He said he never hypes up home runs because he never hits them far enough, but he couldn’t help but admire the one he hit Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Stott’s sixth-inning grand slam secured a 7-1 victory over Miami in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series. It secured a rematch with Atlanta in the NL Division Series.
So Stott watched the ball fly into the seats in right-center field, took a few steps toward first base and slammed his bat into the turf.
“I lost consciousness,” Stott said. “I didn’t know I did that. I have to go back and look at it.
Maybe later. The Phillies had champagne and beer to spritz.
“Don’t give the Phillies a reason to celebrate,” Phillies catcher JT Realmuto said. “These guys like to have a good time. We like to celebrate together and that’s one of the reasons why we play so well on the field.”
But their business is not yet complete. Far from it. The Phillies are not a team that simply enjoys the postseason. They want to win the World Series after falling two wins short of last year. They hope to take another step towards this goal in the NLDS.
Game 1 is Saturday at Truist Park.
The Phillies will be underdogs in the best-of-five series. They were also underdogs against Atlanta last year when they won the series in four games.
“We believe this team is built for this,” Realmuto said. “We are set up for postseason success. The run we did last year only gave us more confidence that we have what it takes to make it. Obviously we’re facing a really good team in Atlanta, but we have confidence in the guys in this clubhouse. It should be a lot of fun.”
The Phillies played like the versatile, experienced team Realmuto described this week against Miami. Aaron Nola pitched seven scoreless innings in Game 2, 24 hours after Zack Wheeler allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings in Game 1. It is the second time Wheeler and Nola have thrown more than six innings and allowed one or fewer runs in back-to-back postseason games.
They also did that in the NL Wild Card Series last year.
“Wheeler and Nola,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “These guys are going to chase my dreams.”
“This sounds all too familiar,” Realmuto said.
Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner scored runs in the third inning to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Realmuto’s home run to left field in the fourth made it 3-0. Then the Phillies loaded the bases for Stott in the sixth.
“I stood at second base and laughed and smiled,” Bryce Harper said. “Just a really cool moment for him. I gave him a big hug and told him I loved him, man.”
This was the Phillies’ second champagne celebration in nine days. Last year they had four of them.
You have to come through Atlanta first.
“There are no secrets about who we are as teams,” Schwarber said. “You know who we are. We know who they are. It’s going to be a dog fight. There is no doubt about that.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson knows who will start Game 1, but he said he won’t announce it until he tells the pitchers involved. Left-hander Ranger Suárez is the favorite, although right-hander Taijuan Walker and left-hander Cristopher Sánchez are also options. Wheeler will start Game 2 on Monday. Nola will begin Game 3 next Wednesday.
The Braves are expected to start Spencer Strider in Game 1 and Max Fried in Game 2.
“We know what they can do, we know how good they are,” Realmuto said. “But we definitely won’t be intimidated by them. We feel like we’re a good fit for them. We go well together. We’re going to have to play really good baseball to beat them, but we have confidence in the guys in this clubhouse. If we go out there and play well, we’ll end up on top.”
Because the Phillies believe they are built for this.
“I just think we have guys in this clubhouse that have a lot of confidence,” Realmuto said. “You live for the big moment. You saw it up and down the lineup. We feel that from 1pm to 9pm everyone can get their work done on any given evening. We don’t have to rely on a particular player or a particular pitcher. I just feel like we have the depth to be successful in the postseason.”