‘This is where we expected to be’: Phillies sweep Cardinals to advance to NLDS vs. Braves

ST. LOUIS — About three minutes before the first pitch of Game 1 of the National League wild-card series on Friday, Phillies broadcaster Scott Franzke leaned into his microphone and said it best, as he often does.

“Every golden age has an end, and every great story has to start somewhere.”

The golden age, of course, was in reference to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that has made eight postseason appearances since 2011. The great story was in reference to the Phillies, a team that has not just missed the postseason for the past 10 seasons, but missed it in soul-crushing fashion.

Until this year. This year has been different. The Phillies have won games they wouldn’t have won over the past decade. They went 11-14 in September, but made the postseason for the first time since 2011, when they fell to the Cardinals in Philadelphia with their ace on the mound.

The enduring image from that fateful game was Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, collapsing 30 feet from home plate, as he tore his left Achilles tendon while grounding into the final out. Fans threw white towels onto the field. It felt like the beginning of the end.

But Saturday felt like the start of something new.

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The Phillies could have gone to St. Louis and whimpered against a team that represents their postseason woes. Instead, after they eked out a come-from-behind win in Game 1, they closed out the Cardinals with a 2-0 victory in Game 2 on Saturday night for their first playoff series win since 2010. They will play the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series beginning on Tuesday.

Aaron Nola, a pitcher once known for not stepping up in the big moment, held the Cardinals to just four hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 6⅔ innings. In the first postseason outing of his eight-year career, he sent his team to the NLDS.

Interim manager Rob Thomson likes to say Nola is a “big game pitcher,” because he is even-keeled. He proved Thomson’s words prescient on Saturday night. It seemed like every time the righty ran into any sort of adversity, he bounced back. Leading off the first inning, Lars Nootbaar launched a single to center field, that bobbled in Brandon Marsh’s glove. Marsh was given an error, and Nootbaar ended up on second base.

He started pounding his chest toward the Cardinals’ dugout. It seemed like a rally could be imminent. But Nola retired the next three batters — Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado — to end the inning.

When Nola walked Tommy Edman with one out in the third, he struck out Nootbaar, and induced a groundout from Pujols. When he allowed a single to Juan Yepez in the fifth, he induced a forceout and two groundouts.

Nola wasn’t just commanding his pitches. He was trusting his stuff. In this season more than in his previous seven, he has thrown his pitches with more conviction. And you could see that on Saturday night.

“September doesn’t matter anymore,” Thomson said of Nola. “He’s worth every penny. I mean, he’s really — he’s really something. He really is. He’s cool as a cucumber, and just gives us great starts. He’s so consistent. I just can’t say enough about him.”

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Conviction is a good word to describe not just Nola, but the Phillies as a whole this series. A postseason berth was never going to satisfy this team. If they fall behind, 2-0, entering the ninth inning of Game 1, they will score six runs when down to their last two outs. If Bryce Harper goes hitless in Game 1, he will take the first pitch he sees, a 75.9 mph curveball, and launch it 435 feet deep into the right-field stands.

Alec Bohm, who led the National League in errors at third base last season, will dive over the foul line to rob Arenado of an extra-base hit. Seranthony Domínguez, who had a 10.50 ERA in the month of September, will inherit a runner from Jose Alvarado in the bottom of the eighth, allow a single, and strike out the next two batters.

Zach Eflin, who injured his right knee in late June and was unsure if he’d even be back this season, will allow two hits, but record the save in the ninth to send his team to face the Braves in the divisional round.

» READ MORE: Seranthony Domínguez backs up Phillies’ faith in him by striking out Cardinals stars in key spot

As the players filtered off the field to start their champagne celebration, they saw a group of fans, chanting “Let’s go Phillies,” while standing behind the visitor’s dugout at Busch Stadium. Catcher J.T. Realmuto faced the crowd.

“It’s incredible, this group of guys we’ve got here,” Realmuto said. “But I can promise you, not one person in that clubhouse is surprised at what we’re doing. This is where we expected to be at the start of the season. And we’re here. And we’re not done yet.”

We don’t know if the Cardinals’ golden age has come to an end, but for the Phillies, it could be just the beginning. And what a story that would be.