Phillies Outduel Braves in Game 1 Victory of NLDS

The Philadelphia Phillies went on the road and beat the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the NLDS last season.

They were looking for a repeat performance this year when Ranger Suarez took the mound against the Braves' ace Spencer Strider.

The 2022 game saw a high output of runs when the Phillies won 7-6.

Saturday was a different story.

Philadelphia outdueled Atlanta behind a masterclass of pitching and defense that resulted in a 3-0 Game 1 victory.

Suarez was sensational, only allowing one hit through 3 2/3 innings pitched.

Manager Rob Thomson made an eye opening decision when he pulled his lefty starter after the first hit was recorded in the fourth inning.

That strategy could have backfired when Thomson put in reliever Jeff Hoffman to get out of the jam.

The right hander walked Marcel Ozuna and loaded up the bases, before striking out Michael Harris to end the inning with a 1-0 lead.

Bryce Harper hit a home run in the sixth inning to double the Phillies' lead as the bullpen continued to hand the game off to one another.

After coming under fire late in the season for blowing leads and giving up multiple runs, Philadelphia's bullpen was lights out, holding the best offense in baseball to four hits.

Things got dicey for the relief staff in the eighth inning when rookie Orion Kerkering came out for his second frame of work.

He walked the leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr. and was quickly pulled by Thomson in favor of left hander Matt Strahm.

There were two runners on with nobody out before Strahm got Matt Olson to fly out to deep center field.

Then Trea Turner made a spectacular diving stop that resulted in an inning ending double play that saved a run.

Craig Kimbrel came in for the save and shut the door on the 3-0 victory.

It was a solid performance from basically everyone involved on the team. They did just enough to put runs on the board against Strider who found a good rhythm in the game.

Their defense was elite and the pitching staff was the story of the game.

Philadelphia will need that same level of play from all members of the team in order to advance to their second straight NLCS.

They got Game 1.

Now they'll have an off day before heading back out to try and take Game 2 on Monday.