3 reasons Philadelphia Phillies pose a real threat to the Atlanta Braves
By Kevin Henry
ST. LOUIS — After sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals out of the Wild Card round, the Philadelphia Phillies now turn to a matchup with the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series.
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have plenty of familiarity with each other, with the Braves holding an 11-8 edge in the 19 regular-season meetings between the NL East rivals this season, outscoring Philadelphia 88-85 overall.
“We know them very well. We know it’s a good team. It’s going to be a tough series, but it’s going to be fun,” Philadelphia infielder Alec Bohm said after Saturday’s clinching win over the Cardinals. “Nobody said it was going to be easy. You gotta earn it. So, yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re going to go in there, and it’s going to be some competitive baseball.”
Why Philadelphia Phillies can beat Atlanta Braves in NLDS matchup
Confidence and recent play
While Atlanta stormed back to win the National League East, the Phillies have been fighting over the course of September to make sure they’re in the postseason. Now, the team enters Game 1 on Tuesday at Truist Park with plenty of confidence and what the team believes is a playoff-type atmosphere over the last two-plus weeks as they fought to earn the Wild Card berth.
Part of that confidence comes from a historic Wild Card Game 1 comeback against the Cardinals. Down 2-0 with one out in the ninth inning, Philadelphia roared back with six runs to post an eventual 6-3 victory and take the energy out of Busch Stadium.
“That’s kind of been our mentality, right? Just don’t quit,” Bohm said. “We’re playing every out, and I think at the end of the day, you don’t gotta look at the scoreboard. You get down a couple of runs early or whatever it may be, you just play the game.”