After sweeping the Miami Marlins in a best-of-3 game series at home in the NL Wild Card, the Phillies prepared to go to Atlanta to face off against the division rival Braves. Atlanta won 104 games in the regular season and finished with one of the best slugging offenses in MLB history, tying the 2019 Minnesota Twins with 307 home runs.
The Braves’ .845 team OPS ranks 3rd of all time. Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and first basemen Matt Olson will likely finish 1st and 3rd in the MVP voting following the postseason. The 2023 NLDS was a rematch of the 2022 NLDS, in which the Phillies upset the Braves, beating them in four games with a record of 3-1.
NLDS Results:
10/7 (game 1) @ Atlanta Braves - W (3-0)
Braves’ ace Spencer Strider got the start against Ranger Suarez as Wheeler and Nola were unavailable from pitching in the Wild Card series. The game started off as the tense, low-scoring affair that was expected, although the Phillies wasted a lead-off double in the top of the 1st. In the 4th inning, Bryce Harper walked, and an overthrown pick-off attempt allowed him to get to third base.
Bryson Stott hit a clutch 2-out single to score Harper and take a 1-0 lead. Suarez was excellent through the first 3 innings and got into some trouble in the bottom of the 4th with runners on first and second and 2 outs. Rob Thomson chose to pull Suarez and bring in Jeff Hoffman, who escaped a bases-loaded jam to keep it at 1-0.
Harper hit a solo home run to right field off Strider in the top of the 6th to extend the lead to 2-0. Trea Turner made things happen in the top of the 8th, reaching on a 1-out single. He then stole second and third, and following a catcher’s interference of the smallest margins, came in to score. Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th in his former home city to get the save.
Suarez finished with 3.2 innings, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, and no runs on 1 hit. Rob Thomson’s decision to go to the bullpen early and the relievers’ execution was the story of the game. Hoffman, Dominguez, Alvarado, Kerkering, Strahm, and Kimbrel combined to throw 5.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The Phillies had 6 hits as a team, led by Bryce Harper (2 for 2 with a home run, RBI, 2 walks, and 2 runs) and Bryson Stott (2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI).
10/9 (game 2) @ Atlanta Braves - L (4-5)
Zach Wheeler took the mound in game 2 against Max Fried. Trea Turner doubled in the top of the 1st and Alec Bohm hit a single to drive him in, taking a 1-0 lead. In the top of the 3rd, JT Realmuto hit a 2-run home run to right-center field. Max Fried was taken out after 4 full innings and the Phillies pushed another run across in the top of the 5th after Castellanos stole 2nd and made it to 3rd on an error.
A sacrifice fly from Stott brought Castellanos in to score making it 4-0. The Braves responded in the bottom of the 6th on an Albies single to right field in which Acuña came around to score thanks to an error by Trea Turner receiving the ball from right field. Travis d’Arnaud hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 7th off Wheeler to make it 4-3. Hoffman came in to replace Alvarado in the bottom of the 8th and Austin Riley hit a 2-run home run on a sky high fly to left field, giving Atlanta a 5-4 lead.
In the top of the 9th, Harper led off the inning with a walk. Castellanos came up to bat with 1-out against Raisel Iglesias, and hit a deep fly to right center field. Michael Harris made an incredible leaping catch at the wall and threw the ball into the infield. Harper was racing back to first base and was thrown out by Austin Riley who wisely backed up the throw from Harris to end the game.
Wheeler was outstanding until his final inning, finishing with 6.1 innings, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits. The Phillies had 9 hits as a team, led by JT Realmuto (2 for 5 with a home run, 2 RBI, and a run) and Nick Castellanos (2 for 4 with a walk and a run).
10/11 (game 3) vs. Atlanta Braves - W (10-2)
Aaron Nola took the mound against Bryce Elder in Philadelphia for game 3. The game remained scoreless through 2 innings as Nola and Elder pitched with great efficiency. An Albies RBI single in the top of the 3rd gave Atlanta an early 1-0 lead. The Phillies blew the game open in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring 6 runs in the frame.
Castellanos led off the inning with a solo home run, Harper hit a 3-run bomb to right field, and Realmuto hit a 2-RBI double, giving the Phillies a 6-1 lead. Harper hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the 5th, this time a solo shot. Orlando Arcia hit an RBI single in the top of the 6th to make it 7-2. Trea Turner hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th to extend the score to 8-2. In the bottom of the 8th, Castellanos and Brandon Marsh went back-to-back with solo home runs to go up 10-2.
Aaron Nola went 5.2 innings with 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs on 6 hits. The Phillies had 11 hits as a team, including 6 home runs. Offensive leader included Brandon Marsh (3 for 4 with a home run, double, 2 runs, and 1 RBI), Harper (2 for 5 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI, and 2 runs), Castellanos (2 for 4 with 2 home runs, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Trea Turner (2 for 4 with a home run, walk, 2 RBI, and a run).
10/12 (game 4) vs. Atlanta Braves - W (3-1)
Ranger Suarez got the start against Spencer Strider in a potential series-clinching game 4. The game opened up as a pitcher’s duel, as it remained scoreless after the first 3 innings. Austin Riley hit a solo home run in the top of the 4th to open the scoring. Nick Castellanos responded with a solo homer of his own in the bottom half of the 4th to tie the game. In the bottom of the 5th, Trea Turner hit a solo home run to make it 2-1. Castellanos then hit his second homer of the game (4th in 2 games) in the bottom of the 6th to extend the lead to 3-1.
The Braves eventually loaded the bases with 2 outs in the top of the 7th with Kimbrel on the mound. Ronald Acuña Jr. then hit a fly ball to left-center field in the gap that Johan Rojas made an impressive catch to save what would have been a go-ahead hit for the Braves. Rob Thomson deployed his bullpen in the opposite order of what would be normal and after using Alvarado and Kimbrel early had to rely on Gregory Soto in the 8th and Matt Strahm in the 9th.
Strahm entered the game in the 9th with 2 on base and no outs, and was able to escape the jam for an impressive save, winning the game and punching the Phillies’ ticket to the NLCS. Suarez went 5 innings with 2 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 1 earned run on 3 hits. The Phillies managed to compile 10 hits in the game, led by Trea Turner (4 for 4 with a double, home run, 1 RBI, and 1 run), Nick Castellanos (3 for 3 with 2 home runs, 1 walk, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Brandon Marsh (2 for 4).
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