Phillies defeat defending champion Atlanta to advance to NLCS for 1st time since 2010
Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer and J.T. Realmuto lined an inside-the-park home run that sent the Philadelphia Phillies bolting headfirst into the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2010 with an 8-3 win over Atlanta in Game 4 Saturday.
Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an inside-the-parker in post-season history and Bryce Harper punctuated the romp with a clinching home run that helped the Phillies take the NL Division Series 3-1 against the World Series champion.
Atlanta's loss meant Major League Baseball hasn't had a repeat champ since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.
Philadelphia finished third in the NL East, 14 games behind the 101-win Atlanta club this season, but now is hitting on all cylinders under manager Rob Thomson. He took over for the fired Joe Girardi and transformed a team that was 22-29 in early June.
And the Phillies used a dose of Marsh Madness to keep the party rolling in October.
Heck, call it Mash Madness, as the Phillies turned Citizens Bank Park into a cozy home bandbox for the second straight game — and with another fired-up, towel-waving crowd along for every long ball.
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton was hit on his pitching elbow by Alec Bohm's single traveling 71.9 mph to lead off the inning. After being checked, Morton allowed a single to Jean Segura and hung a 2-2 curveball that the No. 9 hitter Marsh launched deep into the right field seats for a 3-0 lead.
THIS IS MARSH!!!!!!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Postseason?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Postseason</a> <a href="https://t.co/xOitZ3UPts">pic.twitter.com/xOitZ3UPts</a>
The 24-year-old Marsh is known as much for his stringy hair and ZZ Top-esque beard as he is for being one of
