San Diego, a team that has largely rebuilt itself after the trade deadline, is finding its identity at the right moment.
Risking to fall 2-0 behind Philadelphia in the NL Championship Series, the Padres produced another big rally in front of their flaming fans to balance the two tug-of-war jokers.
Brandon Drury scored a single that led in two runs, including the all-clear, and San Diego scored five goals in the fifth inning by beating the Phillies 8-1 on Wednesday and drawing the series with one win apiece.
In the second fight of this series, San Diego rose from the canvas against Aaron Nola.
“Now let’s go to his house, which will probably be as lively as ours. If we had come down 2-0, it would have been a climb, ”acknowledged veteran manager Bob Melvin, who brought serenity into his first year with the Padres.
The decisive attack began when Austin Nola hit a single RBI of his younger brother. This woke up most of Petco Park’s 44,607 fans, who started waving towels.
Three innings earlier, the Phillies had taken a 4-0 lead with a group that included short drives, a sun-kissed brace and some defensive Padres sloppiness on a windy afternoon in temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (92 degrees Celsius). Fahrenheit).
But just as they did Saturday night to take out the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres responded with the bottom of their batting order.
“We have to keep building that confidence,” said Austin Nola, the ninth hitter. “It’s something we’ve been talking about all year. This identity consists in never giving up. You have to put pressure on the other team every inning to score. And this is what is giving us results “
Drury and Josh Bell hit two homers for San Diego, and Manny Machado then added another homer.
The series now moves to Philadelphia, where three games will be played, starting with the third, scheduled for Friday evening. The Phillies, looking to reach their first World Series since 2009, beat Atlanta 17-4 in two division series games over the weekend by knocking out the champion from the Fall Classic final.
“We’re going to Philadelphia for three great games,” Drury said. “We have to fight. We have already done it and it will be something great. “
Blake Snell took the win and Josh Hader saved after knocking out all three of his opponents in the ninth inning to the cheers of the crowd. Aaron Nola, who is in the playoffs for the first time in his career and had a brilliant start, ended up suffering defeat.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the Phillies have to deal with this situation just like they did in the division series.
“We went to Atlanta, we won the first and we lost the second. It was a disappointing game, but we had a day off, we got in front of 46,000 loud people and we played really well. “” I hope we will do the same.
For the Phillies, the Dominican Jean Segura 4-0. Panamanian Edmundo Sosa 2-1 with an RBI.
For the Padres, the Dominicans Juan Soto 5-1 with a point scored and an RBI, Machado 5-3 with a point scored and three RBI.
