Phillies-Braves Game 4 time moves back after Diamondbacks advance to NLCS
The game, originally scheduled to start at 6:07 p.m., will now start at 8:07 p.m. after the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in the NLDS.
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The crowd in South Philadelphia ended Wednesday’s 10-2 Phillies win with a serenade of “We want Strider.” But now they’ll have to wait a little longer to get their wish as the start of Thursday’s Game 4 against Atlanta and ace Spencer Strider was pushed back two hours.
The game, originally scheduled to start at 6:07 p.m., will now start at 8:07 p.m. after the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in the National League Division Series with a 4-2 victory late Wednesday. A win Thursday and the Phillies will host Arizona on Monday in the opener of the National League Championship Series. If the Phillies lose Thursday, they’ll face the Braves in Atlanta on Saturday in a decisive Game 5.
”Strider is tough, man. He’s one of the best in baseball. Possible Cy Young this year,” Bryce Harper said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever said that about a pitcher or anything like that. But that’s what makes our fans the best in the world. And we’ll go out there and play our game and understand that we just have to play our game and not worry about anything else.”
Ranger Suárez will start for the Phillies on Thursday but manager Rob Thomson could employ another aggressive bullpen strategy as he was able to stay away from most of his high-leverage relievers on Wednesday.
The Phillies lifted Suárez in Game 1 on Saturday after 11 outs and relied on six relief pitchers to finish the shutout.
”Even if those guys pitched [Wednesday], they’d be available [Thursday],” Thomson said. “But just given an extra day is better for them.”