The Phillies are two wins away from returning to the World Series. (breathes in a long breath) THE PHILLIES ARE TWO WINS AWAY FROM RETURNING TO THE WORLD SERIES!
Okay, now that I got that out of my system, let’s move on to today’s matchup, shall we?
What: National League Championship Series: Game 4 – San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Saturday, October 22nd at 7:45 P.M.
First Pitch From The Big Piece
Continuing the conga line of Phillies playoff legends throwing out the first pitch tonight is none other than the 2009 NLCS MVP Ryan Howard.
Despite being known for his Subway ads back in the day, Howard has joined the Schwarberfest train, joining in on the hype while also improving his hoagie game by upgrading to Wawa. Howard was also known for hitting dingers, something Schwarber has a reputation for as well, but more on that later on.
Phillies vs. Padres: Game 4 – Pitching Matchup
Mike Clevinger (Regular Season: 7-7, 4.33 ERA | Postseason: 0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. Bailey Falter (Regular Season: 6-4, 3.86 ERA)
Mike Clevinger vs. Bailey Falter? There is going to be so much long hair on the field tonight that I am officially renaming Game Four of the NLCS the Battle of the Flow. Moving on.
PHILLIES
In his post-game interview Friday night, manager Rob Thomson announced that Bailey Falter would get the start on Saturday against the Padres. With a large number of left-handers on the Padres, Thomson would rather start the lefty Falter over right-hander Noah Syndergaard.
Now, Falter has not pitched in a game since October 5th. While rest is a good thing, Falter will likely enter the contest with a good amount of rust despite throwing bullpen sessions in the interim. Thomson stated that he expects Falter to go three innings on Saturday with the bullpen coming in shortly thereafter.
Noah Syndergaard will likely make an appearance backing up Falter on the night. Additionally, Thomson stated that everyone except Seranthony Dominguez is fair game out of the bullpen.
Falter did not make an appearance against the Padres this season, but he has had a couple of appearances against former Nationals Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Soto has gone 2-for-6 against Falter on the year with two singles and one RBI. Josh Bell, meanwhile, has had Falter’s number this year, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double, a walk, and four RBI.
Good news is, Falter will likely only face Bell once today.
PADRES
Mike Clevinger is a solid starting pitcher who returned this year from Tommy John Surgery for the Padres. Unlike the trend in pitchers returning from Tommy John, Clevinger has not found his groove since returning with his year ERA sitting at 4.33 – the second-highest of his career.
Over his final six regular season starts, Clevinger threw a bloated 6.52 ERA. Even more recently, Clevinger allowed five runs in 2.2 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the NLDS.
In Other Words
Neither starting pitcher is going to last long in today’s contest. Expect to see a lot of bullpen action, a lot of runs scored, and a lot of overall shenanigans in today’s contest.
Props and Parlays
Here is what I come to you with today. Fresh off FanDuel, you can expect a lot of action in today’s contest. At +1359 odds, you can cash in in a big way just from riding off some of the hottest bats in the Phillies’ lineup.
| BET | ODDS |
| Kyle Schwarber – To Hit a Home Run | +310 |
| Jean Segura – To Record a Hit | -175 |
| Bryce Harper – To Record a Hit | -210 |
| Alternate Total Runs – Over 9.5 | +172 |
| TOTAL | +1359 |
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
