Brandon Marsh, JT Realmuto help Phils beat Braves, reach NLCS

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies had a weekend full of viral highlights by beating the Atlanta Braves 8-3 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Saturday to advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2010.

The title-winning win included a 3-pointer by center fielder Brandon Marsh in the second inning, a home run by catcher JT Realmuto in the park in the third, and Bryce Harper in the eighth. ) counterattack. The Phillies advanced by beating Atlanta 17-4 in Games 3 and 4.

“The last 24 hours have shown our strength,” Marsh said after the win. “There’s a lot going on with this club. We just need to keep going, keep our heads down and focus on the task at hand. The last 24 hours have been a lot of fun.”

Hoskins’ home run and batting run in Game 3 was a game-changing moment, but Realmuto’s jump around the bases after knocking the ball out of the midfield wall in Game 4 could have been a game-changing moment. was the deciding factor in the series.

“I’m usually not a person who shows a lot of emotion,” Realmuto said. “When I got home, I couldn’t help it. I was so excited. Excited for this city. Excited for this team. It was one of those moments that I’ll definitely remember forever.”

Fans will remember this and they will culminate with Realmuto finishing third and heading towards him. Players gushed about how Philadelphia fans showed up in two home games after the team ended a three-week season on the road. The long road trip included a wild-card series win over St. Louis Cardinals.

“When you see the alumni coming back, they’re all talking about it, the team from ’80 and ’93, they’re talking about what the city is doing and how they’re supporting you, how hot and passionate they are, I think every We saw that last night,” Harper said. “It’s been so much fun for them to come out the last two days.”

Former Phillies Pat Burrell threw the first pitch on Saturday, and Sean Victorino did the same a day later.

Meanwhile, Harper advanced to his first league title series after signing with the Phillies before the 2019 season. The team added sluggers Kyle Schwaber and Nick Castellanos before this season, but got off to a slow start in 2022, leading to a management change. Backup coach Rob Thomson took over and things started to look up.

“We’ve had our ups and downs this season, like any other club,” Thomson said. “But they knew they would get out of it at some point and start winning again. We did that.

“Sometimes you have to make some adjustments to them, whether it’s taking them out of a role or giving them a day off, or whatever.

Despite being eliminated in Game 2, the Phillies scored 24 points in the four-game series.

Marsh’s home run came from Warriors starter Charlie Morton, who was hit in the elbow by Alec Bohm’s bat shortly after.

Morton will eventually be out of the game, continuing a trend of Atlanta starters going under par. The outing with Max Fried and Spencer Strider was also bad.

As the Warriors tried to work things out on the mound, the Phillies had the upper hand.

“It’s really cool that everyone in the room is coming together for a common goal,” said left fielder Kyle Schwaber.

Schwaber said one of the reasons he signed with Philly: He knew they had a chance to win. Castellanos felt the same way—and so did Harper. He went 8-of-16 in the series.

“Think that’s always been our goal to get to where we are now,” Harper said. “But to take it a step further. This is the second step we’ve gone through. The first step is the wild card. This is the second step, (now) we have two more.”

The Phillies rotation should be set up nicely for the NLCS starting Tuesday. Both Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will be well rested before hitting base again.

“We still have a long way to go, but we’re going to sink in today,” Nora said. “The team played well in this series.”

Philadelphia could get a boost in their bullpen as close to David Robertson says he’s almost recovering from a calf injury he suffered during the wild-card series celebration.

The Phillies entered baseball’s Final Four as healthy and confident as they have all season.

“The sweetest thing in all of this is that unless you’re here every day, no one really knows what’s going on with this team,” Schwaber said. “Seeing the whole team come together gave me goosebumps.”

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