The San Diego Padres have evened the National League Championship Series with Philadelphia Phillies after winning Game 2, 8-5. During the ninth inning, Padres closer Josh Hader struck out the side to close the door on a Phillies comeback. In doing so, Hader made MLB playoff history.

It was Hader's eighth consecutive batter that he has struck out this postseason. That is the most in playoff baseball history.

It was hard to imagine this moment was possible when Hader first arrived in San Diego. His first couple of weeks as a member of the Padres, Hader could hardly get an out. He was blown up a number of times. At one point, he had an ERA over 25 with San Diego and over six on the season.

Padres manager Bob Melvin took closing duties from him for a bit. That appeared to have worked wonders for the All-Star closer. Over the final couple weeks of the regular season, Hader began looking more like himself. Now, he is as dialed in as ever before.

The Padres were in serious trouble Wednesday after the Phillies jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Brandon Drury and Josh Bell got momentum back on their side with solo home runs. Then San Diego posted a five-run inning and turned the ball over to their bullpen.

The Padres bullpen has been as dominant as any in baseball this postseason. Luis Garcia, Robert Suarez and Nick Martinez have all been great. But no one has looked as dominant as Josh Hader. Melvin now has the luxury of shortening the game, similar to the 2016 Kansas City Royals.