Hoskins heads Phils’ power surge in Game 4 win
PHILADELPHIA — In a sport that often defies logic, Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos had a simple explanation for the Phillies’ comeback from a disastrous top of the first inning Saturday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series: “It’s tough to play in the jungle, man.”
After the San Diego Padres roared out of the gate with four runs in the first, the Phillies roared right back with three runs in the bottom of the first — on their way to a four-homer outburst in a 10-6 victory that put the Phillies one win away from reaching their first World Series since 2009.
“We knew the crowd was going to be a factor,” first baseman Rhys Hoskins said as the Phillies improved to 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park in the postseason while scoring 31 runs and hitting .313 — in a postseason where runs have otherwise been scarce. “We’re confident in that. We saw that in the NLDS. And we feel like it’s a big part of when you get those innings rolling, you get a couple guys on, it gets a little louder. You get the one big hit, it gets louder, and that’s where you can really snowball things.”
The top of the Phillies’ lineup was locked in all game long. Their top five hitters delivered big nights as they each got at least two hits or scored at least two runs, going a combined 9-for-18 with seven extra-base hits and all 10 runs scored. The biggest hero was Hoskins, who hit two crucial two-run home runs for a four-RBI game.
Hoskins’ first home run followed Kyle Schwarber‘s leadoff single in the bottom of the first, after the Padres had struck for a four-run outburst off Bailey Falter. Hoskins worked the count full against Padres starter Mike Clevinger, who threw a 94-mph fastball right down the middle that Hoskins drilled 384 feet to left-center.
“A lot of us said ’27 outs’ after the top of the first inning,” Hoskins said. “We’ve been down before. We knew with a bullpen game, the possibility of multiple guys having to be put in positions that they’re not used to being in, that we were going to have to slug. We did that tonight.”
His second home run was even more impressive. Padres left-hander Sean Manaea was on in relief, making his first appearance of the postseason. With the Padres leading 6-4, Schwarber worked a one-out walk and Padres manager Bob Melvin left in Manaea, who had a 6.44 ERA in the second half, to face the right-handed Hoskins.
With the count 1-1, Hoskins crushed a sinker at the knees, 417 feet with a 108.4-mph exit velocity to a similar area of the left-center stands. The home run tied the game and Citizens Bank Park exploded in a frenzy.
“There’s nobody on the team that deserves those moments more than Rhys,” Castellanos said. “He’s been here from the beginning, he’s been through a lot of losing here, he’s been through the hard times, so to be on this stage and to come through like this, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
It was the eighth two-homer game in Phillies postseason history and the first since Chase Utley in Game 5 of the 2009 World Series. While Hoskins said he appreciates baseball history — especially Phillies history and being mentioned alongside Utley and other greats from the team — in the past he has said he’s tired of hearing about the 2008 World Series champion club. He wants to make his own history.
Now he’s learning what 2008 was like.
“It feels like we’re living it, yeah. The red towels, it’s deafening loud, right? Like, yeah, just the whole scene. And as soon as you step on the field, really in batting practice, you can just kind of feel the electricity building,” he said. “I need some more. I need some more of it.”
For the Padres, Clevinger’s short outing — 15 pitches and no outs — left Melvin needing to get nine innings out of his bullpen.
“This was probably one of the worst days of my life,” Clevinger said. “That sums it up. It sucks.”
Nick Martinez pitched three perfect innings before Manaea entered in the fourth and allowed a run. He came back for a second inning of work in the fifth. After Hoskins’ home run tied the game, J.T. Realmuto walked and Bryce Harper lashed a ringing double to left-center to score Realmuto with the go-ahead run.
“I was going to try to get [Manaea] one time around the lineup,” Melvin explained. “I thought his stuff was better. He had 95. He had swings and misses when he got into the zone, but he couldn’t locate it. The second inning, four batters, five batters, it happened pretty quickly.”
The Phillies are careful not to get ahead of themselves, but they are oozing with confidence — especially with ace Zack Wheeler going in Game 5 and coming off a masterful outing in Game 1 when he allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings.
“I’ve said this a couple times in the last couple of I days, and I’m sorry it’s getting redundant,” Hoskins said. “You can’t write it better for the guys in that room, for the staff, for everybody in this organization, but I think most importantly for the city. Yeah, you can’t write it better. I can’t imagine what tomorrow is going to be like.”
-
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser is not expected to play in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday because of a blood-clotting issue, a source told ESPN, confirming a report.
There’s no timeline for his return to action. The Canucks had no comment on Boeser’s status.
Boeser didn’t skate in practice Sunday. Coach Rick Tocchet would only say at a media availability that “he needed the maintenance day.”
Boeser, 27, leads the Canucks in goals (7) and is tied for the lead in points (12) during the postseason. He established career highs in goals (40), points (73) and games played (81) during the regular season.
The Canucks winger has had some MVP moments during their playoff run. His hat trick in Game 4 against the Nashville Predators led them to a comeback win. Boeser’s three points in the first period of Game 3 led Vancouver to a win over Edmonton.
It’s the second significant injury for Vancouver in the playoffs after a regular season of relatively good health for the team’s core players. Starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best netminder, hasn’t played since Game 1 of the first round because of a knee injury. Edmonton won Game 6 at home Saturday night to force Monday’s Game 7, the only seventh game of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The winner faces the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.
The Boeser injury news was first reported by Vancouver-based hockey journalist Irfaan Gaffar.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff to multiyear contracts, keeping one of the best in the NHL behind the bench around for the long term.
The team announced the re-signings Sunday for Brind’Amour, assistants Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason, goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and video coach Chris Huffine.
“Rod has been instrumental to the success we’ve had over the last six seasons,” team president and general manager Don Waddell said. “Ever since he joined the organization 24 years ago, Rod has embodied what it means to be a Hurricane. We hope to keep him a Hurricane for life.”
Brind’Amour was in the final year of a deal reached in 2021, when he was the winner of the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. His status had become a talking point around the NHL as jobs changed hands, though Brind’Amour — as well as Waddell — had expressed confidence that a deal would get done.
“I never had a doubt in my mind he [would] come back,” Carolina center Sebastian Aho said earlier in the day when asked about the reports of a deal. “Not surprised, I would say.”
Brind’Amour took over in 2018 to lead a franchise that had missed the playoffs for nine straight years. The Hurricanes have gone to the playoffs six times in as many seasons under the captain of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup winner. Carolina has also won at least one series in each of the past six postseasons, marking the first time a team has accomplished that since the Detroit Red Wings did it from 1995 to 2000. The Canes also reached the Eastern Conference finals twice in the past six seasons.
Carolina finished three points behind the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division title and Presidents’ Trophy (presented to the league’s top regular-season team), another season in which it ranked among the NHL’s top teams with an aggressive forechecking style.
The Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders in five games in Round 1 then lost to the Rangers in a six-game second-round series after falling in a 3-0 hole.
Brind’Amour, 53, arrived in Raleigh in a January 2000 trade from the Philadelphia Flyers and played there until his retirement in 2010. He then spent seven seasons as an assistant coach before taking over as a first-time head coach.
Multiple players were asked earlier Sunday about Brind’Amour’s status during end-of-season interviews. None expressed concern that he wouldn’t return or that it had been any type of distraction.
“He’s one of the main pieces that turned this organization around from where it was when I first got here,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “So I think anyone would want him to stay as well. I know he wants to be here. I’m confident it’ll get done.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports1 month agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports7 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company