The Phillies walked into Chase Field on Wednesday’s workout day with hopes of finishing off the NLCS in that same venue later in the week.
Consider those hopes dashed. Whoever punches it, a World Series ticket will be punched in Philadelphia.
The Phillies were riding quite the high to start the week, and after two straight gut-punch losses to the Diamondbacks, they’re in by far their low point of the 2023 postseason.
It evens out to a straightforward formula the rest of the way.
“Now it’s a best-of-three series,” Nick Castellanos told reporters, including Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo, after a brutal Game 4 on Friday. “And we have home-field advantage.”
It’s a glass-half-full way of looking at things for a Phillies team suddenly in dicey territory, after the two losing efforts also depleted their bullpen ahead of a crucial Game 5. But it’s on brand for Castellanos, who seems to turn the page after tough losses even faster than his teammates can get into the clubhouse to say they’ve done the same.
Besides, his sentiment is not untrue. They’d play two of the remaining three NLCS games in front of their home crowd at Citizens Bank Park, which has seen the Phillies go 11-0 the past two postseasons against opponents not playing in their fourth World Series of the past seven years.
That doesn’t make Game 5 any less of a must-win. The Phillies, and their fans, don’t need to go back a full year to be reminded how crushing a Game 5 loss can be in a 2-2 best-of-seven series. To deliver that crushing blow to the D-Backs on Saturday, they have a lot to get right — and not much time to get it right.
The first two games of the NLCS looked like the Phillies and D-Backs were simply on different levels. Neither team has played particularly outstanding in the two games since — but the Phillies have handed a couple games over instead of effectively putting the series away.
Does that — the 2-0 lead, and letting the Diamondbacks tie a series that could’ve been all but wrapped up by Friday night — give the Phillies added pressure in the new best-of-three?
“I think,” Castellanos said when asked the same, “that I just look at it as, now it’s a best-of-three series, and we have home-field advantage, and we have Wheeler and Nola lined up.”
That’s where any regroup starts: the Phillies’ starting pitching, and specifically, Zack Wheeler. The Phillies need him to be really, really good on Saturday — no, better — and outpitch Arizona ace Zac Gallen like he did in Game 1. They’ll head home to friendlier confines afterward regardless, but a loss in Game 5 would put them in an awfully tough position when they do, just as a win would do the opposite.
“We wish we could’ve obviously changed the last couple games,” Trea Turner said postgame. “But we’re tied 2-2, got a game here tomorrow and then we gotta go home.
“Three-game series, and first one to get two wins. So tomorrow’s the most important game.”
Until the one after that. And, if necessary, the one after that.
Destiny Lugardo contributed to this report.
Must-read (or watch) Phillies content
- Here’s the recap of that Game 4 loss, from Phillies Nation‘s Bailey Digh.
- Again — Zack Wheeler needs to be great on Saturday. “Legendary,” even, Phillies Nation‘s Tim Kelly writes.
- Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about Wheeler’s upcoming start, in which he’ll try to be a stopper against a team that suddenly has tons of life.
- There will be no clinch at Chase Field, no beeline to the pool in celebration of a World Series berth — despite Garrett Stubbs’ hope to do so, a comment that motivated Torey Lovullo’s team, writes The Inquirer‘s Matt Breen.
- Craig Kimbrel was honest about his performance after Game 4. What is his role moving forward, and (how) can the Phillies get him right? Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia assesses.
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