Forget Game 3. It's in the past now.
The Phillies need to win back-to-back games to keep their World Series hopes alive. All season long this squad has been able to operate with a short memory. Wednesday night's Game 4 should be no different.
"We have to battle tomorrow and keep grinding them out," shortstop Trea Turner said following a deflating 7-2 loss to the Mets to fall behind in the NLDS. "It’s win or go home tomorrow for us. But we believe we get it done."
During the regular season, the Phillies' offense turned things around 13 different times, going from two or less runs to six or more runs the following game. They won back-to-back games 49 times as they totaled the second most wins in all of the majors (95). But there is very little precedent for what the will need to do this week.
Dating back to the Chase Utley-Ryan Howard-Jimmy Rollins days, the Phillies did not face a do-or-die game during the World Series run in 2008.
The last time they won in a win-or-go-home game was in 2010, when the Phillies trailed the Giants 3-1 in the NLCS. They got a Roy Halladay win in Game 5 in San Francisco to force a Game 6. But they would fall two days later in a 3-2 loss at home.
They had a similar instance in the World Series a year earlier, as they fended off the Yankees with a Game 5 win before faltering in the Bronx in Game 6.
Since the turn of the century, the Phillies are 2-6 in elimination games. They have not overcome a late series deficit to advance. Last year they had one elimination scenario, Game 7 against the Diamondbacks. We all know how that one ended up. They also lost the World Series in 2022 in a decisive Game 6, trailing in the series 3-2.
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A look at their last eight elimination games:
• NLCS Game 7, 2023 vs. Diamondbacks — 4-2 loss
• World Series Game 6, 2022 at Astros — 4-1 loss
• NLDS Game 5, 2011 vs. Cardinals — 1-0 loss
• NLCS Game 6, 2010 vs. Giants — 3-2 loss
• NLCS Game 5, 2010 at Giants — 4-2 win
• World Series Game 6, 2009 at Yankees — 7-3 loss
• World Series Game 5, 2009 vs. Yankees — 8-6 win
• NLDS Game 3, 2007 at Rockies — 2-1 loss
Frankly, we don't really know how the Phillies will respond. But they know the stakes.
“Well as a group, this is the closest to death we’re ever gonna get,” Nick Castellanos said. “So in a way, we should feel the most alive. We’re only promised tomorrow, and 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 and however the dice is gonna land it’s gonna land.”
Ranger Suárez will face off against José Quintana in Game 4 at Citi Field. You can be sure the Phils will have Suárez on a short leash, as they'll be willing to pull out all the stops to live to fight in Game 5, which would take place back in Philadelphia on Friday if necessary. Quintana is a lefty, which will once again challenge the Phillies lineup.
Does the Phillies 2024 story end with a premature fizzle? Or can they fight for their lives?
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