The Philadelphia Phillies have taken control of the NLCs over the San Diego Padres. Here’s why Brenton Kemp believes to ride with the Phils.
Phillies In Control Over The Padres And Riding Their Offense
Remember when I told you the Phils’ faithful would help them to an NLDS victory over the Braves? Now we’re in the NLCS and the same rule applies: this Phillies faithful backs their teams.
Phillies Took Care of the Braves in Similar Order
When Game 3 of the NLDS went back to Philly the Braves were cooked. Not originally, of course, but following a Game 3 beatdown the series was over. A 10-3 Game 4 win later and the Phillies were triumphant over the NL East champs in four games. Not unlike you, I was surprised to see the Phillies power past a team that was viewed as far superior.
Now, the Phils hold the hammer in an NLCS matchup with the San Diego Padres. Raise your hand if you thought that would have been the case entering the season.
Offense the Driving Force
Was I the only one who thought this Game 3 was over when Kyle Schwwarber launched a shot into the left-center field seats to lead off the Phillies’ bottom half of the first? After all, the Phillies blew the Braves away in back-to-back games with the offense being the catalyst.
No one viewed this Phillies lineup as deep. Now they do. Schwarber, Hoskins, Harper, Realmuto, Bohm, Castellanos, Segura etc. This lineup has been deep for years and we’ve all been waiting for it to come together. Under manager Rob Thompson, it has.
There’s some strong pitching left in this series with Mike Clevinger slated to take the ball for Game 4, but a train awaits the right-hander and at home, nonetheless. Don’t forget reliever Josh Hander who has overcome some serious regular-season struggles and locked down some elite Dodgers bats to help propel his team into this series.
Home Field Switched
The Padres earned home-field advantage due to their superior regular-season record, but that flip has switched.
Philadelphia sports fans are intense. Jose Musgrove did a nice job of preventing further damage after yielding early runs on Friday, but it was clear the Phillies’ faithful was involved in the club’s early-inning damage that caught the Padres right-hander into a place he and his team needed to avoid in this one.
Can the Padres stay afloat in order to get back to Petco Park in San Diego?
The Padres were actually more or less an equal team both at home and on the road this season. They went 44-37 at home versus 45-36 on the road. However, come playoff time, regular-season stats tend to take a back seat.
At the end of the day, it’s the San Diego Padres in the hole right now and the Philadelphia Phillies holding court in the National League Championship Series and primed for a World Series trip..
