PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio, 94WIP) — The big inning has been a theme this “Red October” for the Philadelphia Phillies. Two of those on Saturday, including a historic one in the first inning, brought the Phillies one win from their first World Series since 2009.
A three-run tally in the first stanza, and a four-run explosion in the fifth inning, sent the Phillies to a 10-6 over the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
The Phils can clinch a World Series berth Sunday. The first pitch for Game 5 is at 2:37 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia and San Diego put together a first inning that hadn’t been seen in 90 years.
Neither starting pitcher survived the first inning, which ended with the Padres leading 4-3, as San Diego chased Bailey Falter after just 0.2 innings of work, and the Philadelphia bats responded by knocking Mike Clevinger out of the game before he was able to record a single out.
That, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, was just the second time in MLB postseason history that neither pitcher made it out of the first inning, the first time it occurred since the Yankees and Cubs in game four of the 1932 World Series.
The madness began when San Diego's Manny Machado drilled a solo home run to left center, putting his hand to his ear as he rounded the bases to egg on the Citizens Bank Park crowd that had been booing him as he stepped to the plate.
A two-run Brandon Drury double and a Ha-Seong Kim single made it 4-0 before the Phillies had a chance to come to bat, but they wasted little time in mounting their comeback.
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Rhys Hoskins immediately cut the deficit in half with a two-run blast off Mike Clevinger, and Bryce Harper tacked on another run with a deep RBI double to right center.
Nick Martinez came on in relief to settle down the Phillies, but it was a brand new ballgame by the end of a wild first inning, one that many anticipated was possible given the pitching matchup.
Later on, the Fightin’ Phils proved their nickname true again in this 2022 postseason, as a Bryson Stott single in the fourth tied the game, 4-4.
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After the Padres put up a pair of runs to retake the lead, the Phillies put up four-of-a-kind in the fifth inning to take the lead for good.
A two-run homer by Hoskins tied the game at 6-6. A Harper double subsequently scored J.T. Realmuto to untie the game and give Philadelphia a 7-6 advantage.
The Phils then tacked on a Nick Castellanos RBI single to finish another crooked-numbered inning, one of the keys to their success this October.
A pair of solo homers, one by Kyle Schwarber in the sixth inning and another by Realmuto in the 7th, completed the double-digit scoring for the Phillies amidst another raucous South Philly crowd.
The party can begin for Philadelphia late Sunday afternoon at home if the Phillies do the job. The Phils’ Zack Wheeler is slated to start on the mound against the Padres’ Yu Darvish.
They’re nine innings away, Phillies fans.