ONE STEP CLOSER
Phillies close out Braves to advance to first NLCS since 2010
The Phillies’ Brandon Marsh stepped up to the plate in the second inning with runners on first and third and one out on Saturday in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Braves. He had yet to record a hit in the series, but found other ways to contribute.
A day earlier, in Game 3, he took a fourpitch walk from Braves starter Spencer Strider to start a game-winning, six-run rally. On Saturday, he took six pitches from Charlie Morton and launched an 83.4 mph curveball into the right-center field seats. That gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead and got them started on their way to an 8-3 victory over the Braves to advance to their first National League Championship Series since 2010.
Game 1 is Tuesday against the winner of the other NLDS between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. San Diego leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 at 9:37 p.m. Saturday.
The ballpark erupted the second Marsh made contact. His teammates, lined up along the top step of the dugout, began slapping the railing with their hands in celebration. He jogged down the dugout steps to join his teammates, but Bryson Stott pushed him back up. Marsh took off his helmet, raised it over his head to salute the cheering fans.
Marsh’s contribution was welcome, but not expected. He hadn’t gotten any at-bats in Game 1, had one at-bat in Game 2 (and struck out), and went hitless in Game 3. But if we’ve learned anything from the 2022 Phillies, it’s that meaningful contributions can come from the unlikeliest of places.
Saturday’s win put that premise to the test and proved it correct. Getting 27 outs was not going to be easy without the ability to start Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler, the Phillies’ most reliable starting pitchers, but Noah Syndergaard stepped up. In his first postseason appearance since 2016, he gave the Phillies three innings, allowing one hit — a solo home run to Orlando Arcia — and no walks with three strikeouts.
Marsh went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. J.T. Realmuto hit what would be a double or a triple for a slower runner and turned it into an insidethe-park home run in the third inning. Reliever Andrew Bellatti came in after Syndergaard in the fourth inning, gave up another solo home run, and struck out Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley to stop the damage.
Brad Hand and Zach Eflin collectively gave the Phillies 2⅓ scoreless innings, and Jose Alvarado, like Syndergaard, allowed just one hit — a home run — and retired the rest.
The Phillies got contributions from their heavy hitters — Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Realmuto, who all had RBI singles, and Harper hit a solo home run in the eighth inning — but the underbelly of this win was their unsung heroes.
The Bellatti’s, the Alvardos’s, the Stott’s have carried this Phillies this season. It was what carried them when Harper was hit by a Blake Snell fastball on June 25 and when Jean Segura was placed on the injured list on June 1 with a right index finger fracture. It carried them through stints on the injured list for Wheeler and Eflin. And on Saturday, it carried them yet again.
A few minutes before game time, an acapella group from the University of Pennsylvania walked onto the field to sing the national anthem. Their microphones weren’t working, so the crowd — 45,660 fans, a full house — sang along with them until the very end. Much like this Phillies season, making it through that song wasn’t easy, but thanks to everyone, those 45,660 unsung heroes who sang along, they made it through. And who knows where this journey will take them next?