Phillies eliminate Braves, advance to first NLCS since 2010
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-3, on Saturday afternoon to advance to the National League Championship Series for the first time since the 2010 season.
The Phillies won the series in four games, 3-1, and ended the Braves' hopes for a World Series repeat.
Philadelphia's bats were the big heroes on Saturday, hitting three home runs in the win.
Brandon Marsh, the team's No. 9 hitter, got things started with a monster three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning.
That was followed one inning later by J.T. Realmuto hitting just the 17th inside-the-park home in MLB postseason history to extend the Phillies' lead.
Marsh and Realmuto both went 2-for-5 on the day.
Bryce Harper added some insurance with an eighth-inning home run to give Philadelphia an 8-3 lead.
The Phillies will now await the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres series in the NLCS. No matter which team advances, the Phillies will open the series on the road.
It has been an improbable run for the Phillies this postseason. After winning just 87 games during the regular season, the least amount of any playoff team in the majors this year (San Diego with 89 is the only other team that won fewer than 90 games), the Phillies swept the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals in two games, and then rolled through the NL East champion (and defending World Series champion) Braves in four games. Philadelphia won Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia by a combined score of 17-4 and 24-11 for the series.
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