With backs against wall in NLDS, Phillies believe in 'resilient' squad

NEW YORK – Phillies manager Rob Thomson needed to say something on Tuesday night, so he stepped into the clubhouse for a moment at Citi Field.

He reminded his players that they can do this.

This isn’t impossible.

“I told them it’s the most resilient club I’ve ever been around,” Thomson said, following a 7-2 loss to the Mets in Game 3 of the NL Division Series, giving New York a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. “That’s what they’re all about. They’re all about toughness and fighting and playing together. That’s what we need to do. Just focus on one game.”

It’s all they have. If the Phillies lose Game 4 on Wednesday, their season is finished long before they could have imagined when they got to Spring Training in Clearwater, Fla., in February.

The Phils reached Game 6 of the 2022 World Series and Game 7 of the 2023 NL Championship Series. They looked at those experiences as steps in a journey they hoped to complete this fall.

• Phillies-Mets NL Division Series Game 4 FAQ (Wed., 5 ET, FS1)

“Well, as a group, this is the closest to death we’re ever going to get,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said. “So, in a way, we should feel the most alive. We’re only promised tomorrow. This is what we’ve been working since Spring Training for – to have this opportunity. It’s just one more time to show out and leave everything on the field.

“However the dice is going to land, it’s going to land.”

Many things aren’t landing for the Phillies. Their power-packed offense has been listless, other than the final four innings in Game 2 when they scored seven runs. Their bullpen has allowed 12 runs in nine innings, blowing leads and turning small deficits into big ones.

In Game 3, the Phillies put three balls in play in the first inning at 106.3 mph or more. All three were outs.

“Obviously whenever you take good swings and get outs, it’s the way of the game sometimes,” Bryce Harper said. “But when you take those three swings, you’re thinking, ‘Hey, we’ve got a chance today to go out there and do some damage.’ But obviously [Mets left-hander Sean] Manaea went out there and threw a great game.”

The Mets took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, when Manaea walked Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to start the inning. Schwarber fell behind, 0-2, but he walked on the next four pitches. Turner saw four noncompetitive pitches in a five-pitch at-bat to put runners on first and second.

Harper stepped to the plate. He entered Game 3 with a career 1.024 OPS in the postseason. It was the third-highest OPS in postseason history (minimum 150 plate appearances) behind Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who both had a 1.214 career postseason OPS, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. But he had not hit well at Citi Field since he joined the Phillies in 2019, posting a .591 OPS in Queens.

Harper whiffed at a first-pitch changeup on the inner half of the plate for strike one. He swung and missed at a sweeper that barely touched the outside corner of the plate for strike two. He swung and missed at another sweeper well off the plate for strike three.

“First pitch, changeup – I thought it was a really good pitch to hit,” Harper said. “Then threw me two banger sliders, so ...”

"We really have a plan on Harper,” Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez said.

Plan or not, it was an uncharacteristically poor at-bat for Harper.

“I think that's just the situation, when he's trying to do too much,” Thomson said. “Trying to get the club – put the club on his shoulders.”

Castellanos lined into an inning-ending double play to end the inning.

“Disbelief?” Castellanos said. “No, because baseball is that game. Right? More just like, ‘[Shoot], I can’t believe that happened.’”

Everything unraveled from there.

Aaron Nola loaded the bases to start the bottom of the sixth. Orion Kerkering got Jose Iglesias to hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Edmundo Sosa, setting up a potential 4-2-3 double play with the infield playing in. But Sosa bobbled the ball. He got the forceout at home, but the bases remained loaded. Starling Marte followed with a two-out, two-run single to make it 4-0.

Manaea pitched a clean seventh on just seven pitches. The Mets promptly scored two more to make it 6-0.

It was over.

The Phillies’ season could be next. They will look to left-hander Ranger Suárez in Game 4. He hasn’t pitched well since mid-June, but he has pitched incredibly well the past two postseasons.

They hope he rediscovers that October magic at Citi Field.

But the Phillies’ offense needs to do its part, too.

“We have confidence in ourselves, but it's obviously frustrating too when you hit the ball on the screws right at somebody,” Turner said. “Then you're like, 'Well, what do I do now?' But that's the game we play. We have to battle tomorrow and keep grinding them out. … It’s win or go home tomorrow for us. But we believe we get it done. We have the right group and we're a good baseball team. Find a way.”

“I think right now it’s really important to embrace what the situation is: We lose, we’re going home,” Castellanos said. “Baseball is over for us. It’s a great opportunity. Because if we’re able to come in and scrape out a win here, I know that they do not want to go back to Philly for a Game 5.”