Phillies dethrone Braves in Game 4, advance to NLCS
Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer and J.T. Realmuto lined an insidethe-park home run that sent the Philadelphia Phillies bolting headfirst into the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2010 with an 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 Saturday.
Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an inside-the-parker in postseason history and Bryce Harper punctuated the romp with a clinching home run that helped the Phillies take the NL Division Series 3-1 against the World Series champion Braves.
The Phillies will face either San Diego or the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The Padres held a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers going into Game 4 of the NLDS matchup Saturday night.
Atlanta’s loss meant Major League Baseball hasn’t had a repeat champ since the New
York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.
Philadelphia finished third in the NL East, 14 games behind the 101-win Braves this season, but now is hitting on all cylinders under manager Rob Thomson. He took over for the fired Joe Girardi and transformed a team that was 22-29 in early June.
And the Phillies used a dose of Marsh Madness to keep the party rolling in October.
Braves starter Charlie Morton was hit on his pitching elbow by Alec Bohm’s single traveling 71.9 mph to lead off the inning. After being checked, Morton allowed a single to Jean Segura and hung a 2-2 curveball that the 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 Topesque beard as he is for being one of the top young players on the Phillies. Marsh, who also doubled in the fourth, was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in August just ahead of this season’s trade deadline.
LATE FRIDAY
● Guardians 4, Yankees 2 (10): Cleveland’s José Ramírez hustled to reach third base leading off the 10th inning with popup that dropped in left field, 200 feet from home plate. Oscar Gonzalez drove him in with the tiebreaking run on an even shorter oppositefield flare to right, then scored on Josh Naylor’s double, the only hard-hit ball of the inning.
Winner Emmanuel Clase pitched 2 1⁄3 innings, his most in the major leagues, and combined with Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak for 4 1⁄3 innings of one-hit relief. Cleveland, 29th among the 30 big league teams in home runs, stopped a six-game postseason losing streak to the Yankees, Game 3 was at Cleveland on Saturday night.
● Padres 2, Dodgers 1:
Blake Snell pitched fivehit ball into the sixth inning and Trent Grisham homered at a festive Petco Park, helping San Diego top Los Angeles for a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.
● Phillies 9, Braves 1:
Rhys Hoskins burst out of his postseason malaise with a three-run homer and spiked his bat in triumph and Bryce Harper hit a two-run shot that sent host Philadelphia over Atlanta in Game 3 of the NL Division Series.