The ultimate installment of Phillies-Braves 2023 was a bit nearer than the earlier iterations, but it surely was additionally extra of the identical, because the Phillies slugged their method to a victory and a second straight journey to the Nationwide League Championship Sequence.
No. 1 Atlanta Braves at No. 4 Philadelphia Phillies, Sport 4: Phillies 3, Braves 1 (Philadelphia wins 3-1)
Sport abstract:
The Phillies made life uncomfortable for Atlanta ace Spencer Strider from the soar, with two baserunners in every of the primary three innings. Within the center innings, Nick Castellanos walloped two solo dingers sandwiched round one from Trea Turner, and that was all of the scoring the Phillies wanted.
Over the ultimate innings, the Philly bullpen tamped down the vaunted Braves’ offense, and with the gang as loud as ever at Residents Financial institution Park, Philadelphia clinched its ticket to the subsequent spherical.
Atlanta’s solely run of the evening got here on an Austin Riley solo homer that put the Braves up 1-0 within the prime of the fourth, however they misplaced the lead within the backside half of the inning and by no means obtained it again.
Arguably the Braves’ greatest likelihood to take management of the sport got here within the prime of the seventh, when three two-out walks had Craig Kimbrel in a bases-loaded jam. However this internet gem from Philly middle fielder Johan Rojas put a fast cease to that.
Key second:
On the optimistic facet, it was Castellanos’ second homer of the evening, which made him the primary participant in MLB historical past with back-to-back multi-homer postseason video games. After hitting two of the Phillies’ six dingers on Wednesday in Sport 3, Castellanos notched the Phillies’ first and third runs with homers in Sport 4, making the distinction within the clinching victory.
On the adverse facet, the important thing second would possibly’ve been Bryce Harper’s attainable elbow harm within the prime of the eighth. With Harper catching the ball and Matt Olson working towards first base, Olson’s knee appeared to collide with Harper’s surgically repaired proper elbow, and the Phillies’ star instantly jumped away and winced in obvious ache.
After making the inning-ending play, Harper briefly went to get checked out within the clubhouse, however he returned to the dugout after which to first base for the ninth inning. Afterward, he mentioned it was solely his humorous bone, however the scenario is probably going price monitoring within the coming days.
Affect participant:
Castellanos. Sufficient mentioned.
After the sport:
Thursday noticed the ultimate act of some unusually juicy drama involving Harper, Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia and the nationwide baseball media. As you would possibly bear in mind, Arcia taunted Harper in entrance of reporters after the slugger’s game-ending baserunning mistake in Sport 2, reportedly saying, “ha-ha, atta-boy, Harper!” repeatedly.
That apparently obtained again to Harper, who stared down Arcia as he circled the bases on each of his homers within the Phillies’ blowout win in Sport 3. The Braves later objected to reporters reporting what occurred in entrance of them, with Travis d’Arnaud scolding the media and Arcia saying by an interpreter, “He wasn’t purported to warmth it.”
In the end, these complaints from the Braves simply gave the Phillies extra materials with which to taunt them after ending their season. In T-shirt type.
Phillies gamers additionally reportedly sprayed Harper with beer whereas yelling, “Atta boy, Harper!”
What’s subsequent?
The Phillies are shifting on. They’ll face the Arizona Diamondbacks in NLCS Sport 1, which begins at 8:07 p.m. ET Monday.
The Braves are completed for the yr after profitable 104 regular-season video games.