Mandatory Credit: Photo by Matt Rourke/AP/Shutterstock (13486670bk) Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper celebrates after his RBI-double during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the baseball NL Championship Series between the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies, in Philadelphia NLCS Padres Phillies Baseball, Philadelphia, United States – 22 Oct 2022
NLCS Game 4 Recap: Phillies storm back on Padres behind four home runs, now one win away from Fall Classic
National League Championship Series, Game 4: Phillies 10, Padres 6 (Phillies lead series, 3-1)
Philadelphia improved their record to 3-0 at home this Postseason on Friday night, topping San Diego 4-2 and pushing to within two wins of the Fall Classic. The Phillies turned to Bailey Falter on the mound in Game 4, a lefty who pitched well down the stretch but hadn’t ever pitched in a moment this big before. San Diego jumped all over him in the first inning, combining a Manny Machado solo home run and a two-run double by Brandon Drury to go ahead 3-0. Falter was removed before he could complete an inning, giving way to Connor Brogdon with two outs in the first. Ha-Seong Kim greeted Brogdon with an RBI single, pushing San Diego’s lead to 4-0 and closing the book on Bailey Falter’s short start.
Mike Clevinger got the start for San Diego, his first appearance on the mound since being pushed around by the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium. His second appearance of the Postseason got off to an equally rocky start, as Rhys Hoskins drilled a two-run home run before he could record an out in the bottom of the first. A walk and a Bryce Harper RBI double followed, and Mike Clevinger would be removed from the game without recording an out with the Padres’ lead suddenly just 4-3. Nick Martinez escaped the frame from there, and both Brogdon and Martinez kept things quiet through the second and third innings as well.
Andrew Bellatti was brought on to replace Brodgon for Philadelphia in the top of the fourth, pitching a scoreless inning. San Diego turned to Sean Manaea after four, but Philadelphia blitzed him with a double and an RBI single by Bryston Stott to tie the game at four. San Diego would respond in the top of the fifth themselves against Phillies’ reliever Brad Hand, retaking the lead 6-4 on a no-doubt two-run homer by Juan Soto.
The back-and-forth relay race of runs continued in the bottom of the inning when Rhys Hoskins’ second two-run homer of the night tied the game at six, and Bryce Harper’s RBI double gave Philadelphia the lead, chasing Manaea. Castellanos greeted new pitcher Luis Garcia with a seeing-eye single off of second base, driving in Harper to extend the lead to 8-6. Kyle Schwarber added yet another Phillies’ home run in the sixth, extending the lead to 9-6 as the crowd at Citizens Bank Park lost their collective minds.
Phillies’ reliever David Robertson escaped a jam in the top of the seventh to keep the score where it was, leaving San Diego six outs to work with if they hoped to avoid a 3-1 series deficit. JT Realmuto quickly extended that deficit in the bottom of the inning, greeting new Padres’ pitcher Steven Wilson with a deep solo home run into left-center field that made it 10-6. Philadelphia’s bullpen handled business the rest of the way, setting up a chance to seal the National League pennant at home tomorrow afternoon.
Game 5: Sunday, 1:37pm CT