Philadelphia Phillies Beat Atlanta to Reach NLCS

Realmuto passed first, of course, and then second. He rounded third, a one-man stampede against a usually sterling outfield and an All-Star catcher. He dove home. Safe, for the first inside-the-park home run by a catcher in postseason history.

Matt Olson, the Atlanta first baseman, narrowed the margin to two runs in the fourth when he homered to right. But the Phillies used a series of singles to add three runs of their own in the sixth before Travis d’Arnaud, Atlanta’s catcher, hit a solo home run to lead off the seventh.

Not to be outdone, Bryce Harper, the Philadelphia designated hitter, slugged his third postseason home run on a 1-1 count in the eighth.

For Atlanta, the season’s conclusion was jarring if historically unsurprising. No Atlanta team with 100 regular-season wins or more has ever captured a World Series. Back in 1999, for instance, 103-win Atlanta outlasted the Mets in the N.L.C.S. and then was swept by the Yankees in the World Series.

But the 2022 Atlanta team, swept not once this season, never seemed able to muster offensive firepower in a series that plenty of people had figured would pit the Braves against St. Louis. They did not homer in two of four games. Strikeouts came by the dozens. Runners in scoring position could stand along the basepaths nearly assured that they would not, in fact, score.

The Phillies, though, are arguably the most surprising team still standing in baseball. On the last day of May, they stood at eight games under .500. A 66-46 run followed. It was only last Monday that the Phillies announced that they had decided to give Rob Thomson, who became the interim manager after the ouster of Joe Girardi, a two-year contract.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/sports/baseball/phillies-braves-score.html