Rampaging Phillies finish off Braves, advance to NLCS for first time since 2010

Breaking a 10-year postseason drought apparently wasn't enough for these Phillies.

They're sticking around longer than expected in this October baseball tournament. They're riding a wave of special chemistry. They're sending division champions home for the winter. And, of course, they're dreaming big.

On a gorgeous fall Saturday afternoon, the Phils booked their ticket to the National League Championship Series with an emotional 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NL Division Series.

The Phillies won the series three-games-to-one with the last two wins coming in front of huge crowds at Citizens Bank Park.

After squeaking into the postseason with 87 wins and the sixth and final NL playoff spot, the Phillies have dispatched a pair of division champions in the 93-win St. Louis Cardinals and the 101-win Atlanta Braves. 

The Phillies will open play in their first NLCS since 2010 on Tuesday night in San Diego. The Padres finished off the Dodgers in Game 4 Saturday night.

The Phils have never played the Padres in a postseason series. They have played the Dodgers five times in the NLCS and advanced to the World Series three times.

Whoever the Phils play, they'll have their top three starting pitchers -- Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez -- rested and ready to go.

After splitting the first two games of the NLDS in Atlanta, the Phillies came home Friday afternoon and used a six-run third inning, highlighted by homers from Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper, to beat the Braves, 9-1, in front of 45,538 wild fans who'd waited too long for postseason baseball to return to Philadelphia.

The momentum of Friday's win carried over to Saturday. Brandon Marsh, who ignited the six-run third inning with a walk Friday, belted a three-run homer against Charlie Morton with one out in the second inning and the Phils were off and running as the crowd of 45,660 waved rally towels in the stands.

An inning after Marsh's homer into the right-field seats, J.T. Realmuto greeted reliever Collin McHugh with a laser beam to center field. The ball hit off the angular outfield wall and bounced away from Braves center fielder Michael Harris II. Right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. did not move to back up Harris as the ball hit the wall. By the time Harris retrieved it, Realmuto was gone, around the bases in a flash. The first inside-the-park home run in Phillies postseason history gave the team a 4-1 lead.

Having already used Wheeler, Nola and Suarez in the series, the Phillies went into the game with a pitching plan that consisted of getting outs from a long list of arms.

The plan worked. Six Phillies pitchers combined to strike out 15 and walk zero. They got the 27 outs needed to send the defending World Series champions home on just three runs. 

Noah Syndergaard got the start against Atlanta's righty-heavy batting order. He had not started a game in two weeks so the hope was to get nine outs from him. The right-hander delivered those nine outs and allowed just one run on a solo homer by Orlando Arcia.

Next up was Andrew Bellatti. He knocked down three outs while allowing a run on a solo homer by Matt Olson as the Braves cut the Phillies' lead to 4-2.

Brad Hand was next. He got three outs in the fifth to protect the two-run lead.

Jose Alvarado recorded three outs in the sixth and saw his mates score three more runs in the bottom of the inning to go up, 7-2. The lefty stayed on for the seventh, allowed a solo homer, but recorded two outs to get the ball into Zach Eflin's right hand.

Eflin racked up four outs, three via strikeout, before Harper electrified the crowd with a homer in the bottom of the eighth and Seranthony Dominguez came on for the ninth and closed out the win.

When it was over, Phillies players danced on the lawn at Citizens Bank Park and retreated to the clubhouse for their third champagne celebration in less than two weeks.

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