Jose Alvarado's nail-biting save attempt, a breakdown
What Happened
Jose Alvarado, the Philadelphia Phillies' relief pitcher, takes the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Phillies clinging to a one-run lead over the San Diego Padres. The stakes are high, as this close game could have major implications for both teams' playoff hopes. Alvarado starts by facing Padres outfielder Trent Grisham, throwing a fastball inside and then a fastball down the middle that Grisham fouls off. The count moves to 1-2, and Alvarado tries a cut fastball that Grisham swings and misses at, striking him out. Next up is Padres catcher Austin Nola. Alvarado throws him a fastball that misses the strike zone, then another fastball that Nola fouls off. The count reaches 3-2, and Alvarado's fastball misses the zone, walking Nola and putting the tying run on base. Veteran Padres outfielder Juan Soto steps to the plate, the potential go-ahead run. Alvarado works him carefully, throwing three straight balls before Soto takes a called strike. The count full at 3-2, Alvarado goes back to his fastball, but Soto lays off, drawing another walk and loading the bases for Manny Machado. The Phillies infield and dugout are tense as Machado, one of the game's elite hitters, approaches. Alvarado tries to get him to chase a fastball low and in, but Machado lays off. The next pitch is a cut fastball that Machado fouls off. With the count 1-1, Alvarado rears back and fires another heater, but Machado holds off, drawing yet another walk to force in the tying run. The Phillies' lead has evaporated, and the Padres fans are erupting in the stands. Alvarado now faces rookie Ha-Seong Kim, the potential game-winning run. Unfazed, Alvarado challenges Kim with a first-pitch fastball down the middle. Kim fouls it off, then takes another fastball high for a ball. The count moves to 3-1, and the Padres' dugout is buzzing with excitement. But Alvarado comes back with a nasty breaking ball that Kim can only foul off. On the full-count pitch, Alvarado mixes it up, throwing a breaking fastball that Kim is not expecting, and he can only manage a weak foul tip, ending the inning and preserving the tie. The Phillies dugout erupts in celebration, while the Padres fans are left stunned. Alvarado has navigated a high-pressure situation, escaping a bases-loaded jam to keep the game deadlocked. The battle between these two playoff contenders will surely continue in the extra innings to come.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentPadres and Phillies played a real fun
game the other night I was watching it
live and I thought you know what let's
do a breakdown of just this ninth inning
this save in this close game it's
brought to you by DraftKings Alvarado's
in he's going up against Cooper fastball
inside next pitch fastball down the
middle fouled back the 1-1 real Muto
wants that see that pause see a little
hesitation that's him saying uh here it
is he says oh okay uh oh we forgot to
say strike blue you forgot to say strike
two in one fastball that's the nice spot
swing and a miss 2-2 now that's
technically a fastball I'm going to show
you it again
technically a cut fastball but
guys that just throw really hard sliders
just calling Cutters now because that's
you're throwing a fastball on a slider
3-2 pitch fastball misses the lead off
Runner is on Padres fans are excited
this back and forth game is going to go
back in our favor my dude Gary is up
looking cute as all get out fastball
down and in
that's that cutter not a slider oh
another one remember wants that doesn't
get it it's now a 3-0 count Gary in the
driver's seat doesn't need that doesn't
want it three one nope don't need that
either another walk Alvarado making a
mess of it he's got to get out of it
Topper's like bun
you think they're gonna bunt hey guys
maybe we watched nah okay all right all
right all right thought about it next
batter comes up
got a good opportunity here fastball
down the middle probably should have
jumped on that but I just walked two
guys so you want to be patient double
play ball can they turn two no
no
they do not so the tying run is on first
base I said hey you see this guy who's
up pretty good pretty good mashes Lefty
relievers really mashes Lefty relievers
let's be good here okay guy says I'm
bored what are you guys talking about
boring just want to hit first pitch
there's that cut fastball AKA slider
outside fastball with a little arm side
run then back to the cutter look at the
overlay of these two pitches
that's pretty nasty
as the kid in the back gets his rally
cap set up he drops this combo on him
yikes
now he's got him two strikes and he's
gonna go back to that pitch I mean are
you kidding me stop telling me that that
is a cut fastball it's a breaking
not jobs anyway ramudo likes it two outs
oh yeah they all love it in The Dugout
got wet hair got gray hair now here
comes Kim two outs
still can be here on another first pitch
fastball right down the middle Electric
he kind of like Trojan Horse them with
those two walks oh this guy's wild he's
not throwing strikes and then two
batters fastball right down the middle
oh one to Kim oh up top JT calm down
it's all good
calm down there's that cut fastball
inside two in one uh oh Kim's in the
driver's seat they're slow clapping in
San Diego one more ball and tatis comes
up with the base is loaded 3-1 pitch
swing stares at him so are you gonna
challenge me what's my name Ha song Kim
yes big pitch here Full Count oh he went
with the breaking fastball Kim was
sitting regular fastball not breaking
fastball and then just has to try to
protect at the end and fall it off not
what he was expecting yeah screaming
fist bumper go remoto's jazzed up he's
really jazzed up Jake he's like all
right calm down baby it's all right
let's go good job good job I knew you
had it in you good job that breakdown
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