Shortly after the Philadelphia Phillies finished off the overmatched Miami Marlins in the best-of-three wild-card round of the National League playoffs Wednesday night, Major League Baseball released a social media post declaring the “Phillies Revenge Tour begins with sweep.”
If the Phillies are out for revenge, what are the Atlanta Braves playing for? If revenge is really a theme of this postseason — especially in the upcoming NL Division Series between Atlanta and Philadelphia — the boys from Dixie certainly own it.
It was just a year ago, remember, when the Phillies went all Gen. Sherman on the highly favored Braves and scorched them in four games in an NLDS. While that beatdown — which included losses of 9-1 and 8-3 for the Braves in the final two games — shouldn’t matter when the two begin another best-of-five series at 6:08 p.m. Saturday at Truist Park, if you’re a Braves fan, you hope it does.
The Phillies rode a wave of emotion to eliminate Atlanta (then went on to win the NL pennant before falling short against the Houston Astros in the World Series), and they did the same this week to put the Marlins away, winning 4-1 Tuesday and 7-1 Wednesday. The Braves appeared flat (or tired) in last year’s NLDS after having to surge late in the regular season to beat the New York Mets for the NL East Division title.
To turn the tables this year, the Braves — and their fans — must at least match the opposition’s energy. It’s an area the team too often lacked in past postseason flops, for whatever reason, but it’s hard to believe motivation will be an issue this time around.