Padres’ bats come to life in game 2 win over NLCS

CITY OF SAN DIEGO — Juan Soto and Josh Hader attracts most of the attention, but Brandon Drury and Josh Bell are seasonal transitions of similar importance to San Diego Padres – a belief further emphasized by the fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. was subsequently suspended. Bell and Drury represent the key power bats in the middle of the squad, an important source of protection for Soto and Manny Machado. And on Wednesday, with the Padres in dire need of a win, their bats finally came to life.

Drury and Bell, struggling all through the post-season and for most of their Padres tenure, banded together to hit five hits and drive in five runs in Game 2 of the Championship National Series, won a 8-5, victory comes from behind via Philadelphia Phillies to earn some money from Petco Park.

The Padres found himself in a four-way hole midway through the second half and won back, an extremely rare victory for this time of year. Before Wednesday, teams by four or more points at any point in an LCS game were 12-268, or 0.043 percent win. The Padres themselves are 1-16 in their post-season history, but they have had recent appearances on their side. They came back from four runs on their final trip to post-season, in Game 2 of their wild card series against St. Louis Cardinals. And they fought each other in the seventh round that lasted five rounds to overcome the three-round deficit and eliminate Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the NL Division Series four days ago.

“We’re trying to expand all the time,” said Padres catcher Austin Nola, who helped ignite the year-long fifth inning with a hit from his brother. “We’re trying to get to the next one. That’s the kind of work we’re doing right now. Come to the next pitch, and eventually you’ll meet the next person and continue this, obtained a good set of results.”

Padres manager Bob Melvin made what appeared to be a small roster change going into Game 2, starting Wil Myerswho provided superior defense at the first base and moved Jake Cronenworth to the clean-up point. Drury and Bell, who combined to create a .105/.128/.184 slash in eight games after the Padres’ first season, will hit fifth and sixth respectively. And they made it through when the Padres desperately needed a lift.

Phillies compiled four runs Blake Snell in the most unlikely ways, string together four lightly rated singles, benefit from a balloon Soto lost in the sun, and score another run on a grounding device sharp is started by Drury in the first facility. Aaron Nola, who has yet to allow runs earned in these playoffs, hit the rubber ball. A 2-0 lead in this series – with up to the next three in Philadelphia – seems within reach of the Phillies.

Then, Drury took the lead in the second half of the field and made the second pitch he saw, a fast, chest-high ball, over the fence on the left side of the field.

“I was trying to get a big inning,” Drury said in an on-court interview. “He left a quick ball in the middle and I just made a good spin.”

On the next court – another fast ball, this ball up and in – Bell unleashed a lofty strike from the right, slicing the Phillies’ lead and sending life into a sold-out crowd. 44,607 fruits. Three rounds later, at the end of the fifth round, Padres hit disc 11 and accumulated five runs. Three of the first four hitters hit, and then Soto ended the game with an RBI double into the right corner. Drury then resisted Brad’s hand, with the base loaded and two lines out, and a suction line running two lines to the middle left. Bell followed with a run that scored on the right end line. At the time, Drury and Bell combined for as many hits in the first five innings of a game (four) as they’ve had in the entire post-season.

“Those people are here for a reason, and they all have a track record,” Melvin said. “You look at their numbers throughout this year, and they’re all good. Those are the people we’re going to keep running out of.”

The Padres victory was a byproduct of so much more than just Drury and Bell. It was Snell, suspended hard after the 37th inning on the field, looking to score 15 out of the box to turn the tide on the Padres’ best leverage-reducing drugs. It was Soto, who hit the ball hard all month but didn’t have much to show for it, redeeming himself with a failed hit with a key shot. It was Machado who thwarted the 424-foot home track in the seventh section, then started a tricky doubles game with the threatening Phillies and Bryce Harper increase in the next round. And, most memorably, it was Nola who conquered her little brother.

The Padres went one on one, still trailing by a few laps, and Austin Nola faced off 0-2 against Aaron Nola, with their parents watching nervously from the stands.

Austin Nola said: “I feel like every time I face my brother, I get 0-2. “He was always ahead of me, and I was always fighting back just to try to get some crates somewhere.”

This time, Austin – in the first fraternity match between pitcher and hitter in post-season history – made a perfect run and hit. Ha-Seong Kim take off to second base in an attempted heist, Second Phillies Jean Segura moved into cover, and Austin placed a shot through the vacant right, allowing Kim to score from the start and eventually kick off a massive rally.

The Padres have avoided what could feel like a huge deficit, and now they will have one of their trump cards, Joe Musgroveline up for Game 3 in Philadelphia on Friday.

“We knew what we had to do,” Machado said in Spanish. “No matter what, we have to win this match.”