SAN DIEGO (CNS) – The San Diego Padres lost to the Philadelphia
Phillies, 4-3, today in Philadelphia, sending the Phillies to the World Series
and ending the Padres’ season.
Designated hitter Bryce Harper was the hero for Philadelphia, smashing
a two-run, go-ahead home run into the left-field bleachers off Padres
reliever Robert Suárez in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Phillies bested San Diego four games-to-one in the National League
Championship Series, with the Padres winning only Wednesday’s Game 2 in San
Diego.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler limited San Diego to three hits and two
runs in six innings while striking out eight but did not factor in the
decision. Yu Darvish started for San Diego, pitching six innings and allowing
four hits and two earned runs while striking out five. He also did not factor
in the decision.
The Phillies scored two runs off Darvish in the third inning on first
baseman Rhys Hoskins’ two-run homer. San Diego’s first run came in the fourth
inning on a home run by right fielder Juan Soto.
First baseman Josh Bell tied the game in the seventh, driving in
second baseman Jake Cronenworth with a double to right field off Phillies
reliever Seranthony DomÃnguez. San Diego took the lead a few minutes later when
pinch runner José Azocar scored on a wild pitch by DomÃnguez.
Robert Suárez replaced Darvish in the bottom of the seventh and
retired the Phillies in that frame despite giving up a hit and a walk, before
yielding Harper’s opposite-field home run in the eighth. Suárez was charged
with the loss.
Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Philadelphia and
was credited with the win.
Phillies reliever David Robertson started the ninth inning and
surrendered two walks while striking out one. He was relieved by Ranger Suarez –
– no relation to Robert Suárez — who retired the final two San Diego batters
and was credited with the save.
The Padres made it to their first NLCS since 1998 with the help of two
huge midseason acquisitions, trading four players to the Milwaukee Brewers
for relief pitcher Josh Hader on Aug. 1, then dealing a bevy of players to the
Washington Nationals for the 23-year-old Soto one day later.
The team fizzled for a while after the trades, losing nine of 12 games
to the Dodgers and finishing 22 games behind Los Angeles in the National
League West.
But San Diego heated up in the postseason, beating the favored New
York Mets two games-to-one in the Wild-Card Round and upsetting the favored
Dodgers three games-to-one in a National League Division Series.
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