Jesse RogersESPN Staff Writer Oct 12, 2023, 11:17pm ET3 minutes read
Castellanos’ two home runs make Philly fans tremble
Nick Castellanos hits two home runs for the Phillies in Game 4 against the Braves.
PHILADELPHIA – The best home run-hitting team in baseball got a taste of its own medicine as the Philadelphia Phillies earned a division series victory over the Atlanta Braves with a 3-1 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night.
It is the second year in a row that Philadelphia has eliminated the National League East winner in four games. The Phillies face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series, which begins Monday in Philadelphia.
Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos became the first player in history to record two consecutive multihomer games in the postseason, hitting Braves starter Spencer Strider twice to deep in the fourth and sixth innings. In between, shortstop Trea Turner also hit a home run and gave up three hits against Atlanta’s ace. Turner had gone 0 for 17 in his career before Strider before Thursday.
Overall, the Phillies outscored the Braves 11 to 3 in the series, including nine hits in the two games at Citizens Bank Park. They tied the 2015 Cubs for the most home runs in consecutive postseason games.
The deciding point of the game came in the seventh inning when the Braves had the bases loaded, had two outs and the likely NL MVP, Ronald Acuna Jr., was at the plate. He hit a 2-2 pitch to reliever Craig Kimbrel, which center fielder Johan Rojas tracked down 379 feet from home plate. The Citizens Bank crowd erupted in an uproar as Rojas nearly crashed into the wall trying to catch the ball.
Atlanta had another chance in the ninth after the first two batters reached base, but Kevin Pillar and Eddie Rosario came out while pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom struck out.
Meanwhile, the Braves, who won an MLB-best 104 regular-season games, were eliminated in the divisional round for the second straight year after winning the World Series in 2021. The loss of starter Charlie Morton due to injury affected their rotation, with one against Max Fried, who pitched just four innings in the Braves’ Game 2 victory. Their biggest problem, however, was on the field, where they led all of baseball in runs scored and home runs but managed just eight runs in four playoff games.
With the win, the Phillies return to the NLCS for the second year in a row. Last year, they defeated the San Diego Padres in five games before falling to the Houston Astros in the World Series. The victory also means that no team with more than 90 wins will play in one of the league’s championship series – and therefore the World Series. Shortened seasons aside, this is the first time both championship series will feature teams that have 90 or fewer wins in the regular season.