PHILADELPHIA — Not too long ago, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins were struggling mightily.
The slumps got so bad that manager Rob Thomson was peppered with questions about moving them down in the lineup.
Thomson’s patience has been rewarded in a major way.
Hoskins homered twice and drove in four runs and Schwarber added a long blast to center field as the host Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres 10-6 to take a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship Series on Saturday.
“Those guys can hit,” Thomson said. “You know they were going to come out of it. They work at it.”
J.T. Realmuto also homered, Bryce Harper had two hits and two RBIs and Nick Castellanos contributed two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who can advance to the World Series with a win in Game 5 on Sunday in Philadelphia.
“The job’s not done,” Harper said. “We have a lot ahead of us.”
Phillies starter Bailey Falter recorded only two outs before being lifted for Connor Brogdon. Falter allowed three hits and four runs, walked one and struck out none.
Brad Hand (2-0), the fourth of seven relievers, earned the win.
Juan Soto hit a two-run homer and Manny Machado added two hits, including a solo shot, for the Padres. Brandon Drury doubled home two runs and Ha-Seong Kim had two hits and an RBI.
Padres starter Mike Clevinger faced four batters and failed to retire any of them. He gave up three runs and three hits with one walk and was replaced by Nick Martinez.
“Couldn’t get the ball where he wanted to,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said of Clevinger.
Sean Manaea (0-1) took the loss.
The Padres went ahead 1-0 in the first inning when Machado launched a solo homer to left field with two outs. Later in the inning, Drury added his double off Falter and Kim hit an RBI single off Brogdon for a 4-0 advantage.
Hoskins crushed a two-run home run to left and Harper added an RBI double to quickly close within 4-3 in the bottom of the first.
In the fourth, the Phillies tied the game at 4 on Bryson Stott’s RBI single. But left fielder Jurickson Profar threw out Stott trying to extend for a double.
The Padres took a 6-4 lead in the fifth when Soto hit a two-run homer off Hand.
“If you had told me we were going to score six runs, I’d think we would have had a pretty good chance to win the game,” Melvin said.
In the bottom of the inning, Hoskins’ second two-run blast, this time off Manaea, tied the game at 6, and Harper added an RBI double for a one-run advantage. Castellanos followed with an RBI single as the ball ricocheted off the second base bag for an 8-6 lead.
In the sixth, Schwarber hit a solo home run to center for a 9-6 advantage.
Realmuto’s leadoff homer in the seventh gave Philadelphia a 10-6 lead.
After an early four-run advantage, the Padres were unable to hold on. Now, their season is on the brink.
“We have got to do a better job in every facet of the game,” catcher Austin Nola said. “We have to stay resilient and keep fighting.”
–By Andy Jasner, Field Level Media
