Phillies one win away from World Series after Rhys Hoskins and the bats go nuts

Resilient Phillies rally back, move to within one win of World Series originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It seems hard to believe when you think about how they struggled in the final month of the regular season, how they squeaked into the postseason with just 87 wins, the fewest of any of the six National League playoff teams, how they needed a miracle to win their first postseason game in 11 years (remember that ninth-inning meltdown by the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the wild-card series?), and how they were given little chance to beat the 101-win Atlanta Braves in the Division Series.

Hard to believe, maybe.

But real, yes.

The Phillies are one win away from being crowned National League champions for 2022, one win away from playing in the World Series.

Wow.

They moved to the threshold of baseball’s biggest event with a wild 10-6 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the NLCS in front of a huge and throaty crowd of 45,467 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night.

The Phils can punch their ticket to their eighth World Series appearance and first since 2009 with a victory over the Padres in Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. All the elements will be in place. Citizens Bank Park will be packed again and the Phillies will have their best pitcher, Zack Wheeler, on the mound. He will face right-hander Yu Darvish in a rematch of Game 1 of the series. The Phillies won that game, 2-0. Wheeler pitched seven innings, gave up just a hit and a walk and struck out eight.

A loss Sunday would send the series back to San Diego for Game 6 Monday night.

The Phillies, who are 8-2 in this postseason, do not want to be getting on that airplane.

Manager Rob Thomson has consistently used the word “resilient” to describe his team. The Phils were a portrait in resilience in their Game 4 win.

Without a dependable fourth starter, they were forced to get creative with their pitching. The plan was for lefty Bailey Falter to pick up the first three innings and hand off to a cast of relievers. The plan worked beautifully in the NLDS clincher against Atlanta last weekend. It did not work as smoothly this time. Falter, who had pitched just one inning in the last three weeks, failed to get out of the first inning as the Padres jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

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The Padres’ big first inning, keyed by a homer from Manny Machado, stunned the big crowd, but it never quit on the Phillies.

Kyle Schwarber led off the bottom of the first inning with a base hit against Mike Clevinger and Rhys Hoskins quickly cut the Padres’ lead in half with a two-run homer to left. J.T. Realmuto then walked and Bryce Harper clubbed a two-run double to make it a one-run game. Clevinger lasted just four batters and did not get an out.

The Phils, on hits by Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott, came all the way back to tie the game in the fourth. San Diego scored twice against Brad Hand in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the fifth.

Then the tide completely turned. The Phillies’ bat rack took over the game. Schwarber drew a one-out walk against Sean Manaea with one out in the bottom of the fifth and Hoskins launched his second two-run homer of the night to tie it. Realmuto then walked and scored the go-ahead run from first base on a double by Harper. It felt like the first inning all over again. Castellanos completed the fifth-inning rally with a base hit up the middle — it hit off the second base bag — to score Harper.

The Phils extended their lead each of the next two innings on solo homers, Schwarber in the sixth and Realmuto in the seventh. Both homers ignited parties in the stands.

What a night it was for the Phillies’ top five hitters. Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper and Castellanos were a combined 9 for 18 with three doubles, four homers, nine RBIs, three walks and just one strikeout.

Is that the way everyone thought it would look back in spring training?

While Falter and Hand struggled, the rest of the pitching staff prospered. Connor Brogdon, Andrew Bellatti, Noah Syndergaard, David Robertson and Zach Eflin all pitched scoreless ball. Robertson was huge with five big outs late in the game.

It was an incredible team effort and the crowd was a big part of it. The Phils are 4-0 at home this postseason. One more win and this 87-win team that squeaked into the playoffs as the sixth and final seed will be on its way to the World Series as the National League champion.

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