The Phillies Play an NLDS Game in Two Days

Two days. We’re just two days away from postseason baseball at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies’ opponent is still unknown after the Brewers beat the Mets on Wednesday, forcing a third game in their wild card series. That’s huge for the Fightins, because whichever team wins will now have just one day to prepare for “four hours of hell” at the Bank.

We have a lot to discuss. Let’s get after it.

In the email today:

• 🍺 How Would the Phillies Match Up With the Brewers?

• 🏀 Sixers Training Camp Optimism Is Appropriately High

• ⚽️ Union Fall at Orlando City, Playoff Berth Slipping Away

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

In Wednesday’s newsletter and on the website, we took a look at how the Phillies fared against the Mets in the regular season in anticipation of a Mets/Phils NLDS. But the Mets Mett-ed hard on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, blowing a late lead and setting up a winner-take-all game three on Thursday.

It’s now just as likely that the Phils will face the Brew Crew in the NLDS. Here’s a look at the six games the teams played against each other this season. The Phillies won four and lost two.

Early June Series in Philadelphia

• Phillies 3 - Brewers 1. This was a classic Zack Wheeler game. His line: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. If Wheeler can do that in game one of the NLDS, the Phils should be in great shape.

• Phillies 2 - Brewers 1. The Phillies hit the Brewers with Cristopher Sanchez the next night, and he almost matched Wheeler’s performance: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.

• Phillies 2 - Brewers 0. Aaron Nola outdid both of his rotation mates in the series finale: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

  If the Phillies can hit the Brewers with the same 1-2-3 punch in the NLDS, it will likely be a short series.

Mid-September Series in Milwaukee

• Brewers 6 - Phillies 2. Brewers starter Aaron Civale outpitched Ranger Suarez in this one. Suarez allowed three runs in five innings, and Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks couldn’t stop the bleeding.

  Note that the Brewers held the Phillies to two runs for the third consecutive game between the two teams. The bats will need to do better in the NLDS.

• Phillies 5 - Brewers 1. The Phillies’ offense finally looked respectable in this one, courtesy of longballs by Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper. And Wheeler, once again, held the Brewers to just one run in seven innings.

  The Phillies would have to feel good about Wheeler in game one.

• Brewers 2 - Phillies 1. The Phils wasted seven great innings from Nola in this one, as the bats fell silent yet again.

Based on this recent history, expect runs to be at a premium for both teams if they face off in the NLDS.

So will it be the Brewers or the Mets? This time tomorrow we’ll know. And we’ll be just a day away from the start of another Red October in Philadelphia.

The vibes from Sixers training camp are way high. Granted, it’s not difficult to bring a positive attitude to work in the Bahamas in October.

There’s also the small (actually ginormous) matter of the addition by subtraction the Sixers managed by finally being rid of Tobias Harris. Sixers fans may yet someday bring a delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder class action resulting from Tobi’s tenure.

But that was then and this is now, baby!

Tobias Harris to Paul George is an upgrade that just doesn’t happen often enough in a lifetime.

Nurse is an extremely intelligent coach and can be quotable when it’s appropriate. Going into a new season with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and George as his top three options — with all of them healthy — has Nurse positively chatty. Nurse had the following to say to a klatch of reporters yesterday on a range of topics:

• On new members of the team: “I think the first part of that is I rally need some data to see what they can do. I never really like to put somebody in a small window or a small box.”

• On players coming from previous unfavorable situations: “I just think that sometimes there’s some guys with a lot more talent than maybe they show because they haven’t been given the opportunity to show it.”

• On Kelly Oubre Jr.: “He came back stronger, in shape, focused. He’s playing hard, but he just seems like he’s more mature and more comfortable, which is really nice.

Then there was this about rookie Jared McCain: “I continue to really like him. He’s got a really good IQ for the game. His toughness level is up there. He’s a scrapper.”

Obviously, every team has some combination of realistic championship dreams and delusions of grandeur in training camp. And it’s not like the Celtics got appreciably worse.

Still, even just based on very early buzz, this is the most upbeat Sixers training camp in many a year. Let’s just hope they stay healthy in paradise.

Two seasons ago, the Union won the Eastern Conference in MLS and came one late Gareth Bale goal (and then a hatful of missed PKs) from winning MLS Cup.

Many of that team’s key players still wear the Blue and Gold. Just last night, the Union had the same keeper (Andre Blake) and the same four defenders (Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner and Olivier Mbaizo) that started in the final two years ago. Daniel Gazdag and Mikkel Uhre were also out there last night in Orlando, as they had been in the final in Los Angeles two years ago.

Unfortunately, all of these players got two years older but definitely not two years better. Three of that MLS Cup team’s most valuable assets (Julian Carranza, Jose Martinez and Paxten Aaronson) are gone, sold to line Union ownership’s pockets to the direct detriment of the product on the field now.

The loss to Orlando City dropped the U to 10th in the current Eastern Conference standings. Regrettable, since the eighth and ninth seeds (presently, Montreal and Toronto) qualify for a play-in game. The winner of that game would get a first round, best-of-three series with Inter MIami and Lionel Messi.

Somehow, despite Saturday night’s draw with Atlanta and last night’s loss, it’s not over for the Union. They have 37 points through 32 matches. Montreal has 40 through 32 matches; the Union probably aren’t catching them for eighth.

But Toronto has 37 points through 33 matches. So the good news is that the Union have a match in hand. The bad news is that Toronto’s last match is against Inter Miami, who have sewn up the first seed and have nothing to play for against Toronto.

Meanwhile, the Union play at Columbus (second in the conference) and home against Cincinnati (third in the conference) to close out the season.

A lot can still happen to see the Union sneak into the playoffs, though it’s doubtful they’d be especially competitive if they got there.

It’s so tough to think about how close the Union were to the top of the mountain two short seasons ago, and how cold and dark it is in the shadow of the mountain now.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On October 3, 2022, the Phillies clinched a postseason berth for the first time in 11 years. In Houston, against the eventual World Series champs, Aaron Nola took a perfect game into the seventh inning. Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run. Bryson Stott and Schwarber both homered in the eighth. The Phils won 3-0, and the celebration was on.

📊 Poll

Results from Tuesday:

🔗 Links

• ⬇️ Depending on who you talk to, the Astros either ran out of luck or just couldn’t cheat enough any more, and are out of the playoffs.

• 🟧 The Orioles are also out after scoring all of one run in 18 innings at Camden Yards against the Royals.

• 📉 Mets starter Sean Manaea’s five inning, two-run start against the Brewers last night brought his postseason ERA down to 10.66.

• 🏥 The Braves’ injury-plagued season ended in San Diego. What a shame!

• ♀️Sue Bird doesn’t think racism in the WNBA started with Caitlin Clark.

📺 Coming Up

No games for the locals before our next send.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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