Phillies knock off Marlins to go to NLDS

Montclair, NJ

By: Justin Randell

The Philadelphia Phillies quest to reach the top of the mountain got off to a great start, as they swept their Wild Card Series matchup against the Miami Marlins 2 games to 0.  The Phillies played exceptionally well and had a fun time doing so. A 7-1 victory in Game 2 sent the Marlins home in a hurry, while the Phillies advanced to the National League Division Series. Kyle Schwarber scorched an RBI double to right in the third that scored Cristian Pache for a 1-0 lead. Trea Turner, the newly inked $300 million shortstop, smacked an RBI single that scored Schwarber for a 2-0 lead. The Philly bats were not done raking as J.T. Realmuto crushed his fourth career postseason home run off David Robertson in the fourth to make it 3-0.

Aaron Nola followed Game 1 starter Zack Wheeler’s excellent effort with one of his own, posting 7 scoreless innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. Nola, who is set to become a free agent after this season concludes, got into a bit of a jam in the fifth inning while the Phillies were up 3-0 when the Marlins had runners on first and second with one out. The Marlins wasted a prime opportunity to get themselves back into the game when Jesus Sanchez grounded into an inning ending double play which sent Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy. That was not the only chance the Marlins had throughout the game. They could not find a way to break through at any point, grounding into two huge double plays. In the bottom of the 6th, the Marlins, still trailing 3-0 were hoping to get a clean inning from their bullpen to keep them in the game. But Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott had other ideas as he got a hold of one off of Andrew Nardi as Stott hit a grand slam to give the Phillies a 7-0 lead to put the game out of reach.  Like Rhys Hoskins did in last year’s postseason, Stott pulled out his own version of a bat slam and the Philly crowd loved every second of his trot around the bases.

Phillies reliever Gregfory Soto came on to finish things off in the 9th. The Marlins were able to get one on the board when Josh Bell hit an RBI single, resulting in the final score 7-1 Phillies. This Phillies lineup is scary enough as it is. They are still hoping for Bryce Harper to get his bat going like he did in last year’s postseason. But right now Philadelphia is feeling pretty good. The Phillies will begin their matchup with the National League East Division Champions, the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, October 7 for Game 1 of the NLDS. 

Phillies manager Rob Thompson has a tough task at hand getting prepared to face MVP frontrunner Ronald Acuna Jr., the regular season home run leader Matt Olson, and so many more talents in that Braves lineup. The starting pitchers have not been announced for game 1 but should be in the next couple of days.