The Philadelphia Phillies took Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, playing in front of a hostile crowd at Petco Park.
They did lose Game 2 on Wednesday, however, even after jumping off to a 4-0 lead.
Yet the Phillies know they did what they had to do.
There is a sense of calm around Philadelphia and his manager Rob Thomson: the series is tied 1-1, and it now became a best-of-five affair.
Three of those five games will be played at Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Is Already Waiting For The Phillies
If you watched their series against the Atlanta Braves, you probably know that the crowd played its own game… and won.
“’That’s exactly what you tell them. We went into Atlanta, won the first 1, lost the second one. Disappointing game. We came back home in front of 46,000 raucous people and played really well. I expect to do the same thing’ -Rob Thomson on splitting on the road like last series,” NBC Sports Philadelphia John Clark tweeted, quoting the Phils’ skipper.
“That's exactly what you tell them. We went into Atlanta, won the first 1, lost the second one. Disappointing game. We came back home in front of 46,000 raucous people and played really well. I expect to do the same thing”
-Rob Thomson on splitting on the road like last series pic.twitter.com/Nsg6FN051y
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 20, 2022
An incredible crowd full of red is surely waiting to give its team a loud ovation on Friday, when the NLCS resumes in Philadelphia.
Thomson knows what he is talking about: they split the first two games of the series in Atlanta, and the Phillies ended things playing on their home turf.
They are hoping to do the same thing here, against the Padres.
However, to wrap things up before going to San Diego again, they need to take three straight at Citizens Bank Park.
They are more than capable of doing it, but the Padres remain a dangerous team willing to re-take home-field advantage.
NEXT: Phillies Manager Reveals The Upcoming Pitching Plan