San Diego Padres vs Philadelphia Phillies Match Player Stats On Oct 23, 2022

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper carried the Philadelphia Phillies into the World Series.

The goal now is to win one final round and complete the journey.

Harper hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and the host Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3 to capture the National League Championship Series in five games Sunday.

"We're here and we're ready," said Harper, who was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player. "We're ready to go in the next round. We've got four more."

Rhys Hoskins drove in two runs on a third-inning homer, Kyle Schwarber drew three walks and J.T. Realmuto and Harper each had two hits for the Phillies, who advanced to the World Series for the first time since 2009. The Phillies last won the title in 2008.

Without Harper, the Phillies likely wouldn't haven't reached this stage.

"He's everything to us," Hoskins said about Harper during a jubilant celebration on the field postgame. "He's in the moment and always seems to come up big in the moment. It's incredible. He's our MP3 as we call him."

Phillies starter Zack Wheeler allowed three hits and two runs to go along with eight strikeouts and no walks in six-plus innings.

Jose Alvarado (1-0) earned the win and Ranger Suarez, normally a starter, recorded the final two outs for the save. Austin Nola flied out to right with runners on second and third for the final out.

On to the World Series, where they will face the Houston Astros, who swept the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

"It's just an incredible feeling," manager Rob Thomson said. "We'll celebrate tonight. We'll get back to work tomorrow."

Juan Soto hit a home run and Josh Bell added an RBI double for the Padres.

Padres starter Yu Darvish tossed six-plus innings and gave up four hits and two runs with five strikeouts and three walks. Robert Suarez (0-1), who allowed the homer to Harper, took the loss.

In the end, the Padres were unable to pull off a win in Philadelphia to extend the series.

"It's really frustrating with this being the end," Soto said. "You can see how close we came and how far we went. We should feel proud of ourselves."

Harper also singled in the second inning and extended his postseason hitting streak to 10 games, tying a franchise mark set by Lenny Dykstra in 1993.

In the third, Schwarber walked with two outs and stole second. After being initially called out, the Phillies challenged and the decision was reversed. Hoskins then laced a 3-0 pitch into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead.

The Padres closed within 2-1 in the fourth when Soto launched a solo homer to right-center for the Padres' first hit.

Wheeler retired the Padres in order in the sixth capped by consecutive strikeouts of Soto and Manny Machado to end the inning.

Jake Cronenworth singled to open the seventh and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Seranthony Dominguez. Bell then hit an RBI double to right to tie the game. The Padres went ahead 3-2 on consecutive wild pitches by Dominguez as the field conditions worsened with rain.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the seventh, Hoskins flied out to right.

The Padres battled to the very end but came up one run short. Yet they don't believe their season is defined by this NLCS loss.

"We fought our best fight and it wasn't enough," starter Joe Musgrove said. "We can live with that. It's not so much the fact we lost and that we're going home as it is that no one's ready to go home."

--By Andy Jasner, Field Level Media