The parallel is perfect.
With a win on Saturday in Game 5 over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadelphia Phillies can now clinch their second consecutive National League pennant on the one-year anniversary of Bryce Harper’s “Bedlam at the Bank” game-winning home run in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS.
“Amazing. There’s been a lot of similarities,” Rob Thomson said before the game. “But that doesn’t mean we won today. We still have to win.”
It was the biggest home run in the 20-year history of Citizens Bank Park and likely the most clutch home run in Phillies history.
With J.T. Realmuto on first with nobody out, Harper stepped to the plate against Padres right-handed reliever Robert Suarez.
He fell behind on a foul tip, took a ball, fouled off three straight pitches and laid off an incredible changeup from Suárez to even the count.
On the next pitch, Harper launched a 99 mph fastball the other way to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead and send Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.
Fox broadcaster Joe Davis called it the “swing of his life,” but with the way Harper has performed this postseason, it wouldn’t be surprising if he takes yet another career-defining swing in the next couple weeks.
Harper is slashing .343/.511/.771 with a 1.282 OPS in 11 postseason games for the Phillies in 2023. Since the start of the Division Series against the Braves, Harper’s slash line is .379/.539/.897 with five home runs, eight RBIs and 10 walks in 39 plate appearances.
Opposing pitchers are throwing around him, but he’s still managing to crush mistake pitches.
When asked about the lack of pitches to hit after Saturday’s game against the D-Backs, Harper said that his swing did not feel good in the days leading up to Game 5.
“I just have to stay ready and be ready,” Harper said. “You know, take advantage of the miss and not swing at the balls. It’s something I just have to do. I have to keep my routine and my swing the same. I felt kind of wobbly the last two days. Just swing didn’t feel too good, but felt good today, and ride that momentum into tomorrow.”
If the Phillies wrap up the series, Harper has a chance to be named NLCS MVP in back-to-back years. Kyle Schwarber, however, is the frontrunner for the award. He is 7-for-17 with five home runs (all solo shots) and has an insane 1.353 slugging percentage in the series. He’s one of just seven players in postseason history to hit at least five home runs in a single series.
Zack Wheeler also has a really good case for the award. He struck out 16 batters while allowing only three runs in 13 innings across two starts in the series for the Phillies. The team desperately needed length out of Wheeler in Game 5 with a taxed bullpen and he delivered. That’s pretty valuable.
Houston’s Justin Verlander (2017) is the last pitcher to win an LCS MVP award.
It’s an award that really doesn’t matter in the end, but it’s always fun to wonder who is going to come up big and how it’s going to happen.
Game 6 of the 2023 National League Championship Series will begin at 5:07 p.m. EDT thanks to the Rangers’ win over the Astros on Sunday night to force a Game 7 in the ALCS.
The Phillies can tie the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals for the most National League pennants in the 21st century with four.
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