The Atlanta Braves have played 16 playoff games in 2021 and have never faced elimination. In 2022, they have played four games and are going home for the winter.
Philadelphia The Phillies, the No. 6 seed in the NL’s first-ever full season with six seeds in the playoffs, beat the defending champs 8-3 in Game 4 on Saturday to a 3- Win the top five 1 series in the NLDS.
Here’s what happened at the raucous Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.
Swamp, Realmuto Sparks Offensive
The Phillies had base runners in the first and third innings of the first inning before recording the out, but Warriors starter Charlie Morton had two strikeouts and a harmless flyout to end the threat. In Game 2, Morton’s Alec Bohm single — we’ll get to that later — Jean Segura’s single means the Phillies have base runners in the corner again. This time, they made sure to get the runner home by putting the bat on the ball. Brandon Marsh, take it away.
The 3-pointer sent Park into a frenzy.
The next game the Phillies scored was historic. JT Realmuto hits a home run in the park (full story here), the Phillies’ first in-park home run in playoff history and the first home run by a receiver in playoff history.
As the late great Mel Allen would say, “How about that?”
Realmuto will add an RBI single in the sixth inning — it’s an infield single, so he’s been flashing those wheels — at the rally where the Phillies drove the Warriors away. The Phillies were up just 4-2 before that half, but the Phillies’ two-out 3-pointer essentially froze it. Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper also had RBI singles, and Harper doubled with a homer in the eighth inning.
Segura also deserves a mention, as he hit two for two on the 8th hole.
Morton leaves with injury after comeback
Remember when I said above that we’re going back to Morton? Plus, remember last year when he got hit in a straight line in Game 1 of the World Series? He stayed in the game in both cases before having to be removed. It turned out to be a fractured fibula in the World Series. This time, his elbow appears to be hit by the pad (full story here).
Remember, Morton’s Segura single and Marsh homer came after he was hit by a straight drive. He did finish the second inning, then came back in the third, but after a few warm-up throws, he was basically out of the game.
Morton eventually allowed four hit 3s in two innings.
Syndergaard, the bullpen puts it together
Since returning from the Angels at the trade deadline, Noah Sindegaard has been mediocre at best. He also got relief in Game 2, so when the Phillies pick him as the starter in Game 4, it might give some some headaches. However, the plan going into the game was to let Syndergard pass the Warriors’ lineup just once.
That’s what he did. In three innings, he allowed just one solo homer (one run at a hit) while striking out simultaneously, all on 35 pitches. Basically, he did his job and left with the Phillies. Now they need six more innings.
Andrew Bellatti won the inning, giving up a single homer and avoiding a crash. Veteran southpaw Brad Hand earned a scoreless fifth while striking out. José Alvarado had two strikeouts for a 1-2-3 run in the sixth inning, then held on and allowed a single homer before getting the first two outs in the seventh. Former starter Zach Evelyn followed with a clean 1 1/3 inning with three strikeouts. In ninth place is Seranthony DomÃnguez.
Note that the Warriors’ run is a solo home run. This is the best power-hitting team in the league all season. The Phillies’ pitchers made sure to keep the base open for much of the game, meaning all damage was limited.
next
For the Phillies, they will continue to wait for other NLDS winners. Maybe the Padres won in Game 4, or they waited for the Dodgers or the Padres after Game 5. Regardless, Games 1 and 2 will be in Southern California, and then the Phillies will be greeted by heroes at Citizens Bank Park. Boy, it wobbled in games 3 and 4 of this series.
The Phillies’ journey has been amazing. They are 21-29 to May. They fired their manager. They lost 2021 MVP Bryce Harper to a fractured thumb in late June. They had only three wins above .500 until late July before their streak. They lost 10 of their 13 games at some point in late September and had to fight until the regular season was almost over in order to make the playoffs. They trailed 2-0 in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the wild-card series. Now they are participating in the NLCS for the first time since 2010.
The Warriors, on the other hand, have one of the greatest playoffs in regular season history. After the calendar turned to June, they won 78-34. They beat the Mets to win the NL East despite facing a 10 1/2 game deficit. Now, the defending champ gets a glimpse of a fickle postseason baseball mistress. They won 88 games and the World Series last year. This year, they won 101 games but not a single playoff series.