It’s crazy. It’s the playoffs. The baseball playoffs. Football’s great, and basketball’s beautiful, but there’s nothing else like playoff baseball.

A team that earned the sixth seed — the third wild-card spot — now sits four wins away from a World Series berth. If the Phillies win the World Series, they would be the third-worst team (by winning percentage) to win it all, behind the 2006 Cardinals, whom they swept, 2-0, last weekend in the wild-card round, and the 1987 Twins.

Don’t doubt them.

Consider how they did what they’ve done.

They fired famous manager Joe Girardi on June 3, promoted anonymous third base coach Rob Thomson, and caught fire. They lost, for extended periods, their second baseman, their ace, and their closer; they cut their setup man; and they played almost the entire season with Bryce Harper, the reigning MVP, either out (thumb) or diminished (elbow).

Now, they’re 5-1 in the playoffs, and their only loss was with their ace on the mound. Crazy, yes, but remember: Red Octobers never make sense.

» READ MORE: Red October returns: Phillies revel in postseason magic behind J.T Realmuto, Bryce Harper, & the bullpen

— Marcus Hayes

In outlining the Phillies’ pitching plans for Game 4 of the National League Division Series, manager Rob Thomson kept it simple.

“Everybody’s available,” he said Saturday morning.

That included Zack Wheeler, apparently.

Never mind that Wheeler started Game 2 on Wednesday night, or that he was a possibility to start a potential winner-takes-all Game 5 on short rest Sunday back in Atlanta. If the Phillies needed their ace for a few outs in relief Saturday, they were ready to call on him.

It wasn’t necessary. For a second game in a row, the Phillies poured on the offense. Wheeler never had to go to the bullpen, and now, after the Phillies vanquished the Atlanta Braves — 8-3 in the game, 3-1 in the best-of-five series — Wheeler is available to start Game 1 of the NL Championship Series on Tuesday night.

Perfect, isn’t it?

» READ MORE: Phillies’ NLCS rotation lines up with Zack Wheeler to start Game 1

— Scott Lauber

Bryce Harper delivered an answer during his postgame press conference that showed not only how in touch he is with the Philly fan base, but how simple it is to actually win that fan base over. Here’s harper breaking it down.

A newcomer, unlike Harper, Kyle Schwarber also had glowing things to say about Phillies fans following the win — and he should know a thing or two about passionate fan bases.

As did Rhys Hoskins, while getting beer poured down his back.

— Matt Mullin

No matter who wins the other NLDS series between the Padres and Dodgers, the Phillies know where their road games will take place. And it doesn’t seem like they mind.

— Matt Mullin

All season, people wondered where the crowds were. The same thing happened in 2007 and 2008. Give this city a reason to believe, and they’ll suddenly be there with a volume and presence that will surpass your wildest imagination.

The Phillies have been building to this point all season.

They have overcome injuries and adversity and eight games under .500 and a September swoon that momentarily left everybody thinking that the real Phillies had finally arrived. The players who changed it were the ones who most deserved to: Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper.

They walked into St. Louis and won two games. They walked into Atlanta and beat the defending champs and their No. 1 starter in Game 1. And they’ve spent the last two days shattering any doubts that might have remained.

Give them credit as a team. They deserve all of it.

» READ MORE: Three thoughts on the Phillies’ first trip to the NLCS since 2010: A new era has dawned

— David Murphy

The Phillies have a postgame playlist for after they win, and they wasted little time getting into what has become their victory song after knocking off the Braves...

— Matt Mullin

“The Atlanta Braves will not be in the World Series this year!”

With those words, the MC at Xfinity Live! introduced “Hit The Road Jack” by Georgia native Ray Charles and the crowd could not contain itself after the Phillies clinches the series against the Atlanta Braves and advanced to the National League Championship in the first time in over a decade.

— Abraham Gutman

If we’ve learned anything from the 2022 Phillies, it’s that meaningful contributions can come from the unlikeliest of places.

Saturday’s win put that premise to the test and proved it correct. Getting 27 outs was not going to be easy without the ability to start Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler, the Phillies’ most reliable starting pitchers, but Noah Syndergaard stepped up. In his first postseason appearance since 2016, he gave the Phillies three innings, allowing one hit — a solo home run to Orlando Arcia — and no walks with three strikeouts.

Brandon Marsh went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. J.T. Realmuto hit what would be a double or a triple for a slower runner and turned it into an inside-the-park home run in the third inning. Reliever Andrew Bellatti came in after Syndergaard in the fourth inning, gave up another solo home run, and struck out Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley to stop the damage. Brad Hand and Zach Eflin collectively gave the Phillies 2⅓ scoreless innings, and Jose Alvarado, like Syndergaard, allowed just one hit — a home run — and retired the rest.

The Phillies got contributions from their heavy hitters — Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Realmuto, who all had RBI singles, and Harper hit a solo home run in the eighth inning — but the underbelly of this win was their unsung heroes.

» READ MORE: Phillies close out Braves with a 8-3 victory to advance to first NLCS since 2010

— Alex Coffey

Here is the Phillies’ National League Championship Series schedule, which will continue to air on Fox or FS1. They will play the winner of the other NLDS series between the Dodgers and Padres.

While Phillies playoff games won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, they will be carried on 94.1 WIP throughout their playoff run, with Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen on the call.

» READ MORE: Phillies National League Championship Series: Schedule, tickets, and everything else you need to know

— Rob Tornoe

For the first time since 2010, the Phillies are headed back to the National League Championship Series after their 8-3 win over Atlanta on Saturday afternoon gave them a 3-1 NLDS win. They’ll face the winner of the other NLDS series between the Dodgers and Padres, who play in Game 4 tonight.

Here’s final out:

— Matt Mullin

Bryce Harper hit his third homer of the postseason at the bottom of the eighth, extending the Phils’ lead 8-3. The slugger gave the crowd something more to rally about.

The Phillies are just three outs away from the National League Championship Series with Seranthony Domínguez closing it out on the mound.

— Isabella DiAmore

Is this the same ballpark that Braves manager Brian Snitker referred to as a “so-called hostile environment?” Tell that to Ken Rosenthal’s phone...

— Matt Mullin

Following a three-run sixth inning for the Phillies, the Braves got one back early in the seventh thanks to their third solo home run of the day, this one coming from former Phillies prospect Travis d’Arnaud.

Things could’ve gotten worse, but a sharp play from rookie shortstop Bryson Stott — that was confirmed after Atlanta challenged — got the second out of the inning and more importantly kept the bases clear.

That was it for Jose Alvarado, who allowed a run in an inning and a third. Bring on Zach Eflin, who struck out William Contreras to end the inning and put the Phillies six outs from advancing.

— Matt Mullin

The Phillies got themselves the insurance they needed in the sixth inning, extending what was a 4-2 lead to a 7-2 lead thanks to the heart of their order.

It started with a Rhys Hoskins fly ball to right field that scored Jean Segura, who stole second base, and advanced Kyle Schwarber to third.

Then J.T. Realmuto hits a soft ground ball that the Braves infielders couldn’t get to in time, allowing Realmuto to beat out the throw and scoring Schwarber.

But the cherry on top was when Bryce Harper stepped on the plate to bat. The crowd was chanting “MVP…MVP” — and the reigning National League MVP delivered, hitting a single on the ground through the left side of the infield, scoring Hoskins.

— Isabella DiAmore

Philly sports fandom is no joke in Kelly Fisher’s family.

Her parents named her for the original (and making a comeback) Philadelphia Eagles color, Kelly green.

Rocking a Phanatic head piece and sipping a drink next to her mom at the outdoor Xfinity Live! bar, she said the Phillies’ playoff run, “means the world to the city. It means the world to my family.”

Fisher, who works as a graphic designer in Center City, noticed a shift in the city’s attitudes in recent weeks. Instead of generic greetings in the office, co-workers are opting for, “go Phils!” or “Go Birds!”

”We’re all sports energy,” she said. “It’s electric.”

— Abraham Gutman

J.T. Realmuto hit the first inside-the-park home run by a catcher in playoff history in the third inning.

Of course he did.

In case you’d forgotten, the baseball playoffs are the best playoffs. Every pitch matters, a hero lurks around every corner, and you expect the unexpected.

Rhys Hoskins absolved himself of all his sins with a three-run, bat-spike homer that blew open Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Friday.

Same night, Aaron Nola, who’d failed in other autumns, notched a third straight lock-down start: He cliched the wild-card berth, clinched the 2-0 sweep of the wild-card round, then dominated Friday, too.

Same night, rookie No. 9 hitter Bryson Stott’s put together a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with an RBI double and started the six-run third inning.

Saturday, No. 8 hitter Brandon Marsh, acquired from the Angels to play center field, launched a three-run homer in the second.

Next inning, Realmuto drove a pitch 407 feet, off the 409-foot, angled left-center field wall. It caromed, and Realmuto, an option quarterback in high school back in Oklahoma, showed off his speed. By the time he reached second base, third base coach Dusty Wathan was waving him home. Realmuto slid in headfirst, but he made it by a mile.

He popped up and exchanged bash-brothers forearm smashes with Bryce Harper. He’d staked the Phillies to what seemed to be an insurmountable 4-1 lead.

Hyperbole? Sure.

That’s just playoff baseball.

— Marcus Hayes

J.T. Realmuto greeted new Braves pitcher Collin McHugh, who took over for Charlie Morton, with an inside-the-park home run on an 81.9 mph slider for a 4-1 Phillies lead in the third inning. It is Realmuto’s first homer of the postseason.

— Isabella DiAmore

The Braves received just two innings from their starter as Charlie Morton left the game after warming up before the third inning, appearing to be in discomfort about Alec Bohm hit a line drive off the pitcher’s elbow an inning earlier.

The Phillies tagged Morton for three runs after Bohm’s liner hit him to start the second inning. Jean Segura singled and Brandon Marsh homered to right, sending the ballpark into a frenzy. Atlanta will need some heavy lifting from their bullpen as should the Phillies as it’s uncertain if Noah Syndergaard will start the fourth inning.

— Matt Breen

After a slow first inning, where the Phillies struggled to get a hit off Charlie Morton’s fastball, Alec Bohm got the momentum going in the second.

He hit a single that was deflected off Morton. Jean Segura then punched a single on the ground through center that gave Bohm some time to get to third base.

But the crowd really got going when Brandon Marsh slammed his first homer of the postseason out to right field, scoring Segura and Bohm for a 3-0 Phillies lead.

— Isabella DiAmore

It looks like the Phillies’ first postseason run in more than a decade is good for TV ratings.

Despite being delayed nearly three hours by rain, the Phillies’ Game 2 loss in Atlanta to the Braves drew nearly 4.2 million viewers on Fox, the most-watched Game 2 in a divisional series since 2018, according to the network.

Game 2′s ratings were up 83% compared to last year’s Game 2 between the Braves and Brewers on Saturday on TBS (though that game aired at 5 p.m.).The Phillies’ Game 1 win on Thursday averaged 2.83 million viewers on Fox, which is up 34% from last year’s Braves-Brewers opener on a Friday afternoon on TBS, according to Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis.

Game 3′s ratings on FS1 Friday night weren’t immediately available. This is the first postseason Fox is airing divisional series games since 2006.

— Rob Tornoe

That’s what Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before today’s game. But are they? Really?

Even Zack Wheeler?

That makes no sense. Better to save him to start on short rest if a Game 5 is necessary Sunday.

All hands on deck? No. No way. This isn’t an elimination game.

Nevertheless, Thomson said that every pitcher (except Friday’s starter, Aaron Nola) is available to pitch Saturday in Game 4 of the National League Division Series? Fourth starter Noah Syndergaard won’t be asked to pitch past the third or fourth inning. None of the regular relievers are unavailable.

A win puts the Phillies in the National League Championship Series for the first time in 12 years ... but does it really make sense to use Wheeler? This is a day when he’d usually throw a bullpen session, so it’s not as if he wouldn’t be throwing at all.

Then again, in 197 games, Wheeler has never pitched out of the bullpen.

It makes much more sense to save Wheeler to face Braves ace Max Fried in Game 5 on Sunday if the Phillies lose today. He’s never pitched on three days’ rest, either.

He also was unable to pitch from Aug. 21-Sept. 20 due to right elbow soreness, but he threw just 79 pitches in his six innings Wednesday in Game 2 in Atlanta. In the 18 starts before his injury, he averaged more than 98 pitches per outing. He threw 96 pitches in Game 1 of the wild-card round series on Oct. 7 in St Louis. He should be fine for 80 pitches on Sunday.

And, yes, if the Phillies eventually win the NLDS, starting him on Sunday on three days’ rest would make Wheeler unavailable in the NLCS on regular rest until Game 3 on Friday. He then would be unavailable to start until Game 7, and that would be on three days’ rest, too.

What message does “all hands on deck” send to this team? Are the Phillies scared to face Fried? Why? They just scored six runs and knocked him from the game after 10 outs in Game 1 on Tuesday.

If Wheeler pitches, say, two of the middle innings in Game 4 he’d still be available to start Game 1 of the NLCS on Tuesday. He’d have two days of rest after throwing, say, 30 pitches, the equivalent of a bullpen session. But if Wheeler is pitching in the middle innings of Game 4, the game will be tight, and therefore in question, and if the Phillies lose, they wouldn’t have Wheeler available at all for Game 5.

Frankly, it makes more sense to avoid Wheeler at all costs. Every Phillies reliever is available, so asking a starter to pitch in relief only seems likely if the game goes into extra innings.

At any rate, if the Phillies need an arm, there’s a much better option than Wheeler.

They should bring in lefty Ranger Suárez. In fact, why not stack him to follow Syndergaard? Why not make that the plan? Seems less extreme than asking an ace with no bullpen experience to pitch in a game on two days’ rest.

After all, 68 of Suárez’s 83 appearances from 2018-21 were bullpen appearances. He knows how to relieve. Wheeler doesn’t.

For another, the lefties in the Braves’ lineup don’t hit Suárez hard. Slugger Matt Olson is 4-for-12 with no homers. Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Harris is 0-for-11. Eddie Rosario, the No. 9 hitter, has never faced Suárez.

None of this might matter.

The bullpen is fresh and available.

And the Phillies might score 10 runs in the first three innings. They’ve been clobbering 38-year-old Braves starter Charlie Morton: In Morton’s five starts against the Phillies this season they hit .301 with a 5.47 ERA, both by far the worst of any opponent Morton faced more than once.

So yeah, Thomson might just be blowing smoke.

Maybe he’ll just plant Wheeler in the ‘pen to mess with Braves manager Brian Snitker’s mind.

— Marcus Hayes

— Alex Coffey

Ian Rapoport is one of the go-to sources on social media for information about the NFL. But the NFL Network insider might have Philadelphia sports fans turning more to Adam Schefter’s feed thanks to his comments during the Phillies’ win over the Braves Friday night.

Rapoport is a longtime Mets fan, and it appears he’s still disappointed at New York’s epic collapse this season, going from 10.5 games up in the NL East to an early playoff exit during the wild-card round.

I wonder if Rapoport is friends with WFAN’s Sal Licata, who has been raked over the coals in recent weeks after declaring the Mets would win the NL East way back in May.

”You don’t need me to tell you this but I’m gonna tell you anyway, the NL East is over,” Licata said at the time. “That’s right. It’s a wrap. No one is touching the Mets. Tweet me the hate all you want about the jinx. Nonsense. The Mets will be National League Eastern Division champs and I don’t even think the Braves are gonna challenge them.”

— Rob Tornoe

David Robertson hasn’t thrown from a mound yet since he strained his calf while celebrating Bryce Harper’s home run in Game 2 of the wild-card series.

But the Phillies veteran reliever thinks he’s closer to being ready to pitch.

In time for the National League Championship Series, which begins Tuesday?

”Let’s get to Tuesday,” Robertson said Saturday.

The Phillies are on the brink of reaching the NLCS for the first time since 2010. They must win one of the next two games to eliminate the World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the best-of-five divisional round.

Robertson received an injection Monday and has been throwing from flat ground. He’s a key member of the Phillies’ late-inning bullpen mix, with Seranthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, and Zach Eflin.

”I’m doing everything they tell me to,” Robertson said. “I want to be active. I didn’t play all these games this year just to sit out and only get one appearance.”

Robertson said it’s “embarrassing” that he was injured while jumping up and down in the bullpen after Harper’s homer in the second inning last Saturday night in St. Louis.

”It was an awesome home run,” he said. “I just need to stay within my limits.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ David Robertson getting closer to return, but status for NLCS uncertain

—Scott Lauber

Rob Thomson decided to go with Noah Syndergaard to start Game 4 for the Phillies on Saturday over other options like Bailey Falter.

Syndergaard has been used in a variety of roles over the past few weeks. He was acquired by the Phillies at the trade deadline with the intention of working out of the rotation.

He came in as a reliever in Game 2 against the Braves, pitching a scoreless eighth inning with one walk, one strikeout, and two flyouts.

”I just like the way he’s been pitching lately and he’s getting a lot of soft contact, got playoff experience,” Thomson said. “I’m not sure how long we can go with him because he hasn’t started for a couple of weeks.

”I think if we can get three plus innings out of him I’d be really happy with it.”

If there’s a Game 5 Thomson said it’s a possibility that Zack Wheeler, who started Game 2 against the Braves, would be the starting pitcher, but besides Aaron Nola, who started in Game 3 on the mound, everybody’s available to pitch today, including Wheeler.

— Isabella DiAmore

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins led of the game with a homerun against Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley. Phillies’ pitchers Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge took care of the rest and the Phillies advanced to the World Series with a 5-1 win over the Dodgers on this date 14 years ago.

What followed, of course, would be the Phils’ first Major League title in 28 years.

The Dodgers’ series was packed with high drama, the signature moment occurring two nights earlier when Matt Stairs launched a pinch-hit, eighth-inning homer that sealed game four for the Phillies.

It was reminiscent of another monumental homer that happened to occur on an Oct. 15. In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium, a hobbled Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off pinch-hit homer that propelled Los Angeles to a stunning sweep of the favored Oakland Athletics.

The final game of that 2008 series ended less dramatically, with Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz catching a foul pop-up. Then the champagne popped in the Phillies clubhouse.

—Anthony R. Wood

Don’t be surprised if Game 4 of the Phillies-Braves series outdoes Game 3 for long balls.

For starters, the Phils’ Noah Syndegaard and Atlanta’s Charlie Morton, won’t be confused with Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler, Max Fried, or Kyle Wright. And for homers the Braves and Phillies finished the regular season at No. 2 and No. 6 respectively among the 30 Major League teams.

But hitters also might get a subtle lift from the atmosphere on another wish-we-could-bottle-it October day. Winds from the south this afternoon will be blowing lightly out to right-center.

It will be sunnier at the ballpark than it was for Friday’s game, and it will be a few degrees warmer. Plus, the air will be holding a bit more moisture, with subtly higher humidities and dewpoints.

Water molecules tend to lighten the air since they are lighter than other elements in the atmosphere, notes D.J. Pisano, an inveterate baseball fan who is chairman of the physics and astronomy department at West Virginia University.

If you’re sitting in the outfield seats, it wouldn’t hurt to bring a glove.

—Anthony R. Wood.

A half hour after the final out, Bryce Harper was still buzzing. Sitting behind a table in the postgame interview room, his red Phillies snapback hat turned backwards atop his head, the slugger looked down in amazements at the goosebumps on his arms.

“I mean, the crowd tonight was incredible,” Harper said after the Phillies’ set up a potential Game 4 clinch with a 9-1 win over the Braves in the first postseason game Citizens Bank Park in 11 years. “Absolutely insane. Electric. Nothing that I could have ever dreamed about. It was whoa. It was chills again because that was unbelievably cool. I hope it’s like that for the next two weeks.”

Yes, he said two weeks. Yes, he said it intentionally. And, right now, you have to believe he means it.

How could he not after a remarkable Friday night that saw a sold-out crowd combust for eight-and-a-half innings as the Phillies pounced on the Braves and never let up? The energy reached hysterical levels long before Rhys Hoskins’ three-run home run broke the game open in the fourth inning, aided in part by Shane Victorino’s ceremonial first pitch and the accompanying video board clip of the Phillies legend’s grand slam off of C.C. Sabathia in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

“God, it was loud,” Hoskins said.

“So loud,” Harper concurred.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper couldn’t stop gushing about the home crowd in Game 3. Imagine a Game 4 clinch?

— David Murphy

Years from now, when they roll highlights from the 2022 Phillies’ postseason run, the clip of Rhys Hoskins demolishing a ball into the left-field seats, raising both arms, and spiking his bat — and let’s be clear: this was a Jalen Hurts-quality spike — will play prominently.

It should. Aside from being the clutchest hit of Hoskins’ career, it sent the Phillies on the way to a 9-1 thrashing of the Atlanta Braves on Friday in Game 3 of the best-of-five National League Division Series and may prove to be the blast that broke the defending World Series champions.

Talk about an instantly iconic Philadelphia sports moment.

Here it is from a different angle:

Delirium turned into bedlam with Hoskins’ three-run homer and sprint around the bases. The first baseman was 1-for-18 with six strikeouts in the playoffs. A ball went underneath his glove at a critical moment of Game 2. He heard a smattering of boos when his name was called during pregame introductions.

But now, Hoskins leaped in the air and smashed elbows with Stott. He slapped hands with Kyle Schwarber. The crowd stood. Red rally towels waved.

» READ MORE: Phillies ride Bryson Stott, Rhys Hoskins, and Aaron Nola to 9-1 rout of Braves and move one win from NLCS

— Scott Lauber

What channel is Phillies-Braves on?

Phillies-Braves Game 4 is scheduled to begin at 2:07 p.m. Eastern on FS1.

Calling the Phillies-Braves series for Fox is Joe Davis, the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Spectrum SportsNet LA. He’s joined by Hall of Famer John Smoltz, with Ken Rosenthal reporting from Citizens Bank Park.

There’s also longtime Phillies announcers Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen, who will be calling the game on 94.1 WIP. The duo have worked together in the booth since 2006, and Franzke had a terrific call Friday on Rhys Hoskins’ emphatic third-inning homerun.

Bill Kulik and Oscar Budejen will broadcast Phillies-Braves in Spanish on La Unika 1680 AM. The game will also air on TV in Spanish on Fox Deportes, with Carlos Alvarez and Jaime Motta on the call.

Where can I stream Phillies-Braves?

Phillies-Braves will stream on the Fox Sports app, though it will only be available to those with a cable subscription.

The game will also stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries Fox, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

» READ MORE: Phillies-Braves Game 4: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream MLB playoffs

— Rob Tornoe

— Rob Tornoe