Everybody hits — Phillies dominate Diamondbacks to take 2-0 lead in NLCS
Photo via Yahoo Sports
Games 1 and 2 of the National League Championship Series were over after at least two batters. Kyle Schwarber clobbered a home run on Zac Gallen‘s first pitch of Game 1 to give the Phillies a lead they never lost. In Game 2, Trea Turner hit Merrill Kelly‘s fifth pitch of Game 2 over the left field wall.
Another early Phillies lead, another night of playing from ahead, another victory.
The Phils ended up destroying the Arizona Diamondbacks, 10-0, and now head to Arizona with a commanding 2-0 lead in the NLCS.
The DBacks were undefeated this postseason before arriving in Philadelphia. Now, they are playing must-win baseball.
Schwarber went yard in the third inning, then again in the sixth. He has 50 home runs in 2023, including the playoffs, and 102 in two years with the Phillies.
The Phillies have hit 14 home runs in their last four games, the most in a four-game span in postseason history.
The sixth inning is where things got ugly. Back-to-back two-out doubles by J.T. Realmuto and Brandon Marsh plated three runs. Those insurance were necessary as the DBacks would have had the tying run on base in each of the final three innings.
They tacked on two more in the seventh on an Alec Bohm double.
Aaron Nola made his third start of the 2023 postseason, and he was dominant once again. This time, it was Arizona who could not handle him.
Nola put himself in a difficult spot Tuesday night after one batter. Corbin Carroll led off the night with a ground ball to shortstop that Turner rushed because of Carroll’s speed, bobbling it for an error. But Nola kept the speedy Carroll at first base with a sequence of slide steps to the next three batters. Two strikeouts and an infield fly later, the inning was over.
After that, no one was close to Nola’s stuff. He was excellent, as he finished with a line of six innings pitched, three hits, zero runs, zero walks, and eight strikeouts. This postseason, Nola has thrown 18.2 pitches, allowing 12 hits, two earned runs, two walks, and 18 strikeouts good for a 0.96 ERA.
The Phillies are 7-1 this Red October. Two more wins will send them back to the World Series, either against the Texas Rangers, the team they began their season against or in a rematch with the Houston Astros. Six more wins will give them a parade down Broad Street.
