Bryce Harper lifts Phillies to first NL pennant since 2009

Final Score: Phillies 4, Padres 3

This is what everyone dreamed about on a chilly afternoon in late February 2019.

“Breaking: Bryce to the Phillies.”

The biggest star in baseball was coming to Philadelphia to win a championship(s).

That dream became real life in the bottom of the eighth of Game 5 of the 2022 National League Championship Series. The star slugger was on an unreal postseason tear as he stepped to the plate with a runner on and the Phillies down a run.

The man who has done nothing but hit for four years and has endeared himself so well to the city just came through to deliver one of the greatest swings in Phillies history.

On the seventh pitch of the at-bat against Robert Suarez, Harper crushed a sinker to the opposite field for a two-run go ahead home run. Strangers embraced. 45,000 fans erupted and the Phillies went nuts. It was a memory of a lifetime.

Here’s Scott Franzke’s call of Bryce Harper’s iconic home run, via @_piccone. pic.twitter.com/UC3wgP94ol

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) October 23, 2022

Of all people, Harper delivered the Phillies their eighth pennant in team history. They are the 2022 National League Champions and are likely heading for a matchup against the Houston Astros in the place where one of the most improbable playoffs runs in Philly sports history began.

With David Robertson walking two batters in the ninth, Rob Thomson went with Ranger Suarez to close it out. Two pitches later, the final out landed in Nick Castellanos’ glove:

The last out. pic.twitter.com/CJZXXbb2na

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) October 23, 2022

This is really happening.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Peformance

Zack Wheeler: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR, 87 pitches

The Padres’ ability to consistently work long at-bats prevented Wheeler from going a bit longer, but the Phillies ace was amped for this one and it showed on the radar gun. He was touching 99 early on and powered his way through the lethal San Diego lineup for a second-straight outing. The velocity dipped a bit in the sixth and seventh, so it was an easy call for Thomson to take Wheeler out.

Wheeler is in the middle of a historic October run. He now has a 1.78 ERA in the postseason. Of the Phillies pitchers with at least 25 innings pitched in a single postseason, only Cliff Lee in 2009 has a lower ERA (1.56 in 40 1/3 innings).

Yu Darvish: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 91 pitches

Outside of Hoskins’ two-run shot, Darvish did a tremendous job of keeping Phillies hitters off balance and getting ground balls with traffic on the bases. At one point, Harper whiffed at a 67 mph curveball for strike three in the sixth. He’s a masterful deceiver and it showed on Sunday. It wasn’t enough for a Padres win, though.

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