Phillies 4, Padres 3: The Philadelphia Phillies are going to the World Series

Sunday afternoon was set up perfectly for the Philadelphia Phillies to punch their ticket to the World Series. With Zack Wheeler set to take the bump, Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez available to pitch, expectations were sky high.

Wheeler did not disappoint. He retired the first ten batters in order, regularly pumping 99 miles per hour with his heater.

The Phillies provided Wheels with some run support in the bottom of the third inning. A two-run home run off the bat of Rhys Hoskins jolted the CBP crowd to their feet and the Phillies to the lead.

The Padres quickly answered in the top of the fourth inning as Juan Soto blasted a solo homer off of Wheeler.

The next two innings were zeroes for both teams, as Yu Darvish and Wheels were locked into a pitcher’s dual.

Fast forwarding to the top of the seventh inning, where things turned a bit south.

Rob Thomson opted to send the former Met back out for the seventh, but quickly removed Wheeler after a lead-off single by Jake Cronenworth. Seranthony Dominguez entered next and did not fare well in the sloppy conditions.

A wild pitch moved Cronenworth into scoring position with Josh Bell at the plate.

Bell pulled a double to right, tying the game up at two apiece. Jose Azocar would then run for Josh Bell, acting as the go ahead run.

Seranthony was quickly able to strike out both Brandon Drury and Ha-seong Kim, with Azocar still frozen at second base.

As the conditions worsened, Dominguez fired two wild-pitches, allowing Azocar to score and put the Pads on top. He then forced Trent Grisham to fly out to right, but the damage had been done.

Bob Melvin opted for a similar strategy for his starting pitcher, as he allowed Yu Darvish to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. Darvish allowed a lead-off double to Bryson Stott, but was then given the hook.

Robert Suarez entered from the Padres arm barn and slammed the door shut on the bottom of the seventh. The right-hander stranded Stott on second, and Schwarber on first, after an intentional walk.

Jose Alvarado took over for the eighth inning, and even with steady rain, came through. Although he allowed a pair of baserunners, Alvarado stranded them both and kept the Phils within a run.

Onto the bottom of the eighth.

Robert Suarez remained in the ballgame and gave up a two-strike-single to J.T. Realmuto. Even with Josh Hader warming, Bob Melvin left Suarez in, to face MV3.

Just watch what Bryce Harper did.

4-3 in favor of the Phillies, thanks to one of the most iconic moments in Philadelphia Phillies history.

To the ninth we go, where David Robertson entered looking to protect the one-run-lead.

Robertson began the inning by striking out Wil Myers looking. The 37-year-old then quickly lost control, walking Brandon Drury and Ha-seong Kim back-to-back, and forcing Topper to make a change. Thomson opted for Ranger Suarez to look to get the final two outs and send the Phillies to the World Series.

Trent Grisham decided to drop a bunt on the first pitch he saw, but Suarez, who is one of the best pitcher fielding pitchers in the NL, calmly tossed over to first for out number two.

The bunt did push both runners into scoring position, raising the dramatics a bit more. However, the stage was not too big for Ranger Suarez, as it only took one more pitch.

Austin Nola lofted a fly ball to shallow right field, where Nick Castellanos put the squeeze on it to end the game and win the series.

The Philadelphia Phillies have won the National League Pennant.

The Philadelphia Phillies are going to the World Series.

Said.