Unbelievable comeback in the 9th inning, a breakdown
What Happened
In a thrilling Game 2 of the National League Wild Card round, the Philadelphia Phillies stage an improbable comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals have taken a 2-0 lead late in the game, leaving the Phillies with just two outs to play with. J.T. Realmuto steps up to the plate and pokes a single over the shortstop, giving the Phillies some life. Star slugger Bryce Harper then works a series of walks against Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley, who appears to have lost control of his fastball. The tying run comes home when Helsley hits Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos with a pitch. With the game now tied 2-2, the Cardinals turn to closer Giovanny Gallegos, who quickly falls behind in the count against Kyle Schwarber. On a 2-1 offering, Schwarber hits a ground ball that skips off Gallegos' glove, allowing two runs to score and giving the Phillies a 4-2 lead. Outfielder Rhys Hoskins follows with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. The sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park erupts in celebration as the Phillies complete the stunning comeback. Phillies manager Rob Thomson praises his team's resilience, saying "I'm so proud of these guys, they never quit and that's what it takes to win in October." Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol expresses frustration over the defensive miscues, acknowledging "we had it in our grasp and just couldn't finish it off." This thrilling Wild Card victory keeps the Phillies' season alive and sets the stage for an epic series against their National League East rival, the defending champion Atlanta Braves. For the Cardinals, it's a heartbreaking defeat that will sting for a long time, as they fail to advance in the playoffs despite holding a late lead. The 2022 MLB postseason has already delivered high drama and unforgettable moments, and this Game 2 clash between the Phillies and Cardinals will surely go down as one of the most memorable.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe second game in the Wild Card format
was an absolute doozy if you're a
third-party fan this is what you tune in
to see Cardinals are up two nothing
Phillies have two outs left before they
lose the game this one's brought to you
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sponsoring the video so you got real
Muto coming up to bat there's one out in
the ninth and they're down that's a ball
low from helsley that's a fastball right
down the fastball looked pretty good
when it was in the zone something
important to note is these Day games in
the playoffs you got to deal with the
shadows and when the pitcher
is in the light and the Batters and the
Shadows it is so hard to hit and I don't
think it's a coincidence that come the
ninth inning when the Shadows finally
reach the pitcher we started seeing
better at bats longer at bats
real Muto pokes that one over the
shortstop and that might be the only
real legit hit of the inning there's a
lot more coming Harper's up now ball low
nice curveball that Harper swings over
nice fastball that Harper swings under
now they're like one more strike and
there's two outs they're excited that's
a ball though and that's a ball though
and that's a ball though uh oh now
there's two on two outs to go pitching
coach comes out says hey man just get
them out I think castiano Castellanos
comes up another ball uh-oh another ball
up and in lost control of the fastball
nice slider though two and one oh man
has really lost control of the fastball
now the slider's low everyone's looking
at him like okay Casiano takes his time
everyone kind of slow and manager says
uh yo that's Balfour yeah no they have
it right and now the Philly spans are
smiling and the Cardinals fans are
getting nervous because that's ball in
the dirt fastball down the middle fouled
back now they're praying
Fearless fans are smiling Cardinals fans
are praying that Ball's up and in he
doesn't care that it hit him that's a
run and now it's playoff baseball at its
finest and you got the Cardinals manager
just kind of doing nothing he's like all
right are they ready in the bullpen like
I don't think they're ready yet and he's
like all right we'll go out and bring
the trainer with you and let's milk this
for time and get as much time as we can
so they go out they say hey you're hurt
Han he says where are you hurting he
says uh oh it's your hands hurt let's
check it out maybe throw a pitch see if
you can pitch no okay well we bought
enough time our reliever is in looking
for a ground ball
looking for a ground ball double play to
get out of this they're still up right
now 1-1 fastball in now this slider is
nasty that is a nasty slider to get the
second strike look at that and he chases
it and you're like throw that again
throws it again chases it again oh no
off of his glove
off of his glove and two run score
just a ground ball off his glove he
jumps for joy and then Harper's gonna
score he's gonna let out a good bam
let's go Cardinals infield defense is a
plus for them just it's just looking
marmal just looking uh oh
Unabomber not excited worried
fast or fastball in their bunt attempt
why
now that yachty wants as a strike
because it's a strike would have been
strike three
yachty's pretty upset about it he said
what do you got that huh manager says a
[ __ ] call a strike
fouled back up high and then this puts
in play Goldie grabs it he goes
immediately home to get up around and
he's safe and that's an interesting car
I bet there's a lot of different
opinions on this because if you look at
it when he has the ball the runner is
right there he's still running by the
time he's up the runner's still in view
you can step on first and then throw it
a second try to get the double play you
can throw it a second and then have them
throw back to you for the force a double
play ends the inning and you're only
down one run he elects to go straight
home which is probably like a called
play like hey if it's a hot shot to you
go straight home yachty still bitching
at the Umpire about that missed strike
three call not happy about it at all now
they're really they're like Beyond
prayer they're kind of sad
because now it's a two Run game and now
it's kind of a thing and you're still
going and now oh no maybe the best third
baseman we've seen
lets that one it just got so much Top
Spin that second hop just picks up the
rotations on them and they're leaving
they're out they were so excited now
they're so distraught they're gone 5-2
schwarber puts one in the air for a sack
fly six to two and the Phillies are just
keeping going now I don't know if this
is more earned than given but finally
strike three and the Umpire I think is
making up for the call because that
pitch was more a ball than the one he
called a ball look so the one more
inside
and obviously I think that has to do
with where the umpire's setting up like
look at his head for a lefty and a
righty
so it's across the plate or it's on the
plate but the one that's over the plate
was called a ball and the one that's not
over the plate was called a strike this
woman she still had Faith it's not over
it's not over it's not over itchy head
and then she's like correct you know
because they still had to hit but then
she's wrong because it was kind of over
people left the early was demoralizing
the Phillies came back and won they're
celebrating other team is not
celebrating wild wild Finnish Wild Card
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