On Thursday night, the Philadelphia Phillies got the job done again on home turf as they eliminated the Atlanta Braves with a 3-1 victory over their division rivals. The Phillies have played some exciting, high-tempo baseball throughout the NLDS, and it seemed like it was inevitable that it would come to this rightfully deserved conclusion, at least in the minds of Phillies fanatics.
Overall, despite solid contributions from throughout the Phillies’ lineup, four key players in particular helped fuel the Game 4 win.
Ranger Suárez
For the second start in a row, Ranger Suárez had to go head-to-head with Braves’ ace Spencer Strider, and once again, he delivered big time. Other than the one little blip on Austin Riley’s home run, Suárez was practically unhittable, as he would go five strong innings of just three-hit ball and leave the game with the Phillies up 2-1 heading into the sixth inning.
Suárez has continued his dominant postseason pitching, and with Thursday’s impressive performance, he now sports a 3-0 record, along with a 1.16 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, giving up only three earned runs with 19 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings of work as both a starter and reliever. Talk about coming up big when things matter most; Suárez has definitely risen to the occasion time after time for the ballclub.
Trea Turner
Trea Turner picked the perfect game to go off with his bat, as he would become the first Phillies player ever to have four hits in a single postseason game in the history of the franchise. No hit was bigger than his go-ahead solo blast in the bottom of the fifth inning that put the Phillies ahead for good, as it would end up being the game-winning hit.
After a season in which Turner got off to a terribly slow start, his turnaround during the second half of 2023 has now carried into the postseason. Coming off a hot NL Wild Card series against the Miami Marlins, Turner has continued his success during the NLDS. He hit .471 with a 1.441 OPS, along with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, two RBI, and two stolen bases. No doubt he was doing it all for the Phillies in helping them reach the NLCS for a second consecutive season.