2022 National League Division Series 2

2022 National League Division Series

Philadelphia Phillies 87 - 75 in the NL	3 - 1 Series Summary	Atlanta Braves 101 - 61 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Phillies: Rob Thomson | Braves: Brian Snitker

Phillies

Braves

Umpires[edit]

David Rackley, Nic Lentz, Bill Miller, Stu Scheurwater, Chad Fairchild, Ryan Blakney

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Philadelphia Phillies 7 Atlanta Braves 6	October 11	Ranger Suárez (0-0) Max Fried (0-1)	1:07 pm
2	Philadelphia Phillies 0 Atlanta Braves 3	October 12	Zack Wheeler (0-1) Kyle Wright (1-0)	4:37 pm
3	Atlanta Braves 1 Philadelphia Phillies 9	October 14	Spencer Strider (0-1) Aaron Nola (1-0)	4:37 pm
4	Atlanta Braves 3 Philadelphia Phillies 8	October 15	Charlie Morton (0-1) Noah Syndergaard (0-0)	2:07 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Truist Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Phillies	2	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	7	12	0
Braves	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	6	9	1
WP: Seranthony Dominguez (1-0); LP: Max Fried (0-1)
Home Runs: ATL - Travis d'Arnaud (1), Matt Olson (1)

Attendance: 42,641

The Phillies won Game 1 by piling on the hits in the early innings, and coming through when it counted - something the Braves failed to do until the very last inning, when a three-run homer by Matt Olson with one out made the final score a lot closer than the game actually was. On paper, the Braves had a big advantage on the mound, with Max Fried, one of the top starting pitchers in the National League, facing off against the inexperienced Ranger Suárez, making his postseason debut. Suárez struggled with his control and walked a tightrope for the 3 1/3 innings he was on the mound, but Fried was just unable to put away the Phillies hitters, who just kept piling on the base hits against him - something unexpected for a team better known for low-average power. They scored 6 runs on 8 hits in 3 1/3 innings against the Braves' lefthander.

The Phillies set the tone in the 1st inning when after two quick outs, they lined up four consecutive singles off Fried, courtesy of J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm, resulting in two runs. None of these was hit particularly hard, but they landed in the right spot. The Braves had a chance to get back those runs immediately as Suárez put himself in trouble with a lead-off double by Ronald Acuna and back-to-back walks to Austin Riley and Olson with one out. However, he forced William Contreras to ground into a double play and escaped without having allowed a run. In the 2nd, the Phillies wasted a double by Edmundo Sosa, but the Braves cut the lead when Travis d'Arnaud hit a solo homer off Suárez. The game really turned in the 3rd however, as Fried committed an error on a squibbler by Realmuto. Harper bunted him over to second, and Castellanos moved him to third on a double. The next batter, Bohm, hit a sacrifice fly, and Jean Segura followed with a single, making it 4-1. That was bad enough, but it was the bottom of the inning which was key, as the Braves once again loaded the bases against Suárez, with two walks and a single, but d'Arnaud struck out swinging to end the inning for another wasted bases-loaded situation. The Phillies then made it 6-1 when Sosa drew a lead-off walk in the 4th, and after a strikeout, moved to third on a double by Rhys Hoskins that ended Fried's day. Well-traveled veteran Jesse Chavez replaced Fried, but after striking out Realmuto and issuing an intentional walk to Harper to face Castellanos, a well-placed single to left resulted in two more runs.

All of that hitting and scoring by the visitors had quieted the crowd at Truist Park, and the Braves stranded another baserunner in the bottom of the 4th, when a walk to Orlando Arcia followed by a force out by Michael Harris ended Suárez's night. Andrew Bellatti, also making his postseason debut, replaced him and got out of the inning with a force out, a single by Acuna, and a strikeout of Dansby Swanson who had a game to forget, getting to wear the proverbial Golden Sombrero. And then the Phillies scored for the third consecutive inning on a double by Segura, another sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly by Sosa. The Braves finally managed to cash in some runners in the bottom of the inning against Connor Brogdon, on a walk to Olson, a double by Contreras and a two-run double by d'Arnaud. It was now 7-3 after 5 innings, but things settled down after that, as the Phillies' next two relievers, Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado, were dominant, combining to retire nine consecutive batters from the 6th to the 8th inning. In the 9th, the Phils' newly-minted closer, Zach Eflin, came out to get the final three outs with a comfortable lead, but he stumbled: Acuna and Swanson opened the inning with back-to-back singles and after a strikeout of Riley, Olson golfed a low pitch to dead center, well out of the reach of CF Brandon Marsh, for a three-run homer that suddenly made the score 7-6. Contreras was the next batter and he hit a sinking liner down the right field line, but Castellanos made a magnificent sliding catch on what could easily have been a triple. D'Arnaud was the last hope, but he grounded out to Sosa to end the game. The win was originally given to Bellatti, but upon longer reflection, the official scorer attributed it to Dominguez.

Game 2 @ Truist Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Braves	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	x	3	4	0
WP: Kyle Wright (1-0); LP: Zack Wheeler (0-1); SV: Kenley Jansen (1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 42,735

The start of Game 2 was delayed by rain for almost three hours, turning a scheduled afternoon game into a night game. When play finally began, fans were treated to an outstanding pitchers duel, with Kyle Wright for Atlanta and Zack Wheeler for Philadelphia giving up almost nothing through the first five innings. There was only one scoring opportunity of any sort, in the top of the 2nd when Bryce Harper led off with a double for the Phillies then advanced to third base on a line out to CF Michael Harris by Nick Castellanos. The Phils failed to cash him in, however, as Alec Bohm grounded out to first base and Brandon Marsh struck out. For the Braves, the only hit through five was a lead-off single by Ronald Acuna in the 4th, and he could not even advance to second base.

The game was decided in the 6th inning. First, with two outs in the top of the 6th, J.T. Realmuto hit a fly ball to shallow left on which SS Dansby Swanson made an outstanding catch, running at full speed with his back to the plate to make a grab worthy of an NFL highlight reel. In the bottom of the inning, Wheeler, who had needed only 50 pitches to get the first 15 outs, got two quick outs before plunking Acuna with a pitch that hit him on the right elbow. Acuna writhed in pain for a while and looked like he would need to leave the game, but stayed on, and after the significant delay to get him some treatment, Wheeler walked Swanson to put a second baserunner on. Then, Matt Olson hit a hard ground ball that went through 1B Rhys Hoskins, defelcting off his glove and ending up in right field, to allow Acuna to score the game's first run. It was a fieldable ball if not a routine play and was ruled a hit, and Austin Riley followed with an even uglier hit, a squibbler on the left side of the mound that Wheeler picked up, but on which he had no play. Swanson scored from third base on that hit, bringing up Travis d'Arnaud, who hit a soft single up the middle to drive in a third run. And after that small ball outburst, the bats went back to sleep.

A.J. Minter pitched the 7th for the Braves, followed by Raisel Iglesias in the 8th. Iglesias benefitted from another outstanding defensive play, this one by Riley at third base, who caught a foul ball while crashing into the rolled up tarpaulin down the third base line, while holding on to the ball and keeping Jean Segura, who had just reached on a single, at first base. Inglesias then struck out Kyle Schwarber to end the inning. Meanwhile, Andrew Bellatti retired the Braves in order in the 7th and Noah Syndergaard only gave up a two-out walk to Olson in the 8th. That brought in Kenley Jansen, a veteran of numerous postseason outings with the Los Angeles Dodgers, to close the game for the Braves with a 3-0 lead. He retired the Phils in order, although there was a brief delay. After two outs, Harper apparently popped out on Jansen's first pitch, the ball being caught in front of the netting behind home plate by C d'Arnaud. The television broadcast was already showing the score as being final, when it was noticed that umpire Nic Lentz had called a foul ball, claiming the ball had hit the net. The Braves challenged the call, but the available replay angles only captured the bottom of the net, where d'Arnaud caught the ball six inches in front of the meshing, but not the top where the alleged contact took place, so the umpire's call was allowed to stand. The at-bat continued, but Harper eventually struck out and this time the game was truly over. The series was tied at one win apiece.

Game 3 @ Citizens Bank Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Braves	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	1
Phillies	0	0	6	0	0	0	3	0	x	9	8	2
WP: Aaron Nola (1-0); LP: Spencer Strider (0-1)
Home Runs: PHI - Rhys Hoskins (1), Bryce Harper (1)

Attendance: 45,538

The Phillies won Game 3 at home thanks to a big inning in the 3rd that put the game completely out of reach early, especially as their starter, Aaron Nola, was on a good day and hardly gave up anything in six innings of work. The game ended up as a 9-1 laugher. For the Braves, veteran Charlie Morton was originally scheduled to start, but Brian Snitker decided to flip him with rookie Spencer Strider, who had been outstanding during the season but who also had had to deal with some late-season injuries. But Strider ran into a wall in the 3rd, and ended up with the loss to his name.

The Braves wasted an early opportunity against Nola when they stranded a pair of baserunners in the 1st and things were quiet for both teams in the 2nd. Then, the Phillies exploded in the bottom of the 3rd. Brandon Marsh drew a lead-off walk against Strider, who then struck out Jean Segura. However, he threw a wild pick-off attempt at first base, advancing Marsh to second, and Bryson Stott followed with a double to open the scoring. Snitker then ordered an intentional walk to Kyle Schwarber, bringing up Rhys Hoskins, and he made the Braves pay, crushing a three-run homer to right field. J.T. Realmuto followed with a single, and this was the end for Strider. Dylan Lee succeeded him, but he immediately gave up another long ball, this one to Bryce Harper, and it was 6-0 and the game was pretty much over.

The Braves finally got to Nola in the 6th when Dansby Swanson led off with a double, Matt Olson walked, and with two outs Michael Harris singled in one run. But they would have needed a crooked number, and in the 7th, the Phillies put the game completely away with three more runs, with Harper driving in one and Nick Castellanos two to make it 9-1, which would be the final score. There wasn't much else to this game, as the outcome was obvious early and the Braves never really threatened to mound a comeback.

Game 4 @ Citizens Bank Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Braves	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	4	0
Phillies	0	3	1	0	0	3	0	1	x	8	13	0
WP: Brad Hand (1-0); LP: Charlie Morton (0-1)
Home Runs: PHI - Brandon Marsh (1), J.T. Realmuto (1), Bryce Harper (2); ATL - Orlando Arcia (1), Matt Olson (1), Travis d'Arnaud (2)

Attendance: 45,660

The Phillies completed their upset of the Braves with another lopsided win in Game 4. They scored early and often and limited the Braves to just 4 hits, so that, even if three of these were homers, they were all solo shots, and Atlanta was never able to mount a sustained rally. For the second straight postseason, Charlie Morton had to leave a start early after having been hit by a batted ball, but that was far from the only issue for Atlanta. Philadelphia delegated Noah Syndergaard on the mound with the simple mission of going once through the Braves' batting order without giving up much - and that's precisely what he did, leaving with a lead and letting the bullpen finish the work.

Syndergaard started thing off with a perfect 1st inning, but Morton had to work hard from the beginning. The first two batters against him both reached base, on a walk to Kyle Schwarber and a single by Rhys Hoskins, and he had to toil to escape without giving up a run. In the 2nd, Syndergaard had another perfect inning, and this time Morton wasn't able to escape. Alec Bohm started thing off by hitting a ball that deflected off Morton's right elbow for a single. He stayed in the game, but after one out, he gave up a single to Jean Segura, and Brandon Marsh followed with a homer for a 3-0 lead. Syndergaard completed his three innings with one mistake, allowing a solo homer to Orlando Arcia, but apart from that, he could say "Mission accomplished". Morton tried to come back to pitch the 3rd, after a quick x-ray had shown that his elbow had not suffered any damage from Bohm's hit, but his manager, Brian Snitker, did not like the way his warm-up pitches looked and replaced him with Collin McHugh. The first batter McHugh faced was J.T. Realmuto who hit a ball out of Michael Harris' reach in center field; it then bounced off an angled section of the wall, back toward right field, in no man's land, and it took Harris a long run to retrieve it, as RF Ronald Acuna had stayed put at his position and could not help. Realmuto had time to circle the bases with an inside-the-park homer, the first ever hit by a catcher in postseason history. With a 4-1 lead, the Phillies were now in the driver's seat.

The Braves got a second solo homer, this one by Matt Olson, in the top of the 4th, off Andrew Bellatti, but that was as close as they would come. In the 6th, Philadelphia put the game away with three runs off A.J. Minter and Raisel Iglesias, normally two of Atlanta's most reliable relievers. Everything happened with two outs and a man on, when Schwarber was hit by a pitch, and Hoskins, Realmuto and Bryce Harper hit consecutive singles, each one driving in one run - or would that be one more nail in the Braves' coffin. A third solo homer for the Braves, by Travis d'Arnaud off Jose Alvarado, cut the Phils' lead to 7-3, but the Braves would have needed to put men on base, and were unable to do so. Harper completed the scoring with a solo homer off Kenley Jansen in the 8th, and Seranthony Dominguez retired the Braves in order in the 9th, striking out the side to put an exclamation mark on the upset.