Fiery Phils oust champs

Marsh, Realmuto, Harper go deep, bury Braves

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper stood as still in the clubhouse as he does when he admires a home run and accepted the beer bath from bottles his Phillies teammates took delight in pouring on him.

The Las Vegas native’s goggles provided no defense for the waterfall of booze streaming down his cheeks.

“It’s so cold! But it’s so good!” slugger Rhys Hoskins barked in Harper’s face.

Then it wastime for the Phillies to sing. “I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali!” they shouted in unison to the Notorious B.I.G. classic.

The next stop for the Fightins is a trip West to the National League Championship Series, as a team that looked lost in May looks like a World Series contender.

Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer, and J.T. Realmuto lined an inside-the-park home run that sent Philadelphia bolting headfirst into the NLCS for the first time since 2010 with an 8-3 win over Atlanta on Saturday.

Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an inside-the-parker in postseason history, and Harper punctuated the romp with a homer that helped the Phillies take the NL Division Series 3-1 against the World Series champion Braves.

Philadelphia will face either San Diego or the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The Padres led 2-1 over the Dodgers going into Game 4 of the NLDS matchup late Saturday.

Atlanta’s loss meant MLB hasn’t had a repeat champ since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.

Philadelphia placed third in the NL East at 87-75, 14 games behind the 101-win Braves this season, but is playing like a contender under manager Rob Thomson. Thomson, who had been a career coach for the Yankees and Phillies, transformed a team well out of contention at 23-29 when they fired Joe Girardi on June 3.

After a 2-0 sweep of NL Central champion St. Louis in MLB’S new wild-card round, the Phillies used a dose of Marsh Madness to keep the party rolling.

Heck, call it Mash Madness, as the Phillies turned Citizens Bank Park into a cozy home bandbox for a second straight game — and with another fired-up, towel-waving crowd along for every long ball.

“I feel like I’m with them,” Harper said. “I feel like they’re with us each day. I feel like I’m in handin-hand with them. That’s all they want to see. They just want you to play hard. That’s it. They want you to go out there and bust your (rear) each day. No excuses.”

Braves starter Charlie Morton was hit on his pitching elbow by Alec Bohm’s single traveling 71.9 mph to lead off the second inning. After being checked, Morton allowed a single to Jean Segura and hung a 2-and-2 curveball that No. 9 hitter Marsh launched deep into the right-field seats for a 3-0 lead.

The 24-year-old Marsh is known as much for his stringy hair and ZZ Top-esque beard as he is for being one of the Phillies’ top young players. Marsh, who also doubled in the fourth, was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in August just ahead of this season’s trade deadline. Phillies president Dave Dombrowski swung another deadline deal with the Angels that got them Game 4 starter Noah Syndergaard.

Matt Rourke The Associated Press Jean Segura celebrates with Phillies teammate J.T. Realmuto after scoring during the sixth inning of Philadelphia’s 8-3 victory over the Braves on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Realmuto hit an inside-the-park homer and an RBI single.