San Diego will try to level the National League Championship Series at 2-2 when it faces Philadelphia in Game 4 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night. The Padres lost home-field advantage when they lost in a 2-0 final in Game 1, but they responded with an 8-5 comeback win in Game 2. Philadelphia regained control of the series with a 4-2 win at home in Friday night.
San Diego has been in tough situations several times this postseason, as it was tied with New York at 1-1 in the best-of-3 Wild Card round, and the Padres were also down 1-0 to the Dodgers in the NLDS. They responded to win both of those series, punching their ticket to the NLCS. San Diego now finds itself trailing for the second time in this series, as it also lost its home opener in Game 1. The Padres had seven hits on Friday night, but they only turned that productivity into two runs. Starting pitcher Joe Musgrove allowed four runs to Philadelphia, which proved to be too much in the end.
Count it ? #CaptureTheMoment pic.twitter.com/EPpGZLjba0
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 22, 2022
Third baseman Manny Machado leads San Diego with 11 hits this postseason, despite going 0 of 4 at the plate on Friday. Right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger is going to be on the mound for San Diego in this game. He was on the COVID-19 list two weeks ago prior to starting Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. Clevinger allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks across just 2.2 innings in that game, striking out three. He went 7-7 with a 4.33 ERA during the regular season, although he struggled down the stretch. Clevinger faced Philadelphia in May, throwing five innings of one-hit baseball.