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On June 3, the Phillies were seven games under .500 (23-29), and team brass decided to fire manager Joe Girardi.
Philadelphia's odds weren't astronomical on that day, but with a heavily injured team and a fresh skipper they were long.
SportsBetting.ag had the Phils with 22-1 odds to take home an NL Pennant on June 3, which ranked eighth out of the 15 teams. Their World Series odds were a whopping 45-1.
Underdogs in all three of their postseason series, the Phillies find themselves in a familiar position as SportsBetting.ag opened World Series odds for both scenarios.
The Phillies have now clinched their first pennant since 2009 after defeating the Padres 4-3 in Game 5 on Sunday.
In the top of the seventh, a downpour looked to ruin things for Philadelphia when the Padres brought the go-ahead run around on a series of wild pitches by Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez.
But Bryce Harper responded the following inning by hitting a homer off San Diego setup man Robert Suarez.
A Padres win would have meant the series returning to San Diego for Game 6 and potentially Game 7.
For Phillies fans, the excitement in the air was palatable.
“It was like watching the person you love most diffuse a bomb,” said fan Gary Clemson, speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
And then, on a shallow pop-up, the Fightins clinched a berth.
“It’s the happiest day of our lives,” Clemson said.
Philadelphia will face the red hot Houston Astros in this year's World Series.
Houston swept the New York Yankees in four games to advance to the World Series for the fourth time in six years.
"It's a long road to get here," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "There's a lot that happens in the months to get here from spring training. It means that we persevered and we stayed together, and we made the necessary trades when we had to try to strengthen certain parts of our team."
World Series Odds
Phillies +125
Astros -190
This article was originally published October 23, 2022 and updated on October 24, 2022 at 8:50 am ET.
- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
