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Postseason Gamethread: Padres at Phillies (NLCS Game 5), Astros at Yankees (ALCS Game 4)

San Diego and New York are on the brink of elimination in Sunday’s matchups

By Allie Wesel
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Championship Series - Houston Astros v New York Yankees - Game Three
Jose Altuve is all smiles after he broke an 0-for-25 drought — and didn’t even need a trash can to do it.
Elsa/Getty Images

The Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the NLCS last night after scoring 10 runs on 11 hits. They will be looking to send the Padres back home empty-handed.

Philadelphia puts its ace, Zack Wheeler, on the mound this afternoon. This will be Wheeler’s fourth start of the 2022 postseason. In his previous starts, the right-handed pitcher is 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA. He has worked 19 1⁄3 innings, striking out 17 and only walking three in that span. The Phillies show no signs of their power hitting slowing down; Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto both homered last night, and Rhys Hoskins was having so much fun he homered twice.

The Padres are sending Yu Darvish to the mound in the hopes of forcing a Game 6 back in San Diego on Monday. Darvish is 2-1 this postseason, with a 2.84 ERA. In 19 innings of work, he has struck out 18 batters and walked three. Last night’s starter, Mike Clevinger, was pulled from the game before recording an out in the bottom of the first inning, so Bob Melvin needs a strong outing from Darvish. Juan Soto and Manny Machado both hit home runs in Saturday’s game, but they will have to do more than just that if they want to play tomorrow.

This afternoon’s elimination game starts at 1:37 p.m. CT on FS1.

The Yankees’ offensive woes continued last night in the Bronx, as they were limited to just three hits, and they struck out 11 times. New York will send Nestor Cortés to the mound with hopes of forcing a Game 5 and averting the sweep. Cortés is 1-0 this postseason with a 2.70 ERA. He most recently pitched five innings on short rest against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. In his 10 innings of work in the playoffs, the southpaw has struck out five and walked four. The Yankees will need to see power back in the bats if they want to see another day of baseball in the Bronx.

Houston, on the other hand, is looking to stay undefeated and complete the four-game sweep of the Yankees. Lance McCullers Jr. gets the nod for the game. McCullers has worked in one game this postseason, pitching six innings of relief in the 18-inning game against the Mariners. In those six innings, he struck out seven and walked two. José Altuve broke an 0-for-25 postseason drought last night with a double in the top of the fifth inning, and will look to build off of that as he eyes the World Series next.

The first pitch of this evening elimination game is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. CT. It is airing on TBS.

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