Girl I hadn’t heard from since elementary school messaged me on Facebook 5 minutes after the Phillies won yesterday asking if I could get her, her husband and their two kids tickets to the World Series. Never underestimate someone’s lack of self awareness 😂
Bryce Harper said Angel Hernandez told him Harper would realize he swung after seeing the replay
“Angel in the middle of something again. Its every year, same story, same thing. Its the same thing over & over and over again. Im probably going to get fined for being right, again”
The Phillies have won 10 playoff games
1 by coming back from down 4-0
1 by coming back from down 5-0
1 with a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 8th
1 with the biggest 9th-inning rally by a trailing team in postseason history
2 by shutout
3 by holding on in 1-run games
Zack Wheeler can start Game 2 in Atlanta on regular rest.
Aaron Nola can start Game 3 in Philly on an extra day of rest.
Ranger Suarez ready for Game 1.
Imagine being Ryan Howard hearing this stuff about MLB possibly banning the shift. Would be like if the government erased all student loans the year after you finally paid yours off.
What a scene in Phillies’ clubhouse. Guys soaking in the celebration. Dombrowski getting a rousing ovation. “Great trade, good decision!” Weston Wilson fighting back tears, Michael Lorenzen describing the coolest moment of his career. Castellanos in the back offering perspective.
David Dahl said the standing ovation he received in left field after his homer tonight was “probably the coolest thing I’ve experienced on a baseball field.”
Bryce Harper on the boos tonight in D.C.
"I just try to remember that I've got 45,000 people in Philadelphia & more that were screaming & watching their TV cheering. I have the city of Philadelphia behind me each and every night and if I have that, nothing else matters to me."
One last impressive Phillies stat for the night:
There have been 96 errors committed across baseball so far this season. The Phillies have 0. Only NL team without one.
Craig Kimbrel:
"I saw it from afar last year. It was the reason I came here, understanding the passion these guys have, the fun they want to have, how much they enjoy doing it with each other. It's a big part of coming over here. You come here and you're part of the family."
Phillies are 1-1 last 2 games
2-2 last 4
3-3 last 6
5-5 last 10
6-6 last 12
7-7 last 14
8-8 last 16
9-9 last 18
10-10 last 20
11-11 last 22
12-12 last 24
The Phillies went down to Houston, fell behind 5-0 & still took Game 1 from the big, bad Astros to change the complexion of this World Series
Phils have won Game 1 in every series & are 10-2 in the playoffs with their ace starting tomorrow before 3 games back home. What a setup
It’s a Phillies-Astros World Series
Probably Wheeler-Verlander in G1, Nola vs. Framber Valdez G2 — tremendous matchups
Astros won 106 games & have enough pitching to fill 2 rotations. But this is a race to 4 wins & the Phillies feel like they can beat anyone anywhere right now
Josh Bell, here as an opponent for 2nd straight postseason, on the vibe of CBP:
"It's awesome. Very similar to last year. I was trying to prepare guys for it on the flight over. It's what dreams are made of, seeing the towels & hearing the atmosphere. It's really cool baseball."
The last cycle through the Phillies' rotation
Wheeler: 7⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 8 K
Turnbull: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Sanchez: 6 IP, 0 ER, 10 K
Suarez: 9 IP, 0 R, 8 K
Nola: 7⅓ IP, 1 R, 9 K
Altogether: 36⅔ IP, 18 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 41 K
Bryce Harper has a double and a homer tonight off of Sandy Alcantara
He’s up to 41 2B, 35 HR, 84 RBI, 100 R, 99 BB
No player since Albert Pujols in 2009 has matched those criteria
No Phillie has ever done it
No outfielder has done it since Barry Bonds in 1998
45,662 in the house for Game 1 tonight. Phillies on prime-time for all 3 games (if necessary) of the wild-card series.
Rob Manfred said on the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast last week that Philadelphia really drove MLB's playoff business a year ago.
The Phillies are 2 wins away from winning it all.
They beat the Astros, 7-0. They’ve shut out 3 different teams this postseason.
They didn’t need to use any of their top 4 relievers tonight.
They’re undefeated at home in the playoffs, outscoring their opponents 42-15.
If this was a wrestling storyline, they’d fire Colangelo, announce a big mystery hire reveal which turns out to be Hinkie, then 6 months down the line it’d come out that Hinkie was the source & manipulated the info, setting up Hinkie vs Colangelo at WrestleMania w/ Embiid the ref
If the Phillies do eventually end up with Bryce Harper, the average age of their starting lineup would be 27.9. Average age of the rotation 27.2. Would create quite the window to contend.
Tonight is Zack Wheeler’s final start of the regular season. He’s made 100 as a Phillie. 65 were quality starts, 58 were Phillies wins. 3.07 ERA
Been said before, but one of the best FA signings in the history of Philly sports and one of best values there’s been on a $100M+ deal
Eyes are bleary but I think this is correct? Phillies could start Zack Wheeler in Games 1 & 5 of NLCS, Aaron Nola in Games 2 & 6, all on normal rest.
Could go:
G 1: Oct 18 (Wheeler)
G 2: Oct 19 (Nola)
G 3: Oct 21
G 4: Oct 22
G 5: Oct 23 (Wheeler)
G 6: Oct 24 (Nola)
G 7: Oct 25
Ranger Suarez made 12 starts. He allowed 11 runs.
He finishes the season with a 1.36 ERA, the lowest by any major-league pitcher with 100+ innings since Bruce Sutter in 1977.
0.88 ERA when he became the closer
1.86 ERA as the closer
1.51 ERA as a starter
What a season.
@SkolSource
Idk, but the Twins do have the most losses in baseball the last 8 seasons and the Timberwolves have the 2nd-most losses in the NBA the last 10 seasons, so...
Because it's never too early to look ahead: Phillies obviously rooting for Yankees to win tonight & extend ALCS
Would probably result in Astros starting Justin Verlander tomorrow, which would prevent him from starting Game 1 of the World Series
Yes, this is an actual thing now
The Braves hit 307 homers in the regular season but only 3 in the NLDS.
A truly awesome performance by the Phillies’ pitching staff against a historic offense. The Braves hit .186.
Noah Syndergaard said he's been on cloud nine with the Phillies and the thought of Bryce Harper returning next week "makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up."
Phillies win. They're the first team in 2023 to sweep the Rays. They did it in Tampa.
They are 47-39, on pace for 89 wins. They've won 12 straight road games and 12 straight interleague games.
Dominant effort from 5 different pitchers tonight. Bullpen held Rays hitless.
If you're wondering why the MLB dot com play-by-play data for this game is frozen, it's because Alec Bohm just broke the dude's computer with a foul ball
Phillies take Game 1 in Atlanta. They’re 2 wins from the NLCS with Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola starting the next 2 games.
Nola: 14.1 straight scoreless innings
Wheeler: 14.1 straight scoreless innings
Probably the best game the 1-through-5 hitters in the Phillies’ lineup have had all year
Schwarber, Hoskins, Harper, Realmuto and Castellanos are 9-for-17 with 4 HR, 3 2B, 9 RBI, 3 BB and 1 K
The way the Phillies honor their legends is second to none. This has been a touching weekend at Citizens Bank Park, and the timing of it all could not have worked out better.
The Phillies are 33-14 after tonight's comeback win.
No National League team since the 1998 Braves has had a better record through a season's first 47 games.
They're unbeaten in 14 straight series.
Bryce Harper with the game-winning RBI.
Man oh man is Bryce Harper having a good season. Been on base all 18 games. 7 multi-hit games. He has 5 homers, he’s 4 for 4 stealing bases. Hitting .356. Second in majors in OPS.
Castellanos batting behind Harper will be a nightmare for opposing pitchers & for managers late in games. Benefits so many Phillies. Harper doesn’t have to carry you for months. J.T. doesn’t have to be your 2nd-best run producer. Guys will go up to the plate feeling less pressure
This Andrew McCutchen batting line tonight. The 1-4-1-2-3. He is the first player with that line since ... Andrew McCutchen in 2011. Nobody else in recorded history has ever had that line. 2 examples since 1908, both McCutchen.
A mic'd up Mike Trout congratulating the Super Bowl champion Eagles and shouting out Zach Ertz and Carson Wentz during the second inning of the All-Star Game — surreal
Zack Wheeler, who's on the bump tomorrow, has faced the Braves 10 times as a member of the Phillies:
2.04 ERA
0.93 WHIP
66⅓ innings
77 strikeouts
9 walks
5 HR allowed
A lot of teams with huge payrolls fail to meet expectations. But the Phillies keep winning in October. Asked some guys about that.
Good answer from Jeff Hoffman:
Rob Thomson pointed out this afternoon that three games into the World Series, the Phillies have already used every player on their roster except Garrett Stubbs.
Lady in front of me at Dunkin ordered “a large coffee with 11 creams and 13 sugars.” I have so many questions. How are you alive? How did you figure out those were the right quantities for you?
The Phillies are moving onto the NLCS. They're the last team standing from the NL East.
By beating the Braves in 4 games, Zack Wheeler can start Game 1 and Game 5 of the NLCS on regular rest. Finishing off Atlanta today rather than tomorrow was massive.
Prediction for tonight's Sixers-Magic game: 96-96, a minute to go, Fultz hits a 3, Simmons answers with a 3, Fultz hits another 3, Simmons is fouled making a 3 with 0.1 seconds left and and converts the 4-point play to win it.
Phillies face Cristian Javier tonight in Game 4. Almost exclusively fastball-slider. Misses bats at an elite rate. 4th-highest strikeout rate in the majors the last two seasons.
But he has to pitch at Citizens Bank Park, a madhouse that has intimidated many these last 3 weeks.
Ranger Suarez starts for the Phillies in Game 4 Thursday night at 8:07.
His last 6 times facing the Braves:
3⅔ IP, 0 R
6 IP, 1 R
3⅓ IP, 1 R
6 IP, 0 R
6 IP, 1 R
5 IP, 0 ER
Zack Wheeler’s faced the Cardinals 3 times since the start of 2021, allowing 1 run in 22 innings with a 0.68 WHIP. He starts Game 1 Friday in St. Louis.
Embiid saying what he said today kinda backs Simmons into a corner after Simmons camp’s nonsensical pivot to it being a style of play thing
What reason can his camp even shift to now that doesnt make it look like he only wants out b/c of inability to take constructive criticism?
The Phillies’ 1-5 hitters have reached base in 29 of 61 plate appearances.
That’s a .475 on-base percentage in the opening series for McCutchen-Segura-Harper-Hoskins-Realmuto.
Did you know: In the decade-plus since Ryan Howard ripped off 4 straight seasons of 45+ home runs, no other major-leaguer has done it even twice in a row.
The Phillies' bullpen went 8⅓ innings tonight, allowed 2 runs and put 6 men on base in relief of Bailey Falter tonight. That's without Dominguez & Alvarado.
Big-time effort. The Phillies are 4-0 this postseason in games *not* started by Wheeler and Nola.
Bryce Harper: "Hoffman came in & shut the door, Pache scored the winning run, Rojas the game-winning hit. You probably wouldn't think that at the beginning of the year, right?"
2 seasons in a row, Phillies have received big production from unexpected sources. Often what it takes
The Phillies have gotten 7+ innings from a starting pitcher 4 times this season. The starter has allowed 0, 0, 0 and 1 run in those games. Phils are 1-3.
Edmundo Sosa isn't a free agent until 2027. At the very least, it looks like the Phillies have an inexpensive utilityman who's a plus defender everywhere he plays and isn't a zero at the plate. What a trade that was.