The Padres’ magic number at Petco Park is five.
For the second time in four days, the Padres sent more than 44,000 fans at Petco Park into a frenzy with a wild five-run comeback inning in a postseason game.
Saturday night it was 34 minutes in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers, and it led to a clinching 5-3 victory.
Wednesday afternoon it was 37 minutes in the fifth inning of Game 2 of the NL Championship Series against the Phillies, and it led to a crucial 8-5 victory.
Beginning shortly before 3:30 p.m., with the Padres trailing 4-2 and with just two hits against Aaron Nola, here’s how it happened:
Leading off, Ha-Seong Kim lined a single to left field.
Trent Grisham hit a fly ball hard to center field, but it was caught by Matt Vierling.
Austin Nola, facing his younger brother Aaron for the second time in the afternoon and the seventh time in their careers, got a hit for the just second time, driving an 0-2 pitch for a single to right-center field. Kim, who was running on the pitch, scored all the way from first base. 4-3 Phillies
Jurickson Profar pulled a single to right field, pushing Nola to third base.
Juan Soto, also down 0-2 in the count, lined a double into the right-field corner, scoring Nola with the tying run. Profar stopped at third. Padres 4, Phillies 4
Manny Machado struck out.
Though Aaron Nola had retired left-handed batter Jake Cronenworth in his first two at-bats, he was replaced by former Padres left-hander Brad Hand. Cronenworth had two strikes against him when he was hit by a pitch.
With the bases loaded, Brandon Drury lined a full-count single into center field, scoring Profar and Soto with the go-ahead runs. Padres 6, Phillies 4
Josh Bell, who like Drury had homered earlier, hammered a single to right field, scoring Cronenworth. Padres 7, Phillies 4
Andrew Bellatti replaced Hand and walked Kim before striking out Grisham at 4 p.m.
Some 90 minutes later, the series was tied. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia, starting at 4:37 p.m. PDT. Games 4 and 5 also will be played at Citizens Bank Park, beginning at 4:45 p.m. Saturday and 11:37 a.m. Sunday.
