Hoskins, Harper lift Phils to rout of Braves

Dan Gelston ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA – Rhys Hoskins burst out of his postseason malaise with a three-run homer and spiked his bat in triumph and Bryce Harper hit a two-run shot that sent Philadelphia Phillies fever soaring and helped carry them to a 9-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Friday night.

Harper added an RBI double as Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead in the best-offive matchup against the reigning World Series champs. The Phillies can advance to the NL Championship Series with a Game 4 win at home on Saturday.

The Phillies and a sellout crowd of 45,538 fans waited 11 mostly miserable years – 4,025 days, to be exact – to host a playoff game again at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies fans should save the rally towels – the Phillies played like a team that wants to keep Red October alive we were early. I think that’s creating our own internal depth and that’s going to be extremely important for us.”

The bats erupted in a six-run third inning that will forever be stamped on a Philly sports highlight reel. Bryson Stott got the rally going with an RBI double off Braves rookie Spencer Strider. Kyle Schwarber drew an intentional walk to set the stage for Hoskins.

Hoskins, mired in a1-for-19 postseason slump, crushed a 94 mph fastball into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead. Hoskins raised his arms in celebration, slammed his bat into the grass and he skipped his way to first base.

The exit velocity? It took about 2 seconds for Harper to bounce out of the dugout and toss his helmet in the air. Hoskins leapt into a violent elbow forearm exchange – think, Bash Brothers –with Stott as he crossed the plate.

“I don’t know if my feet touched the ground,” Hoskins said.

Strider, who pitched the first time in almost a month because of a strained left oblique, gave up one more single before he was lifted for Dylan Lee.

Playing his first playoff home game with the Phillies, Harper hammered the ball into the twilight for his second postseason homer and a 6-0 lead. Phillies fans that held hand-cut letters that spelled out “Harper”bounced in delight in stands that absolutely rocked. Harper, who embraced Philly and the Phanatic and the fans from the moment he signed a $330 million, 13-year deal in 2019, pointed to a fan that held a “Hit That Jawn” sign behind the dugout.

Jawn is a Philly noun used to describe anything.

Harper’sshotmadePhillyfeeleverything.

“I was just fired up, ready to go,” the two-time NL MVP said.

Aaron Nola, pitching the best baseball of his career, was an October ace again in shutting down a Braves team that won101games and the NL East. He gaveupfivehits,walkedtwoandstruck out six in six-plus innings.

Nola, the longest-tenured Phillie, was on it from the jump. He needed only 10 pitches in the second inning to strike out the side.

The Reds did push some of their top-rated prospects with aggressive assignments. Shortstop Elly De La Cruz was the fourth-youngest player in Double-A at the start of August, according to Baseball America, and right-handed pitcher Connor Phillips was the fifth-youngest pitcher. Chase Petty was the second-youngest pitcher in High-A at the start of August.

“We became a younger team at all of our levels except for Triple-A,” Krall said. “At Triple-A you saw a lot of guys move up at the end. Getting age appropriate at each level is extremely important. We need those players to continue to take steps forward, but having younger and younger players come in and take spots from minor league free agents in Double-A or A-ball, that’s been a really good thing for us.”

One of the balances for all teams is the desire to challenge players. Abbott was dominant at Dayton, overpowering hitters in his five starts, but struggled at Double-A until the end of the year. Phillips was inconsistent in Double-A but had a strong September.

“That’s not a bad thing to go there and fail when you go up levels,” Krall said. “Especially when you see what they did in their last five-eight starts or their last month. They started figuring out I can play at this level, and I can do this. Maybe their season line at Double-A wasn’t as good as it was in the last part or in A-ball, but you see these players continue to develop. I’m really excited about the actual development of the player, not just did this guy go up.”

Between the Reds’ two affiliates with winning records, the Single-A Daytona Tortugas finished 20 games below .500 on the season. Krall noted Daytona finished with a negative-18 run differential, so games were close, and that level used tandem starters to monitor innings and allow more pitchers to develop as starters.

“Partofitisyou’relettingthoseguys play and develop from a pitching standpoint,”Krall said. “We have to figure out a way to balance both of those. But I really am excited about being able to have 10 guys who are considered starters in A-ball. Now they move forward and you might have a chance to have an extra starter or two from a long-term perspective because you gave that player the opportunity earlier on.

“We need to get to a point where we’re going to balance both winning and development because I do think winning teaches winning, especially in the minor leagues.”