If Philadelphia Phillies Signing allowed him to dream of it Bryce Harbor Marks a return to the World Series. On Sunday, the dream came true when Harper hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning of a rain-soaked NLCS Game 5. San Diego Padres4-3, and a trip to the Fall Classic.
Signed for 13 years and $330 million before 2019, Harper’s tenure in Philadelphia through June was a frustrating mix of individual excellence and collective mediocrity. The team departed after sacking manager Joe Girardi and replacing him with bench coach Rob Thompson. Despite being the third-best team in the NL East, they had a playoff picture over the summer and finished sixth and final in the expanded postseason in September.
now, Playing their own unique brand of sometimes messy baseballThey won the NL pennant and their first World Series berth since 2009.
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Game 5 was affected by wet conditions throughout. With the playoff schedule already shortened following the lockout, MLB chose to play the game through rain in Philadelphia. The NLCS and ALCS schedule — after Game 2 — consisted of just one day instead of the usual two.
In the top of the seventh, when the Padres brought up the go-ahead run on a series of wild pitches by a Phillies reliever, a downpour turned the teams’ fortunes around. Serantani Dominguez.
But Harper answered in the following inning, blasting his crucial homer off San Diego setup man Robert Suarez. That was followed by a Game 4 where Harbor touched off the Phillies’ comeback with an RBI double.
The Phillies turned to trade deadline acquisitions David Robertson ninth, but eventually brought on the Game 3 starter Ranger Suarez to get the last two outs after two Padres reached.
Harper, a two-time NL MVP, writes October legend. Despite strong teams, his time nationals Produced zero playoff series wins. Now he has three. Harper, who has batted over .400 so far in the postseason, is heating up in the first World Series appearance of a career that has been under the microscope since Sports Illustrated called him “the pick” at age 16.
That’s what he is for Philadelphia fans who suffered from disappointment at the end of an era headlined by Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, and then a long and winding rebuild.
In a rematch from Game 1, Zack Wheeler And Yu Darvish initially largely restricted the action. They each pitched in the seventh inning, allowing two runs apiece, but neither got a decision.
A Padres win would mean Game 6 and the series returns to San Diego for Game 7. Instead, Philadelphia is celebrating Sunday night and preparing for a showdown. Astros Or Yankees. Houston, up 3-0 in the ALCS, can even that contest Sunday night in the Bronx..
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