It’s a series that brings any passionate baseball fan into a trance that you can’t look away from. The Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres have savored each moment they’ve had in the Postseason and continue to salivate for more as they both creep closer to feasting on a National League pennant win.
With the series tied at one, an imperative Game 3 win would help set the tone for the remainder of the Championship Series. Someone who understood the importance of winning Game 3 was Jean Segura, who found a way to set ablaze a Philly atmosphere and become the difference maker in Friday night’s win. Segura revitalized a Phillies offense when the 32-year-old second baseman notched a go-ahead two-run RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead at Citizens Bank Park.
It has been quite a postseason for Segura, who continues to make a name for himself in the postseason. “I’m going to go there and continue enjoying the ride,” Segura said after the Game 3 victory. “I wait 11 years for the opportunity. I’m not going to go back. I’m going to do the best I can to continue to grind it, to continue to help the ball club, and bring something positive every single day. I just waited too many years for the opportunity, and I don’t want to let it go by.”
Jean Segura 2022 Postseason Statistics, San Juan, Dominican Republic
9 G, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, .285/.355/.357
Clutch Jean™️ pic.twitter.com/Qx7UjCxYqI
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 22, 2022
Segura described the postseason atmosphere as a familiar intenseness that’s felt as a ballplayer growing up in the Dominican Republic.
“The way I handle pressure since I was a little kid, I love it. I’m from the Dominican, play a lot of baseball in the backyard. It’s like where I’m from, we play way too much baseball, and there was people around, like with machete, we bat and then the games. It’s just the way we handle the pressure in Dominican Republic. Even when we play winter ball, we’ve got guys in the stands, hey, when you get out, we’re going to kill you. We’re going to do something bad to you. It’s just the way we play the game out there. Compared to here, when you come here, dude, it’s a completely different type of game. I think the pressure when you come from DR,it’s nothing.
From Segura’s RBI single, a locked-in pitching front helped drive the Phillies towards a Game 3 win as Ranger Suárez, José Alvarado, and Seranothony Domínguez managed the hill with postseason force, pushing the Padres towards the edge.
Pitching line on Suárez, Alvarado, and Domínguez:
Ranger Suárez, Pie de Cuesta, Venezuela
5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
José Alvarado, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 SO
Seranthony Domínguez, Esperanza Valverde Mao, Dominican Republic
2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
“It’s like I tell the guys before, I’m here just to pitch and to do my job,” Domínguez said after his six-out save opportunity. “I’m out of the game when they say you’re out. When I’m still in the game, I’m going to try to get people out.”
