Final: Phillies 8, Braves 3
The Atlanta Braves won the National League East with 101 wins, the same amount that landed the New York Mets a trip to the playoffs as the senior circuit’s top Wild Card representative. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies snuck in as the final Wild Card team, with 87 wins.
But, as the old sports radio cliche goes, get into the tournament and anything can happen.
The Mets were upset by the San Diego Padres in the first round. And after a first-round bye, the defending World Series Champion Braves were knocked off in four games by the team appropriately nicknamed The Fightins’.
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After stranding runners on the corners in the first inning, Brandon Marsh — one of the major trade deadline pickups by Dave Dombrowski — delivered a three-run home run in the home half of the second:
To the credit of the Braves, they got a run back in the bottom of the third inning, with Orlando Arcia hit a ball 99.4 mph over the left field wall against Noah Syndergaard:
J.T. Realmuto led off the bottom of the third inning by hitting a ball off the left-center field wall that Michael Harris II wasn’t able to get to. The ball kicked away, and without any help from right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., Realmuto was able to leg out an inside-the-park home run:
According to The Athletic‘s Jayson Stark, it was the first time that a catcher has ever hit an inside-the-park home run in a playoff game.
It wasn’t, however, the first inside-the-park home run that Realmuto has ever hit, as he hit one at Citizens Bank Park while playing for the Miami Marlins in 2017. In fact, it was hit to an almost identical part of the stadium:
Matt Olson punched back in the top of the fourth inning with his second home run of the series, this one a solo shot:
Rhys Hoskins came through with a two-out single that plated Jean Segura in the bottom of the sixth inning, while also advancing Kyle Schwarber to third base.
Realmuto and Bryce Harper both kept the line moving with singles of their own, increasing the lead to 7-3:
Back for his second inning of work in the top of the seventh, José Avarado was greeted with a home run by former Phillies farmhand Travis d’Arnaud, who had an excellent series for the Braves:
That was it for the Braves offense, though. Alvarado, Zach Eflin and Seranthony DomÃnguez combined to get the final nine outs of the game, while Harper added a final exclamation point with an opposite-field home run in the bottom of the eighth inning:
For the first time since 2010, the Phillies are headed to the NLCS.
The Phillies will now await the winner of the other NLDS series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Game 4 of that series is set to get underway at 9:37 p.m. ET tonight.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
- Charlie Morton entered the game with a 5-0 record and a 0.73 ERA in five career postseason elimination games. But Saturday, he allowed four hits and three runs in just two innings. The 38-year-old came out to start the third inning, but ultimately left with an injury before the frame started.
- Noah Syndergaard did allow a home run, but was a pretty effective opener, allowing just the one hit and run over three innings. The 30-year-old righty struck out three batters, including two of Acuña.
Ticket IQÂ Next Game
- NLCS Game 1 vs. winner of Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres series on Tuesday, Oct. 20
- Dodger Stadium or Petco Park
- TV: FOX or FS1
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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