PHILADELPHIA – Welcome to the World Series, Bryce Harper.
Super star Philadelphia Phillies was brought in years ago to revolve around a team stuck in mediocrity that made one of the biggest home games in franchise history on Sunday.
Harper’s two runs, firing rockets in a home run to the left late in the eighth inning gave the Phillies a goal 4-3 win San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, sending Philadelphia to its first World Round since 2009, where they will face Astros starting Friday.
The face of the franchise, in the midst of a dominating October period, will head to his first Fall Classic.
Harper was named the NLCS MVP after hitting the .400 mark with two home runs and five RBI runs – but it was his terrifying home run that everyone will remember. Facing the hard-to-throw reliever Padres Robert Suárez with JT Realmuto on the first basis after a lead, Harper took a 1-2 lead, fouled with two 99 mph fast balls, made a low shift and then crushed the 98.9 mph sinker/ Suarez’s time in the left stand.
As Harper made his way to the circle on the deck, he had the words hit at coach Kevin Long: “I said, ‘Give them something to remember.'”
“I don’t want to go back to that flight to go back to San Diego. I just don’t want to get on that five-and-a-half hour flight,” Harper said. “I want to hang out at home and enjoy this at home with these fans, this organization, and this fan base.”
He then thanked Realmuto for standing in front of him to make the moment possible.
“That’s why we signed [Harper]the city loves him, and you can’t say enough about him,” said Game 5 starter Zack Wheeler, who allowed the two to run more than six sets of work. “He just had that in him. He just had that in him where he stepped up in the big moments. I don’t know, he’s always been a guy. Playing against him always It’s fun, but it’s a lot more fun when he’s on your team.”
The crowd exploded. First Warrior Rhys Hoskins described the scene as “complete chaos. I don’t think anyone’s surprised. This guy has a knack for showing up at the big moments. That’s what he’s been doing all his career. We’ve seen it so many times, obviously without this stage. MV3.”
Padres is closer left-handed Josh Hader According to Padres coach Bob Melvin, he has yet to warm up for the game. So Harper faces right-handed Suarez.
“I think people are ready for him to face whoever comes in,” pitcher Phillies Zach Eflin speak. “I’m not a manager, I’m a pitcher. But you know what, it’s been fun to watch JT hit that base shot and Harper come up behind him. We know they’re in trouble. difficult.”
Baseball loves its unique records and achievements, and here’s a new one: The Phillies are the first sixth seed to make it to the Worlds.
The Phillies made the new Open knockout round with 87 wins as the National League final team and ended the second-longest playoff drought in the professional leagues. Their star-studded lineup comes to life at just the right moment after the season, beating St. Louis Cardinals in the wild series, upset the win 101 Atlanta Braves in the split series and took down the Padres in five games. They came back from all three NLCS games at the vibrant and bustling Citizens Bank Park to make it 5-0 at home at the end of the season.
In October, the Phillies stars took the lead – just as owner John Middleton had hoped back in the winter of 2018 when he famously said he would spend money in the company for free” and even maybe even a little stupid about it.”
That winter, the club signed Harper for a period of 13 years, worth $330 million. He is hitting .419 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in 11 post-season games. The Phillies traded and then re-signed as free All-Star catcher Realmuto, who has two home runs and 10 goalscoring runs. Wheeler, signed ahead of the 2020 season, was outstanding in October, with a 1.78 ERA across four warm-ups. Driver on the left Kyle Schwarbersigned before the 2022 season to bring a powerhouse stick to the squad and some World Series championship experience from his days with the Cubs to the club, which also had an NLCS big with three home runs and six goals.
Two homegrown players also helped seal Sunday’s win. Hoskins put on another clutch home run to energize the home crowd, just as he did with his two home runs in Game 4. After Schwarber won two goal goes on Yu Darvish At the end of the third half, Hoskins led 3-0. He didn’t go home all season 3-0, but he unloaded on a Darvish mower and crushed it 424 feet into the center left row on his fifth home run. after the season.
Hoskins came out in 2017 – a season the Phillies lost 96 games. In his six seasons with the Phillies, he’d heard a lot about the 2008 World Series champions. He’d seen pictures on the walls lining the stands in Citizens’ Bank Park, had seen former champions. Star throws countless first throws. Now he is heading to the World Series.
“It was the dream,” he said. “As an athlete, it’s all about winning. Winning makes everything better. You go 0 for 4, 0 for 5. Drop a homer, the Phils score more, it doesn’t matter.”
Ninth first, after David Robertson go two people beat and one eliminated, Game 3 begins Ranger Suarez feel relieved in just one day of rest. Signing up to leave Venezuela in 2012, Suarez had the longest tenure in the organization of anyone on the playoff roster.
Trent Grisham oddly put runners in second and third with two passes, even though it meant a hit that could score two points and put the Padres ahead. Caused by Suarez Austin Nola to fly out right on the first field.
“That was amazing. I’m so happy for him,” Wheeler said. “He’s been honing, but I feel comfortable when he comes out of the pen. He did that a lot last year, so I know he’s going to be comfortable and get the job done. .”
The Phillies became the sixth team since the split tournament began in 1969 to make it to the World Series after a mid-season management change, the first since the 2003 Marlins. The Phillies were just 22-29 on the 2nd. June when bench coach Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi.
A former minor league player and coach, Thomson served as longtime coach under Joe Torre and then Girardi with the Yankees before the Phillies hired him in 2018. The Phillies lost 12/17 on the campaign. The famous baseball player was promoted, and he immediately turned things around, winning his first eight games and going 18-8 the rest of June.
“I think our manager has a really good ability to keep things going, to keep things on track,” Harper said after Game 4. “Never panic, never really sit there. and thought, oh, I need to move this guy I need to move him I feel like he believes in his players I think when you have a manager like that you believe in you and having an organization that believes in you, that just makes you a much better player.”
The Phillies’ run to the World Series began with a dramatic opening win over the Cardinals in the Wild-card series. Taking a 2-0 lead in the top nine, the Phillies scored six runs to win 6-3 on aggregate. They knocked out the Cardinals the next day and upset the Braves for four games in the division series as Harper won 8 for 16 with two home runs and five RBIs.
Against the Padres, Wheeler dominated in a 2-0 win in game 1, but the Phillies took a 4-0 lead in game 2 – only to return the favor when they were 4-0 down in their first leg. game 4. before regrouping for a 10-6 win after a four-round explosive match.
Then came Harper’s dramatic home run to win game 5.
“That’s the great thing about the sport,” Hoskins said. “It’s lined up to let the best possible moment happen. There’s a lot of work to be done in the right direction.”
“This is great,” Harper said. “To be able to be the last team of the National League standing right now. Philadelphia Phillies, here we are. We are ready to go to the next round. We have four more teams. We will enjoy this as a team, as a group, but we have four more.”
