Phillies-Padres Game 3: Seranthony Domínguez records a GOAT-caliber save, and other thoughts from a wild win

In different circumstances, you easily could conclude that they can’t possibly continue to win like this. Right now, though, the circumstances say the Phillies are two wins away from the World Series, with two more games at home, one of which will be started by Zack Wheeler, with Aaron Nola set to follow in San Diego in an if-necessary Game 6.

Game 3? It was a wild one. But, then, you watched it. The Phillies’ shortcomings were on full display. The defense committed a couple of errors that led to a couple of runs. The third starter was excellent for five innings but was gone after 68 pitches. The bullpen runs about three pitchers deep.

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Man, though. This was a big one. At this point, we probably should not have doubted whether the Phillies would find a way to get themselves back up after blowing a 4-0 lead to the San Diego Padres in Game 2. We probably should have realized Joe Musgrove was not going to strike any fear into a berserk home crowd, regardless of his recent numbers. Still, these were big questions heading into Game 3. The Phillies answered them early, as they have all postseason. Kyle Schwarber cut the tension with a leadoff home run, Jason Kelce chugged a beer before the top of the sixth, and Seranthony Domínguez recorded the final six outs of a 4-2 win that left the Phillies with a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

Just an incredibly gutsy outing by a right-hander who finished the regular season still working his way back from a late-season shutdown. Domínguez recorded the final six outs on 34 pitches, two shy of his season high. It was as important and overpowering a performance as we’ve seen out of the bullpen here at Citizens Bank Park, 2008-11 included.

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Rob Thomson did not manage scared. Two days ago, the Phillies skipper left Nola in the game well past his expiration and then went with Brad Hand instead of José Alvarado in the fifth inning of Game 2. The result was a five-run explosion that erased a 4-0 Phillies lead and sent the series back to Citizens Bank Park tied one game apiece. In Game 3, Thomson did not mess around. His decision to pull Ranger Suárez after 68 pitches was courageous and correct. The Phillies were at a point in the game when one swing of the bat would have tied it, 3-3, and Padres superstar Manny Machado had made good contact against Suárez twice. Zach Eflin came in and got Machado to ground out and then narrowly wiggled out of a one-out jam by getting lefty pinch-hitter Josh Bell to ground into a double play to end the sixth inning. In the seventh, Thomson called on Alvarado. Presumably, the plan was to have him face five batters: No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 1, and then lefty slugger Juan Soto. He faced four in the seventh and finished the frame at 22 pitches, six shy of his season high. Thomson kept him in the game to face Soto, who led off the eighth with a single.

Jean Segura more than made up for a couple of miscues with two game-changing fielding plays and a two-run, two-out single that cracked a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth. It was a wild three-inning stretch for the veteran second baseman. It began when he dropped a flip from Bryson Stott on a potential inning-ending double play ball that allowed the Padres to tie the score at 1 in the top of the fourth. He then reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame, only to get picked off of first base to end the inning and scuttle an opportunity to add on to the 3-1 margin. In the sixth, he helped save a run after the Padres pinch-hit Bell to face Eflin with runners on the corners and one out. Segura fielded Bell’s grounder and made a quick, perfect throw to second, and Stott did the same to first to beat Bell by a quarter-step and end the inning. In the seventh, Segura made a diving stop of a sharp Ha-Seong Kim ground ball to end the frame and keep Soto out of the box until the eighth.

Brandon Marsh made a heck of a play to track down a long fly ball off the bat of Wil Myers in front of the 409 alcove in center field for the second out of the second inning. According to Statcast, the expected batting average on the ball was .870; had it landed, there’s a decent chance the Padres would have scored a runner from first and tied the score at 1. Big, big play that should not be forgotten.

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