PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies had a weekend full of viral moments as they advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 2010 by beating the Atlanta Braves 8-3 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Saturday.
The eventual victory featured a three-run blast by center fielder Brandon Marsh in the second inning, an inside-the-park home run by catcher JT Realmuto in the third and an opposite-field shot by Bryce Harper in the eighth. The Phillies outscored Atlanta 17-4 in Games 3 and 4 to advance.
“The last 24 hours show what we’re made of,” Marsh said after the win. “There’s a lot of good things going on with this ball club. We just have to keep at it, keep our heads down and focus on the task at hand. The last 24 hours have been a lot of fun.”
Hoskins’ home run and spike in Game 3 were game-changing moments, but Realmuto’s sweep of the bases in Game 4, after hitting the ball off the center field wall, might be the series that would define
2 Related
“I’m not usually a guy who shows a lot of emotion,” Realmuto said. “When I walked into the house, I couldn’t help myself. I was so excited. Excited for this city. Excited for this team. It was one of those moments that I’ll remember forever.”
Fans will remember it as well as it came to a crescendo when Realmuto made third down and headed to it. The players said how the Philly faithful showed up for both home games after the team finished the season on the road for three weeks. The long road trip included a wild card series win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“When you see the alumni come back and they’re all talking about it, about the ’80 team and the ’93 team, they talk about what this city does and how they’re behind you and the fire and how passionate they are, I think every night . we see that,” Harper said. “For them to go out the last two days is a lot of fun.”
Former Philly Pat Burrell threw out the first pitch Saturday, a day after Shane Victorino did the same.
JT Realmuto on becoming the first catcher to hit a hitter inside the park in postseason history and helping the Phillies reach the NLCS: “It was one of those moments that I’ll definitely remember forever.” Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Harper advanced to his first Major League Championship Series after signing with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season. The team added shortstops Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos before this season, but got off to a slow start in 2022 and led to a managerial change. Bench coach Rob Thomson took over and things began to turn around.
“We’ve had our ups and downs during the season, just like any other club,” Thomson said. “But they knew they were going to come out of it at some point and start winning again. And we did.
“Sometimes you have to reset them a little bit, whether it’s to get them out of a certain role or give them a day off or whatever.
The Phillies scored 24 runs in the four-game series despite being shut out in Game 2.
Marsh’s home run came off Braves starter Charlie Morton, shortly after he was hit in the elbow by a line drive off the bat of Alec Bohm.
Morton would eventually exit the game continuing a trend of underperforming Atlanta starters. Both Max Fried and Spencer Strider also had poor outings.
As the Braves tried to figure things out on the mound, the Phillies took advantage.
“It’s really cool that everyone in the room is coming together with that common goal,” left fielder Kyle Schwarber said.
Schwarber said he signed with Philadelphia for one reason: He knew they had a chance to win. Castellanos echoed the same sentiments, as did Harper. He was 8 for 16 in the series.
“You think that’s always been the goal, to get to where we are now,” Harper said. “But to go beyond that. This is the second step of what we’ve been through. The first step is the wild card. This is the second step and (now) we have two more.”
The Phillies’ rotation should be set up nicely for the NLCS starting Tuesday. Both Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will be fully rested before taking the mound again.
“We still have a long way to go, but we’re going to get soaked today,” Nola said. “The team played really well this series.”
Philadelphia could get a boost in its bullpen as closer David Robertson says he’s almost back from a calf injury he suffered while celebrating the wild-card series.
The Phillies are as healthy and confident as they have been all season entering baseball’s Final Four.
“The sweetest thing about all of this is nobody knows what this team has been through unless you were here every day,” Schwarber said. “Seeing this whole team come together gives me goosebumps.”