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| 5:08 PM PT6:08 PM MT7:08 PM CT8:08 PM ET20:08 ET0:08 GMT8:08 5:08 PM MST7:08 PM EST7:38 PM VEN4:08 UAE (+1)6:08 PM CT, October 3, 2023 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 45,662 |
Phillies host Marlins, aiming to repeat 2022 run
Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies
- The Marlins were 7-6 against the Phillies this season (3-4 in Miami, 4-2 in Philadelphia). Nine of the 13 games between the two clubs this year were decided by a one or two-run margin. The Marlins outhomered the Phillies, 18-15, in their head-to-head games this season. Against all other teams, Miami hit 148 home runs and Philadelphia hit 205.
- The Marlins scored 668 runs this season, the fewest of any NL team and fifth fewest in the majors. They are the first team in MLB history to reach postseason play in a season in which they finished last in their league in runs scored.
- Jesus Luzardo had 208 strikeouts this season, second most in the majors by a left-handed pitcher behind Blake Snell (234). Luzardo allowed 21 home runs in his first 25 starts this season (137.1 innings) but only one homer in seven starts after that (41.1 innings).
- The Phillies hit at least one home run in 39 of their last 42 games this season. Philadelphia's total of 83 home runs during that stretch (Aug. 16-Oct. 1) was the highest in the majors. Kyle Schwarber (17), Bryce Harper (14) and Trea Turner (14) accounted for 45 of those homers.
- Kyle Schwarber set MLB records this year for most home runs (47), runs scored (108), runs batted in (104), hits (115), walks (126) and strikeouts (215) by a player in a season in which his batting average was below .200 (Schwarber hit .197). Schwarber's 160 games played in 2023 tied the MLB record for a player in a season in which he hit under the Mendoza Line.
- Zack Wheeler has had 38 games over the last three seasons in which he pitched at least six innings and allowed no more than one run (14 in 2021, 11 in 2022, 13 this year), which ties him with Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole for the major-league high.
If last year's success was any indication of what the Philadelphia Phillies can do with a wild-card berth, the Miami Marlins could be in some serious trouble.
Philadelphia will look to replicate its playoff run from a season ago, and it will begin its journey on Tuesday when it hosts Miami in Game 1 of a best-of-three National League wild-card series.
The Phillies are coming off a 90-72 finish in the regular season that allowed them to lock down the NL's top wild-card position after grabbing the third and final spot in 2022.
While it might not have been presented with the most favorable draw last year, Philadelphia thrived, going all the way to the World Series and coming within two wins of its first championship since 2008.
But what's in the past is in the past, and the Phillies know they have to prove themselves once again.
"Nothing is going to be easy," Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber said. "They're all really good teams in the postseason. Miami is a really good team. We've got to do what we do."
Right-hander Zack Wheeler (13-6, 3.61 ERA) will look to help the Phillies get off to a fast start when he takes the mound for Game 1.
Wheeler made his final start of the regular season on Thursday, allowing one run on four hits in four innings to take a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 22 career starts against the Marlins, Wheeler is 10-4 with a 2.48 ERA. He has never faced Miami in the postseason, where he has gone 1-3 with 2.78 ERA in six starts overall.
Left-hander Jesus Luzardo (10-9, 3.63) will get the start for the Marlins, who went 84-77 to grab the NL's second wild card.
In his last outing of the regular season, Luzardo gave up one run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings against the New York Mets on Thursday. He didn't earn a decision, though, as the game was suspended in the ninth and never made up.
Luzardo is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA in five career starts against the Phillies. He hasn't faced Philadelphia in the playoffs, where he has struggled, going 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA in three appearances (two starts).
Miami finds itself in unfamiliar territory, as it heads to the playoffs in a regulation-length season for the first time since 2003 when they won the World Series as the Florida Marlins. The team didn't return to the postseason until the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Although Miami will be thrown into a hostile environment right out of the gate, manager Skip Schumaker believes his team is ready for the challenge.
"This is one of the better places to play, just because the fans are so passionate," Schumaker said of Philadelphia, where he faced the Phillies in the NL Division Series in 2011 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. "It's a special place.
"If you don't have a little bit of nerves, that means you don't care. ... I know that these guys are really excited, they'll probably be a little bit nervous, and that's OK, but I think there's more excitement than nerves."
Schumaker said second baseman Luis Arraez, the NL batting champion, should be good to go for Game 1 after being hampered by an ankle injury.
Arraez hit .354 during the regular season.
--Field Level Media
Updated October 3, 2023
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