The San Diego Padres find themselves in the NLCS for the first time since 1998 after eliminating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
They’ll match up against another underdog in the Philadelphia Phillies, who just took care of the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves.
The NLCS will get started tonight, with Game 1 being scheduled for 8:03 p.m. Eastern Time.
Beating the Dodgers has filled the Padres with joy and excitement, but when Manny Machado was asked about a potential hangover from the series, he simply refuted the idea, saying that after the celebration, the team’s focus shifted to trying to find a way to beat the Phillies.
Manny Machado on avoiding a hangover after the Dodgers series:
“As a group I think we all enjoyed that night… once Saturday was over the focus was on to the next. We gotta stay focused on what the real goal is and that’s to bring a championship to the city.” pic.twitter.com/vxn4MySCKK
— Darnay Tripp (@DarnayTripp) October 17, 2022
Padres Focused On Phils
Beating the Dodgers may give the Padres a little bit of an advantage, especially now since they’re starting the NLCS at home.
But the Phillies are red-hot and have only lost one game this postseason.
They took care of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Series and barely broke a sweat to beat the Braves.
If anything, the Phillies should not be taken lightly.
This is a team that is flying under everybody’s radar and dominating even the toughest of postseason foes.
They also have Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola starting the first two games, respectively.
The pitching matchups could go either way, as the Padres have Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, but the Phillies cannot be counted out.
So naturally, the Padres have shifted their focus to the task at hand and are ready to deal with the Phillies, who continue to fly under the radar and take out opponents that were heavily favored to beat them.
We’ll see how the series plays out.
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