Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Phillies slug six home runs to take 2-1 Division Series lead

Bryce Harper hit two home runs on Wednesday night. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Phillies 10, Braves 2

If baseball players are creatures of habit, then the Phillies are a team of patterns. Philadelphia’s 2022 and 2023 regular seasons were very similar — a cold two-month start, followed by a strong summer and an eventual late-season win that clinched a spot in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That pattern doesn’t stop there, though.

The Phillies swept the Wild Card series last year, advancing to a Division Series matchup with the Braves. They split the first two games of that series at Truist Park and returned to Citizens Bank Park for Game 3. Rob Thomson’s club did that this October, too.

Last year’s Game 3 got out of hand after the Phillies hung a six spot on the scoreboard in the third inning thanks to a big three-run home run. This year’s Game 3? The same exact thing happened.

After the Phillies were set down in order in both the first and second innings on Wednesday evening, Nick Castellanos stepped to the plate against Braves starter Bryce Elder to begin the third with his team down by a run. The Phillies right fielder, who hit two homers off Elder in a game back on Sept. 20, got to the right-hander again as he drove a ball to left field, tying the game.

Five batters later, following a Brandon Marsh single and a Trea Turner infield single, Bryce Harper was in the batter’s box against Elder with two outs and runners on the corners in a tie game. The first baseman worked himself into a 2-1 count. Elder then hung a slider on the fourth pitch of the at-bat. And Harper didn’t miss. He launched the ball into the second deck out in right field for a three-run homer, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead.

The two-time NL MVP didn’t just stare at the ball, watching it land in a sea of red, but also stared at Atlanta shortstop Orlando Arcia as he made his way around second base, letting us all know he is well aware of Arcia’s reaction to Harper’s Game 2 baserunning “mistake”.

Following Harper’s homer, Alec Bohm singled and Bryson Stott walked against Elder, who was then pulled from the game. J.T. Realmuto, facing Michael Tonkin, joined in on the fun by driving a ball into the left-center field gap for a two-run double to make it a 6-1 Phillies lead.

After being handed a five-run cushion, Phillies starter Aaron Nola, who also started Game 3 last season, took it and ran with it. The veteran right-hander looked good through three innings, allowing just the one run, and continued that for the rest of the night.

Nola worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning with a pair of strikeouts and tossed a 15-pitch fifth. His night was finished after getting two outs in the sixth. Nola was charged with two runs and struck out nine Braves hitters in his 5 2/3 innings of work, while walking one and, most importantly, not giving up a home run.

As for Harper, he added to the lead in the fifth by hitting his second home run of the night, this time to dead-center field.

And just like the third inning, he gave Arcia another look while rounding the bases.

Atlanta scored a half inning later, making it a 7-2 game, but Philadelphia got that run right back in their half of the sixth by way of Turner’s first postseason home run as a member of the Phillies.

Turner’s homer wasn’t the last one, though. In the eighth, Castellanos and Marsh went back-to-back, giving the Phillies six home runs on the night. That total set a franchise record for most homers hit in a postseason game and tied the all-time record.

Last year’s NLDS Game 3 featured Aaron Nola on the mound, who received plenty of run support following a six-run third inning by the Phillies offense. The Phillies followed that same pattern to a tee in Game 3 tonight.

Game 4 is set to to take place tomorrow night. The game time was moved from 6:07 p.m. to 8:07 p.m. ET due to the Diamondbacks wrapping up their series against the Dodgers. Philadelphia won Game 4 last season, sending them to the National League Championship Series. If they really are a team of patterns, then tomorrow night could be special.

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