2022 National League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Philadelphia Phillies (4) Rob Thomson 87–75 (.537), GB: 14 San Diego Padres (1) Bob Melvin 89–73 (.549), GB: 22
Dates	October 18–23
MVP	Bryce Harper (Philadelphia)
Umpires	Lance Barrett,Ted Barrett (crew chief),Doug Eddings,Adam Hamari,Brian Knight,Todd Tichenor,Quinn Wolcott
Broadcast
Television	FS1 (Games 1–3 and 5) Fox (Games 2, 4)
TV announcers	Joe Davis,John Smoltz,Ken Rosenthal, andTom Verducci
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Sciambi andDoug Glanville
NLDS	Philadelphia Phillies overAtlanta Braves (3–1) San Diego Padres overLos Angeles Dodgers (3–1)
← 2021 NLCS 2023 →

The2022 National League Championship Series was thebest-of-seven playoff inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2022 postseason between the fifth-seededSan Diego Padres and the sixth-seededPhiladelphia Phillies for theNational League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the2022 World Series.

The series began on October 18 and ended on October 23.Fox andFS1 televised the games in the U.S.^[1] This was the first time in Major League history that twoWild Card teams faced each other in the League Championship Series (prior to 2022, only one Wild Card team per league could advance to theDivision Series; as such, two Wild Card teams couldn't face each other in the LCS in a full season until 2022).^[2] This was also the first time in Major League history that playoff rounds overlapped, as the2022 ALDS had a game the same day the NLCS began.^[3]

TheSan Diego Padres qualified for the postseason as the fifth seedwild card entrant. In theWild Card Series, they defeated theNew York Mets in three games. In theDivision Series, they defeated the National League West division winnerLos Angeles Dodgers, who held the best regular season record of 111–51 at the time of the postseason, in four games. The Padres made it to the National League Championship Series for the first time since1998.^[4]

ThePhiladelphia Phillies qualified for the postseason as the sixth seed wild card entrant, and the last remaining team, in both the season and in MLB history, to earn a wild card berth. In theWild Card Series, they swept theSt. Louis Cardinals, who were the National League Central division winner and seeded third in the National League. In theDivision Series, they defeated the defending World Series champion and National League East division winnerAtlanta Braves in four games. The Phillies made it to the National League Championship Series for the first time since2010.^[5]

This was the first postseason meeting between the Padres and the Phillies. Philadelphia won four of the seven regular-season games against San Diego.^[6] BrothersAaron Nola, of the Phillies, andAustin Nola, of the Padres, became the first pair of brothers to face each other as pitcher and batter in the postseason.^[7][8]

Philadelphia won the series, 4–1.

Game 1 was a low-scoring pitcher's duel between Philadelphia'sZack Wheeler and San Diego'sYu Darvish. In the top of the first, withKyle Schwarber at third and two outs,Jake Cronenworth made a diving stop to getBryce Harper out at first and rob the Phillies of a run. In the fourth, Harper homered off of Darvish for the first run of the series. In the bottom of the inning, Wheeler retired the heart of the Padres' order. In the top of the sixth, Schwarber added on to the Phillies' lead, hitting a towering second-deck home run. Philadelphia'sSeranthony Dominguez retired the side in the bottom of the eighth. In the ninth, a potential game-ending double play was spoiled whenBryson Stott missed a throw by third basemanAlec Bohm after aJuan Soto grounder. However, after aManny Machado flyout,José Alvarado struck outJosh Bell to end the inning and the game. Wheeler struck out eight batters in Game 1, earning the win.

Philadelphia jumped on top early in Game 2, scoring four runs off ofBlake Snell in the top of the second by way of a bloop single byAlec Bohm that scoredBryce Harper, aMatt Vierling double that was lost in the sun byJuan Soto, anEdmundo Sosa single, and aKyle Schwarber grounder that was dropped byBrandon Drury, allowing Vierling to score. The Padres answered back in the bottom of the inning with home runs on back-to-back pitches from Brandon Drury andJosh Bell off of Phillies starterAaron Nola. Nola then faced his brotherAustin, who grounded out to third. In the top of the fifth, Austin singled off his brother, scoringHa-seong Kim.Jurickson Profar then singled to advance Nola to third. The next batter, Juan Soto, doubled to right field, scoring Nola and tying the game at four. Three additional runs would score in the inning, two from a single from Drury, and one from a single from Bell to put the Padres up 7–4. In the seventh inning,Manny Machado homered off Philadelphia'sDavid Robertson, increasing the Padres' lead to four. A first-pitch homer fromRhys Hoskins in the top of the eighth that cut down San Diego's lead to three would be the final run of the game, asJosh Hader earned the save in San Diego's first win in an NLCS game since 1998.

Game 3 featured Philadelphia'sRanger Suarez on the mound in their first NLCS home game since 2010. San Diego countered withJoe Musgrove, who gave up a leadoff home run fromKyle Schwarber in the bottom of the first inning. In the top of the fourth inning, with runners at first and third, San Diego'sJake Cronenworth hit a ground ball to shortstopBryson Stott. Stott threw to second basemanJean Segura, who dropped the ball, allowingJuan Soto to score and tying the game at one. The Phillies answered in the bottom of the inning with a double from Stott after anAlec Bohm walk. Segura then singled to right-center field, scoring both runners and putting the Phillies up 3–1. In the fifth inning, San Diego'sTrent Grisham hit a ground ball along the first base line that was misplayed byRhys Hoskins for a double. Ha-seong Kim then grounded out to score Grisham from third and cut the Phillies' lead to one. In the sixth inning, Bohm doubled to Soto, who dove for the ball and missed, scoringNick Castellanos from second to raise the Phillies' lead by one. In the top of the ninth inning,Jurickson Profar was ejected after arguing a check swing call.Seranthony Domínguez earned the save for Philadelphia, his first-ever postseason save.

Three days after the Phillies blew a 4–0 lead in Game 2, the Padres blew a 4–0 lead of their own. In the first inning,Manny Machado hit a solo home run, followed by a two-run double byBrandon Drury that pulled Philadelphia starterBailey Falter out of the game. His replacement,Connor Brogdon, gave up a single byHa-seong Kim that scored Drury to widen the Padres' lead to 4–0. In the bottom of the inning,Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run home run for the Phillies to cut the lead in half, followed by a run-scoring double byBryce Harper to get Philadelphia within one run. This pulled San Diego starterMike Clevinger out of the game, the first time two opposing starters had been pulled in the first inning of a postseason game since the1932 World Series. In the bottom of the fourth,Bryson Stott tied the game at four, scoringNick Castellanos. Stott was tagged out at second base. In the fifth inning,Juan Soto hit a two-run home run to give San Diego a 6–4 edge. The lead was short-lived, however. In the bottom of the inning, Hoskins hit another two-run home run offSean Manaea to tie the game at six. This was followed by an RBI double by Harper, which gave Philadelphia the lead for the first time in the game. Castellanos hit a single that bounced off second base, scoring Harper to make it 8–6.Kyle Schwarber andJ. T. Realmuto added to the scoring with solo home runs in the sixth and seventh innings offLuis Garcia andSteven Wilson, respectively. The 10–6 victory for Philadelphia pulled them within one win of going to the World Series.

Game 5 was a pitching rematch of Game 1, withZack Wheeler on the mound for the Phillies andYu Darvish for the Padres. In the bottom of the third with two outs, Darvish walkedKyle Schwarber. The next batter,Rhys Hoskins, followed up on his performance in Game 4 and hit a two-run home run, his third in 24 hours. The Padres prevented additional scoring after aJ. T. Realmuto single whenBryce Harper flew out to end the inning.Juan Soto struck back for the Padres in the top of the fourth with a solo home run. Wheeler was chased from the game after giving up a single toJake Cronenworth in the top of the seventh. His replacement,Seranthony Domínguez, gave up a double toJosh Bell that scored Cronenworth. Bell's pinch runner,José Azócar, advanced to third on a wild pitch. With two outs and two strikes on the batter,Trent Grisham, Domínguez threw another pitch in the dirt to score Azócar and give San Diego the lead. Grisham then flew out to end the top of the inning. In the top of the seventh,Bryson Stott doubled, removing Darvish from the game. He was replaced withRobert Suárez. After gettingJean Segura to fly out and striking out Brandon Marsh, Suárez intentionally walked Schwarber. With two outs, Hoskins flew out to end the inning. After Domínguez's disappointing performance in the seventh inning, he was replaced withJosé Alvarado, who walked Soto after giving up a single toJurickson Profar. Alvarado got out of the jam by gettingManny Machado to fly out and Cronenworth to ground out.

In the bottom of the eighth, with Philadelphia still trailing by a run, Realmuto singled to left field. Harper then hit a two-run home run to left field, giving the Phillies a one-run lead.^[14]Joe Davis, who was the TV play-by-play broadcaster onFS1, described the moment as "the swing of his [Harper's] life."Scott Franzke, calling the game on Phillies radio, termed the home fans' delirious reaction "bedlam at the Bank."^[15][14] After Suárez retired the next two Phillies,David Robertson came in to close for Philadelphia, and after walkingBrandon Drury andHa-seong Kim with one out, he was taken out of the game.Ranger Suárez, who started in Game 3, was his replacement. Grisham, the next batter, bunted to advance the runners to second and third but was put out at first base.Austin Nola then flew out toNick Castellanos, sending the Phillies to the World Series for the first time since2009.

After the game, Harper was named theNLCS MVP, having had a .400 batting average, five runs batted in, and two home runs, including the pennant-winning two-run homer in Game 5.

This turned out to be the last postseason game for the Padres under ownerPeter Seidler, who died at the age of 63 shortly after the2023 season. Seidler was credited for elevating the Padres to national prominence after years in the doldrums, with financial commitments in the hundreds of millions, in hopes of bringing San Diego its first sports championship.^[16]

2022 NLCS(4–1):Philadelphia Phillies beatSan Diego Padres

• 2022 American League Championship Series
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• Major League Baseball postseason schedule

• 2022 Major League Baseball season
• National League Championship Series
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