NLDS Game 3: Phillies Postseason Baseball is back at Citizens Bank Park, Nola on the bump vs Braves Spencer Strider
The Philadelphia Phillies are finally home after spending 18 nights on the road, with stops in Chicago, DC, Houston, St. Louis, and Atlanta.
Citizens Bank Park, after 11 years, will welcome the Fightins back home for postseason baseball in mid-October. Much like the entire Phillies season, the last 18 nights on the road were filled with highs and lows. They got swept by the lowly Chicago Cubs before taking three-of-four from the Nationals.
They sent Aaron Nola, a pitcher heavily criticized for his late-season performances to the mound in Houston to punch the Phillies’ tickets to the NL Wild Card and he answered the call, throwing 6.2 innings and allowing just two hits while striking out nine Astros hitters.
Philadelphia then went into “Baseball Heaven” in the Wild Card round and swept the St. Louis Cardinals out of the postseason. Again, Nola was on the mound to punch the Phillies’ ticket to the NLDS. He threw 6.2 innings, allowing just four hits and a walk, while striking out six Cardinals.
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Philadelphia continued their road trip and went into NL East rival Atlanta with Ranger Suarez on the mound against the Braves’ ace Max Friend. The Phillies jumped all over Fried with Nick Castellanos going 3-for-5 from the plate with 3 RBI. Harper had three hits in Game 1 as well, with Segura adding two, while Hoskins, Realmuto, Bohm, and Sosa all recording hits of their own.
In Game 2, the Phillies had the perfect opportunity to take a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Braves, but Wheeler ran into some trouble late and got zero help from Rhys Hoskins or the offense and the Fightins lost 3-0 in a rain delayed mess in Atlanta.
Now, we’re back home.
Aaron Nola will yet again take the mound, looking to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 2-1 lead over the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park today at 4:35PM. During the regular season, Aaron Nola has made five starts against the Braves, going 2-3 with a 3.67 ERA and 41 strikeouts.
Aaron Nola vs Braves (2022)
Here’s The Issue: The Philadelphia Phillies got absolutely DOMINATED by Spencer Strider this season.
Strider is 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA against the Phillies with 34 strikeouts. In all four appearances, he never let up more than a single earned run and his last two, (8/2 and 9/18) he struck out a combined 23 batters.
Phillies vs Spencer Strider (2022)
- Kyle Schwarber: 1-8 (HR)
- Rhys Hoskins: 0-9
- Bryce Harper: 0-4
- JT Realmuto: 0-5
- Nick Castellanos: 1-6
- Alec Bohm: 3-9, HR, RBI
- Jean Segura: 0-3
- Bryson Stott: 0-7
- Matt Vierling: 0-4
- Brandon marsh: 0-2
Good News: Strider isn’t expected to pitch more than two or three innings in this game. He hasn’t pitched in almost a month. He’s dealing with an injury and couldn’t even do a rehab assignment because the minor league seasons ended. The Braves have also named Charlie Morton as the Game 4 starter on Saturday. The Phillies have yet to name a starter.
Braves vs Phillies Odds
| TEAM | SPREAD | MONEY | TOTAL |
| Atlanta Braves | -1.5 (+164) | -104 | O 6.5 (-128) |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +1.5 (-200) | -112 | U 6.5 (+104) |
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Let me be clear, I do not care about Spencer Strider or how well he has pitched against the Philadelphia Phillies during the regular season. This is the postseason. None of that matters now.
Phillies win Game 3 behind Aaron Nola. We’ll worry about Game 4 tomorrow.
Prediction: Phillies ML (-112) | O 6.5 (-128)
