The chartered plane had been booked and the flight manifest was in order. The itinerary was set. The buses and the trucks that would transport the traveling party and all its attendant luggage and equipment to Philadelphia International Airport and from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson were ready. Hotel rooms had been reserved.
And all the while, the Phillies were hoping those best-laid plans had been written in invisible ink.
Sure enough, at 11:15 Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, with the tying runs on base, Braves pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom tried to check his swing on a two-strike pitch from Phillies reliever Matt Strahm. First base umpire Chris Guccione emphatically rang him up to preserve a 3-1 win.
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Just like that, all those painstaking logistics disappeared. Poof. Gone. Five times in the last two years they’ve showed up at the ballpark with a chance to clinch. Five times those days ended in celebrations.
There’s a laundry list of reasons why the Phillies won’t have to fly to Atlanta to decide their National League Division Series in a one-game, sudden death, figurative coin flip Saturday night at Truist Field. Why they will be able to stay home, sleep off the well-practiced celebration that once again turned their clubhouse into a smoky, beer-soaked mosh pit and then prepare to host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park in Game 1 of the National League Championship.
But to boil it down to the simplest, most basic reason why they were able to take out the mighty Braves by winning three out of four, not even extending the series to its limit, can be expressed in three numbers:
.186 and 2.18 and 1.26.
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That is, the Braves team batting average for the NLDS and the Phils rotation and bullpen earned run averages for the same span.
Those would be eye-blinking stats under any circumstances. That they were posted against a Braves team that, by almost any metric, fielded the most dangerous regular season lineup in baseball this season only makes them more impressive.
Teams can slug their way to the playoffs. But in the postseason, it’s more often pitching that is decisive. It’s the baseball equivalent of the old golf maxim about driving for show and putting for dough.
It was up to lefthander Ranger Suarez to set the tone that would send the Braves back to Atlanta dancing on their own and he did just that by allowing one run in five innings. Then the bullpen took over.
Suarez also started Game 1 and was clearly unhappy when he was removed after 3 2/3 shutout innings and only 53 pitches. Rob Thomson said later that had been scripted in advance, that he was only going to stay in the game until Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna came up for the second time.
This time he went two full times through the order. The manager said that hadn’t been scripted but just turned out that way even though he had given up just one run while throwing 69 pitches.
“We were just going to go watch what was happening and see where we were at in the lineup,” he explained. He pitched great and he had a ton of pitches left (but) once we got to the third time through at the top of the lineup. . .we just decided to go to Seranthony (Dominguez) and go from there.”
Before the game ended, Thomson had used five relievers including Jose Alvarado in the sixth and Craig Kimbrel in the seventh in a departure from his usual pattern.
Wrapping the series early means that the Phillies can now start Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola on normal rest in the first two games against the Diamondbacks and bring Suarez back for Game 3. They’ll then need a fourth starter for the first time in the postseason, most likely Cristopher Sanchez or Taijuan Walker, although a bullpen game is also an option.
When Braves manager Brian Snitker was asked why his high-powered offense fell so flat, he first mentioned the five-day layoff his team had as a result of winning the division (with the best record in baseball and getting a first round bye) before adding that “all the credit” should go to the Phillies.
“I mean, they stifled us,” he said. “They pitched really well. They had great plans. You can’t take anything away from that. We got beat. We didn’t play well enough to win the series. It’s as simple as that. We got beat by a really good club that has a penchant for this time of year.”
It was the second straight season that the wild card Phillies have eliminated the first-place Braves in the NLDS. Without taking anything away from his pitching, even Thomson conceded that the hiatus may have been a factor.
“It's interesting because the only team that had a layoff and is still in it is Houston. So, I don't know. I've never been in that situation, but there must be something to it, and there must be something to the preparation you have to do.
“I think it's gotta be tough, because from what I hear I think the Braves did everything they could possibly do to keep their guys sharp. They had intersquad games and they brought in people in the stands. So it's a tough situation. I hope I'm in that situation (someday). I'd like to win the division, but haven't been there yet.”
But he’s now going to the NLCS. To face the Diamondbacks. Another team, by the way, that made it as a wild card and then beat a division winner to advance.