Philadelphia will try to maintain its home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series when it faces San Diego in Game 3 on Friday night. The Phillies opened the series with a 2-0 win on Tuesday before the Padres notched an 8-5 win on Wednesday. Philadelphia held a 4-0 lead in Game 2, but it allowed eight consecutive runs down the stretch.
San Diego will not be happy about losing home-field advantage, but the Padres will also be thankful to have not lost both of their home games to open the series. They could not get anything going offensively in Game 1 and were in a 4-0 hole in Game 2 on Wednesday. San Diego’s offense came alive at that point, scoring eight consecutive runs from the bottom of the second inning to the bottom of the seventh inning. All-Star third baseman Manny Machado and designated hitter Josh Bell each had three hits in the win. Machado has a team-high 11 hits, including three home runs, in 36 at-bats this postseason.
Congratulations to Juan Soto on being named a 2022 Gold Glove Award finalist! pic.twitter.com/q9wjgzixcm
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 20, 2022
Right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove will be on the mound for San Diego on Friday night. He put together a fantastic regular season, going 10-7 with a 2.93 ERA and 184 strikeouts. Somehow, he has been even better in the postseason. He threw seven scoreless innings against the Mets, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five. Musgrove allowed two runs on six hits and three walks across six innings against the Dodgers last week, so he has a 1-0 record with a 1.38 ERA in those two games. He is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 27 strikeouts in five career appearances against Philadelphia.