Monday, October 24, 2022

NLCS Game 3 - Seranthony and Segura Star in Tense Win


Phillies 4
, Padres 2
NLCS Game 3 - Friday Night, October 21st in Philadelphia
Phillies lead series, 2-1

One Sentence Summary:  Jean Segura went from goat to hero and Seranthony Dominguez recorded a six-out save to secure this 4-2 win and put the Phillies two more wins away from the World Series.

What It Means:  Dominguez joined Tug McGraw as the only two pitchers in franchise history to record six-out saves in a postseason game.  McGraw did it in the decisive Game 6 of the 1980 World Series, 42 years ago on this very day.

What Happened / Featured Card:  The Phillies jumped to a quick 1-0 lead when Kyle Schwarber homered to start the game, but the Padres rallied in the fourth when Segura dropped a likely double play relay, allowing the tying run to score.  He earned redemption in the bottom of the inning, singling home both Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.  (And then was promptly picked off first!)  The Padres crept closer when an RBI ground out from Ha-Seong Kim in the fifth, making it 3-2.  Bohm provided a much-needed insurance run with a huge RBI double in the sixth, scoring Nick Castellanos.

Ranger Suarez started and pitched five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two his.  The bullpen trio of Zach Eflin, Jose Alvarado and Dominguez pitched the final four scoreless innings, allowing five hits but striking out five along the way.  Dominguez recorded the final out, striking out Austin Nola swinging, allowing all of Philadelphia to breath a sigh of relief.


Field Report:  I attended my first NLCS game since 2010 and Doug enjoyed his first ever NLCS game.  With a big baseball tournament planned for the weekend in Rehobeth Beach, this was the only game we were able to attend and we admittedly needed to leave early to ensure Doug got a good night's sleep.  But the place was electric.  We both bought $10 NLCS programs from the pop-up tent outside the ballpark, enjoyed a few Humpty's Dumplings from a food truck while waiting to enter, and made our way with over 45,000 other fans into the ballpark when gates opened at 5:07.  We heard an announcement that Matt Stairs and Charlie Manuel would be signing autographs on the rooftop deck until 6, and we quickly got in line, just before security cut the line off.  Unfortunately, Stairs and Manuel had to leave promptly at 6, and we were about 15 people away from securing our autographs.  We snagged a few pre-signed Stairs photo cards as consolation prizes.

After a quick bite from Bull's BBQ, we made our way to Section 113 where we rarely sat for the next seven innings.  We high-fived strangers, joined the Mus-grove, We Chose Harper and Aaron's Better chants and lost our collective minds when Segura delivered his big hit.  It was an experience neither of us will soon forget!


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