Phillies Embrace Their Chaotic Roots, Regain NLCS Lead

Phillies Embrace Their Chaotic Roots, Regain Series Lead

When the ball bounced away from Jean Segura‘s glove, and with it, a chance at a massive inning-ending double play that would’ve kept the Phillies on top, it all felt so familiar. They had seen this story before. Mistakes like these have become much less frequent in recent months, as the Phillies have risen to the rapidly escalating moments they find themselves in as their October journey continues. But Philadelphia fans have long memories. They remember all of the ugly baseball that came before the joy ride they are currently experiencing. The back-and-forth late-inning lead swings. The mistake proneness in the field and on the basepaths. A lot of this Phillies team went through those years and contributed to the reputation the team is shedding one step at a time. They don’t like it any better than the 45,279 fans that packed Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

Segura couldn’t take that error back, no matter how badly he probably wished he could. What he could do was make up for it. A pair of two-out hits by Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott brought Segura to the plate less than 30 minutes after his error. The Phillies have better hitters than Segura, but few if any can rival his ability to put the bat on the ball, no matter where it’s thrown. Joe Musgrove threw him a 1-2 slider that was nowhere close to the zone. It would’ve been the perfect putaway pitch to so many hitters. But Segura had seen this story before, too. He gave the Phillies the lead in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, back when the idea of playing just one postseason game at home was a bit of a long shot, on nearly the same pitch.

So, Segura did what he does best — flick the bat out and see what happens. Once again, he came through.

When 2022 began, there were major questions about the team’s defense. And while it has been better than expected, it still has its shaky moments. A Rhys Hoskins misplay sent Game 2 of the NLDS spiraling. On Friday, Hoskins booted a routine chopper in the fifth inning that directly led to San Diego getting one of the runs driven in by Segura back. And the concerns aren’t just limited to the field. Segura was picked off before one pitch was thrown after his two-run single. José Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez worked into some uncomfortably deep counts after Ranger Suárez did such a great job getting ahead of hitters in his strong five innings of work.

The Phillies are not a perfect team. Even at their best, they are not that. But that isn’t the bar for them, the Padres, or any team to clear. In past years, the Phillies made bad plays. More importantly, however, they couldn’t atone for them. The pitching staff couldn’t limit the damage. The offense couldn’t provide the extra jolt when the team needed it the most. While the Phillies would gain momentum at times, they were never capable of sustaining it long enough to accomplish anything special.

That makes it so much sweeter that the Phillies are finally doing those things. A pair of two-out doubles by Nick Castellanos and Bohm put the Phillies back up by two after the Hoskins error. Suárez, Zach Eflin, Alvarado, and Domínguez made the pitches they needed to. Segura made two diving plays in the grass in shallow right field. And the Phillies never fully lost the jolt provided by Kyle Schwarber‘s lead-off home run, beating the Padres 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the NLCS.

After so many games in past years where dread slowly took over, the Phillies pounced on a pivotal opportunity to regain the series lead. Rob Thomson was aggressive with his bullpen, trusting Alvarado and Domínguez to throw 61 pitches combined. Domínguez recorded the first six-out save of his career and the first by a Phillie in the postseason in exactly 42 years. It wasn’t always pretty. But in the end, it worked. That’s what the postseason is all about.

Whether or not it keeps working is a more daunting challenge, of course. Alvarado has said he’s good to pitch whenever Thomson needs him. But he won’t be able to pitch every day. Domínguez may not be available for Game 4. Bailey Falter will start that contest, his first appearance since Oct. 5, and he will probably not pitch more than three innings. Maybe Noah Syndergaard piggybacks him and the Phillies try to get five or six quality innings out of that duo. Maybe it plays out similarly to how the team handled Game 4 of the NLDS, although that was a series-clincher. The teams do not have another off day in this series, which will test the brains of both managers and the depth of both bullpens to incredible levels.

But it is easier to handle that stress from a comfortable position. Potential bullpen jigsaw puzzle accounted for, that’s where the Phillies sit three games into this series. They are not a perfect team, and they never will be. What they are is something almost as scary — a team capable of overcoming its flaws. Resilience is valued as highly as ever in the postseason, and the Phillies are showing it in spades. “We’re gone make mistake,” said Segura. “(The play in the 4th inning was a) play I make 3,000 times in my life but for some reason couldn’t tonight. Keep head up continue to play game. You don’t know how game’s gone end. Part of the game when you make mistake keep going forward.”

Yes, the Phillies made some more mistakes Friday. Yes, their pitching plan for Game 4 is not an optimal one for an opportunity as massive as the chance to take a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS. But as Segura said, and more importantly showed, good things can happen if you just keep going forward. These Phillies are more than good enough to do that.

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