Padres score five runs in fifth against Phillies to tie NLCS
SAN DIEGO — Six years later, the Padres spent the night of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on a train instead of a field.
The Padres rode their train to Philadelphia Sunday night, which made its run from San Diego on the San Diego-Santa Barbara run and delivered them to the National League Championship Series.
“We have a lot of people that live in the Valley who are fans that know the teams that we beat,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “We were on a train the rest of the way, so it was a pretty neat experience.”
The Padres will play the first game of a best-of-three series against the Phillies. The series is scheduled for Thursday in Philadelphia.
The Padres, who won the NL West, 3-2, at Arizona last week, held a 5½-minute, 10-point lead with two outs in the eighth inning over the Phillies, 3½ games back with a week to go.
A day after San Diego beat the Phillies, 4-0, at home in Game 5 of their NL Division Series, the Padres played the night of the NLCS on a train.
After batting.240 with a.342 on-base percentage and.423 slugging percentage this season, the Padres were in this position because their run differential was positive and the Phillies were -3. San Diego has used a record-setting -11.8 run differential in the postseason.
The Padres will be without their shortstop and right fielder, who are on the disabled list with a fractured left hand. Second baseman Chase Headley will stay in the lineup.
San Diego’s manager, Black, didn’t start the train ride to Philadelphia because of his team’s playoff berth. He said it’s too early to start thinking about making other moves.
“We’re in a great position,” he said. “I didn’t get to see much about the Phillies, obviously, because we didn’t get to the game, but it’s a good team. We have our guys on the team. We’ll figure something out. We know we have a good team.
“We’re trying to find the best path forward.”
The Padres were trying to play the Phillies, who have their own history with the train game. In the 2006 game, when the Phillies beat the Padres in Game 3 of the
