Wheeler for the Phillies and Yu Darvish for the Padres; both had been very good in Game 1, and would be again today.

Wheeler was perfect through the first three innings, while Darvish had to work a bit harder, as he walked the first batter he faced in the game, Kyle Schwarber, but soon had him erased when Rhys Hoskins grounded into a double play. Another double play in the 2nd wiped out a walk to Bryce Harper and he also hit Alec Bohm with a pitch in that inning - but no one had hit his pitches well. He started off the bottom of the 3rd with two outs before walking Schwarber again. Schwarber then surprised just about everyone by taking off for second base, and while C Austin Nola's throw was wide of the bag, umpire Brian Knight called him out. Schwarber protested immediately, and when the Phillies challenged the call, it was overturned. And with a 3-0 count, Hoskins caught all of a fastball that Darvish threw right down the middle, for a two-run homer. That was basically Darvish's only mistake of the game, but he was down 2-0 as a result. However, the Padres replied quickly, as Juan Soto hit a pitch from Wheeler very deep to center for a no-doubt homer with one out in the top of the 4th.

Both starters settled down after these fireworks, until the top of the 7th. There was now a steady drizzle falling, making playing conditions difficult. Jake Cronenworth led off that inning with a single off Wheeler, and Rob Thomson called on Seranthony Dominguez to come and pitch. He had a lot of trouble with the conditions, immediately unleashing a wild pitch that moved Cronenworth to second base, before Josh Bell hit a double that tied the game. Bell gave way to pinch-runner Jose Azocar, and after a couple of strikeouts, Dominguez threw another wild pitch, moving Azocar to third base, and then a third one, as Azocar scored the go-ahead run. Bryson Stott replied immediately with a lead-off double off Darvish in the bottom of the inning, which pushed Bob Melvin to bring in Robert Suarez to pitch. In some masterful work, he got Jean Segura on a short fly ball, struck out Brandon Marsh, and when Schwarber wouldn't bite on a few pitches just off the plate, gave him an intentional walk to face Hoskins, who had hit three long balls over the past two days. On the first pitch, Hoskins lifted a fly ball to Soto in right field, and the inning was over. José Alvarado replaced Dominguez in the 8th, and the Padres put a couple of men on base against him, but Manny Machado popped up and Cronenworth grounded out, so the score remained 3-2.

The bottom of the 8th was dramatic. Needing six outs to return the series to San Diego, the Padres sent Suarez back to the mound while closer Josh Hader was warming up. Suarez gave up a lead-off single to J.T. Realmuto, but Melvin let him in to face Harper. And Harper justified his huge contract when, after fouling off a few pitches, drove a pitch to the stands in the opposite field for a two-run homer, putting the Phillies back in the lead, 4-3. There was still one turn at bat for the Padres, and the Phillies had just used their best two relievers, so David Robertson was asked to close the series. But since he hadn't done much of late, Game 3 starter Ranger Suarez was also warming up in the bullpen in case things went badly. Robertson struck out Wil Myers for out number one, but then walked Brandon Drury and Ha-Seong Kim to place the tying run in scoring position. Thomson did not hesitate at that point, bringing in the rookie Suarez in place of the very experienced but shaky Robertson. Little did he think that it would take but two pitches for the team to be celebrating a pennant. On his first pitch, Trent Grisham tried to surprise the Phils by laying down a surprise bunt, but he pushed it too close to Suarez, who calmly picked up the ball and threw him out. Both runners advanced 90 feet, but Philadelphia was just one out away from winning the game. And that came on the next pitch, as Nola swung and hit a short fly ball to right, which Castellanos had no trouble hauling in. The Phillies, the lowest-ranked team in the National League's postseason bracket, were going to play in the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009. Harper's dramatic homer had capped a tremendous series on his part, and he was named the NLCS MVP.