The Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday beat the Atlanta Braves 8-3 to advance to the National League Championship Series (NLCS), where they are to face the San Diego Padres, who rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.
In Philadelphia, Bryce Harper stood as still in the clubhouse as he does when he admires a home run and accepted the beer bath from bottles his Phillies teammates took delight in pouring on him.
Harper’s goggles provided no defense for the waterfall of booze streaming down his cheeks.
Photo: AP
“It’s so cold, but it’s so good,” slugger Rhys Hoskins barked in Harper’s face.
Then it was time for the Phillies to sing. “I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali,” they shouted in unison to the Notorious B.I.G. classic.
The next stop for the Fightins is a trip west to the NLCS, as a team that looked completely lost in May suddenly looks every bit like a World Series contender in October.
Photo: AFP
Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer and J.T. Realmuto lined an inside-the-park home run that sent Philadelphia bolting headfirst into the NLCS for the first time since 2010.
Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an inside-the-parker in post-season history, and Harper punctuated the romp with a clinching home run that helped the Phillies take the NL Division Series 3-1 against the World Series champion Braves.
Atlanta’s loss meant that the MLB has not had a repeat champ since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000.
The Phillies are to face the Padres in an all-wild card NLCS beginning tomorrow in San Diego, California.
The Padres stunned the Dodgers, taking their division matchup in four games, to book their first NLCS spot since 1998.
“It’s about to be a party out here tonight,” said starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in the San Diego suburbs.
“I mean, since I was a little kid we’ve been getting beat up by the Dodgers. But when it comes down to it and the games matter, this team stepped up, from top to bottom,” he said.
In Seattle, Jeremy Pena and the Houston Astros just kept going for scoreless inning after scoreless inning, as day turned into night in front of a frenzied crowd.
In the 18th inning, Pena homered and the Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0 for a three-game sweep of their American League Division Series (ALDS) to advance to the American League Championship Series for the sixth straight year.
“These guys, they know not to panic,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “They don’t get too excited. They don’t get too down. It means a lot.”
The Astros are to play whoever wins the series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians on Saturday backed the Yankees into a corner with a 6-5 win to put them ahead 2-1.
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