In the top of the second inning in Game 2 of the NLCS, the Phillies put up a four spot. Their friends were putting the ball in play, the Padres defense and the sun.
Allow me to explain this bizarre inning in what actually turned out to be an 8-5 Phillies loss.
In simply looking at the box score, you'll find the Phillies gathering four runs on five hits. One of the hits was a double. The inclination might be to blame Padres pitcher Blake Snell, but doing so would lack full context.
Bryce Harper led off the inning with a single. It wasn't hit hard (71.9 mph), but was a nicely-placed blooper to left. You have to credit Harper for shortening up with two strikes and putting the ball in play. It found a home and sparked a rally. Nick Castellanos followed with a well-placed single to right that only clocked in at 60.9 mph, but, again, he put the ball in play with two strikes. The Phillies were threatening and Snell was struggling.
Then Alec Bohm singled (84.9 mph) to right to score Harper and Castellanos ended up on third. Padres right fielder Juan Soto tried to cut Castellanos down at third, but the ball bounded away, allowing Bohm to advance to second.
After a strikeout, Matt Vierling lofted a routine fly into right, but Soto found himself blinded by the sun and the ball dropped in, sending Vierling scurrying to second.
With both runners tagging up, Bohm was only able to get to third despite this being ruled a double. Also, it's a discussion for a different day, but it's pretty tough luck for the pitcher to get charged with an allowed double on this.
Edmundo Sosa followed with another single to make it 3-0 Phillies. There were now runners on first and third with one out.
Kyle Schwarber then hit a grounder to first base (only 82.8 mph; 95 is considered "hard" contact). It could have been an inning-ending double play, but Padres first baseman Brandon Drury was only able to knock it down and get the out at first instead of turning two. A double play would've prevented the fourth run from scoring, but just getting the out at first did not: 4-0 Phillies.
This is how the Phillies took a big early lead and Blake Snell was charged with four earned runs on five hits in one inning even though he really wasn't even all that bad. There's always context here. Credit the Phillies for putting the ball in play and the Padres' defense definitely let Snell down. The rest was just funky circumstance. That's the way it goes sometimes.
The Padres responded with back-to-back homers in the bottom of the second, and then Soto helped them break things open in the fifth. The Padres plated five runs that inning, including an RBI double from their right fielder, who had no trouble seeing the ball in the batter's box.
