October 07, 2024
The Mets were scary. Philly fans seemed pretty unanimous in their desire to face the Brewers instead.
It didn't matter that the Mets' roster was inferior, that they lost six more games than the Phillies did, or that they had been challenged with one of the most diabolically elaborate paths to the NLDS in recent memory.
The Mets have been clutch, and have been an undeniable force in baseball for the last few weeks. They have had four four run innings in the last week:
• On September 30, needing a win in a doubleheader against the Braves to clinch a playoff spot — they scored six runs in the eighth
• In Game 1 of the Wild Card against the Brewers — they scored five in the fifth
• In Game 3 of the Wild Card — they scored four in the ninth
• In Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies — they scored five in the eighth
With the Phillies trailing 1-0 in the best of five series and on life support, again, the script was flipped — as Philly scored three runs in the sixth inning, and three more in the eighth inning before Nick Castellanos hit his walk-off in the ninth.
The Mets have been energizer bunnies while the Phillies were rusty from five days of forced rest. If the Phillies have indeed found their groove, maybe they'll be able to fend off the feisty upstart Mets after all.
“Both teams went punch for punch,” Bryce Harper said — one a half dozen heroes from Sunday night's epic win. “Rocky would have been proud, that never-die mentality. Just a great game.”
Harper's two-run homer seemed to open the floodgates for the Phillies, who were sort of stuck in neutral trying to figure out how to hit the baseball prior. Casty went yard back-to-back with Harper and later Bryson Stott hit a two-run triple. The home crowd was also a catalyst.
“You can’t miss it. You feel it," Matt Strahm, who was bailed out after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth, said. "You feel the energy of all 45,000 people behind you. It’s an electric place to play. And there are no words to describe it. I can’t explain it. You’ve got to feel it. You’ve got to buy a ticket and come see it, because you’ve got to feel it.”
The series shifts to Citi Field, and thankfully the Phillies have some breathing room. One win in Queens assures those home fans will get to cheer them on in person again for a potential Game 5 — while two wins will obviously punch their ticket to the NLCS against either the Dodgers (in L.A. for Game 1) or the Padres (home for Game 1).
Thanks in part to their London trip, the Phillies only played six regular season games at Citi Field: a very early two-game sweep in May and then that series in mid September where they dropped three of four before returning home to clinch the NL East. It will be the first playoff game ever played between these two teams in Queens. You can be sure they won't be welcomed with open arms.
Maybe someone will homer in Utley's corner:
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