Philadelphia Phillies Stun the Braves as they Mash Their Way to NLCS Berth
It's like that Paul Rudd gif.
"Hey, Look at us, who would've thought?"
"Not me."
The parallel between that gif and the Philadelphia Phillies right now is uncanny.
Philadelphia started this season 21-29, fired a manager, lost the reigning NL MVP to injury for all of July and nearly all of August, and faltered to the finish line.
Now they are NLCS bound. The Phillies are perhaps the most feared team in the postseason, especially after Saturday's NLDS Game 4 victory.
Noah Syndergaard was tapped to be the Game 4 starter, the game that could clinch the series at home.
He was asked before the game by manager Rob Thomson to give them three good innings. After a season that was full of ebbs and flows, the righty known as "Thor" delivered.
His lone hit allowed on the afternoon was a solo shot from Atlanta Braves second baseman Orlando Arcia. Otherwise, Syndergaard was impressive in the game that mattered most.
But, he wasn't asked to do it alone. His offense spotted him three runs in the second inning.
Third baseman Alec Bohm led off the inning with a single, which was followed by another from second baseman Jean Segura.
What happened next was arguably the play of the game.
Center fielder Brandon Marsh stepped up to the plate and crushed his first career postseason home run, a three-run shot that gave Philadelphia a lead it would never relinquish.
"You can go on and on about each guy," Bryce Harper said. "But we're all a team. We're all a group. We all know that if one guy doesn't get it done, the next guy will. Just like [Brandon Marsh] today. Who would have thought it, right, at the All-Star break that we get Brandon Marsh and he comes over here and hits a three-run shot? It's incredible. It's incredible."
For the next six innings, the Phillies bullpen pitched perhaps their most impressive game of the entire 2022 season.
Andrew Bellatti, Brad Hand, José Alvarado, Zach Eflin, and Seranthony Domínguez combined to throw 6.0 innings and allowed just two runs on three hits.
Against this Braves lineup, only one word is appropriate:
Dominant.
In one of the quirkiest, yet most electric plays on the afternoon, catcher J.T. Realmuto's hit inside-the-park home run.
With one out, Realmuto drilled a ball that caromed off the center field wall with enough force that it allowed him to round all of the bases. The Braves never even made a throw home.
Realmuto showed off his wheels, becoming the first catcher to record an inside-the-park home run in the postseason. Ever.
Even he didn't know how to feel about it when asked if it was hard to grasp.
"It is a little. It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Realmuto. "I'm sure not a lot of catchers hit inside-the-park homers, and I'm sure it's harder in the postseason. Like I said, it was a special moment that I'll definitely cherish forever."
Philadelphia added three more runs to the board in the sixth inning. Segura again singled to start the chain reaction. Kyle Schwarber was then hit by a pitch. Rhys Hoskins, Realmuto, and Harper all singled, all with two outs, and all of a sudden it was 7-2.
The Phillies created their own momentum and stuck with their strategy, just passing the baton. Now they've passed it all the way to the NLCS.
Finally, just when you thought the offensively pummeling couldn't get any worse for Atlanta, Bryce Harper, the $330 million man, launched a solo shot to left field.
It was vindication for anything he or this team have left on the field after each season since his arrival in 2019.
It was an insurance run the Phillies didn't "need" but it was one of the loudest of this postseason.
As always, even after one of the biggest games and biggest moments this franchise has seen in over a decade, Harper still credits the fans.
"It's easy when they're that good," said Harper. "Being able to come into a town that I feel like I'm with them. I feel like they're with us each day. I feel I'm hand in hand with them. The same thing with -- vice versa.
"When you want to play hard, when you want to be in a city, when you want to be a factor in a city, that's all they want to see, they just want you to play hard. That's it. They want you to go out there bust your ass each day. No excuses, good or bad. They don't care. They just want you to keep doing it."
The Phillies have kept doing that. Now they will board a plane for California as they vie for a World Series berth.
Who would have thought?
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