The San Diego Padres are not going to the World Series and both the San Diego Wave and San Diego Loyal were eliminated from last weekend’s soccer playoffs.
The Padres supplied local baseball fans with a two-deep excursion into the hallowed MLB playoffs with an overload of memorable moments. But the Friars ultimately could not overcome the Philadelphia Phillies, who captured the National League Championship Series four games to one.
Petco Park served as the backdrop for the opening two games in the best-of-seven series. The Phils won Game 1 by a score of 2-0 on Oct. 18 while the Pads evened the series with an 8-5 win in Game 2 on Oct. 19.
The series switched back to the City of Brotherly Love for the next three games and the hosts swept all three hotly contested games to sweep the Pads out of the playoffs.
The Phillies won Game 3 by a score of 4-2 on Oct. 21. The series turned in Game 4, a wild 10-6 Philadelphia win on Oct. 22, as the game featured multiple lead changes.
The Phillies wrapped up a berth in the World Series against the American League champion Houston Astros with a 4-3 win on Sunday.
Brandon Drury had three RBI for the hosts in Game 2 while Josh Bell drove in two runs. Drury and Juan Soto both collected two RBI in Game 4.
El Cajon native Joe Musgrove took the loss in Game 3 Getting their kicks
The Wave had set all kinds of records — both on the field and in the stands — during their inaugural season. But it came to an end three minutes into stoppage time in Sunday’s semifinal match, a 2-1 victory for the host Portland Thorns.
Taylor Kornieck put the Wave up early, 1-0, in the eighth minute on a header off a pass from Alex Morgan. Rocky Rodriguez netted the equalizer for Portland in the 20th minute and the games remained knotted at a goal apiece until Crystal Dunn scored the game-winning goal to end the Wave’s otherwise stellar season.
The Thorns will take on the Kansas City Current in Saturday’s NWSL championship game from Washington, D.C. (5 p.m. PT on the CBS Television Network).
After securing its first home playoff match in franchise history, the Loyal bowed out of the USL Championship playoffs with a 3-0 loss to the Oakland Roots on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd at Torero Stadium.
It was fun while it lasted.
Icing on the cake
While the baseball and soccer playoffs are finished for the local pro teams, the San Diego Gulls faced off their home schedule for the 2022-23 American Hockey League season last Friday at Pechanga Arena with a 2-1 loss to the Ontario Reign in front of 9,389 fans.
It was a classic battle between goaltenders — Lukas Dostal for the Gulls and Pheonix Copley for the Reign — as the game progressed scoreless into the third period between the Southern
California arch-rivals.
The contest featured a heart pounding ending after Anaheim native Rocco Grimaldi scored for the Gulls with 3:46 remaining. The hosts piled up 45 shots in the setback.
“I’ll tell you what, we ran into a hell of a goalie,” Gulls coach Roy Sommer said in regard to Copley, who made 44 saves. “The people that came tonight got to witness a goaltending battle. We hit a couple of posts. It wasn’t for a lack of effort or the way we played. Hell of an entertaining hockey game, I’ll tell you that. I would say that if we play like that, we’re going to win a hell of a lot more than we’re going to lose.”
