SAN DIEGO — If there’s any solace to be taken from an 8-5 loss, it’s this:
The Phillies are coming home. Again.
They’ve been here before. They were here exactly one week ago, in fact; flat and fatigued. They had nothing in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, and they blew a lead in Game 2 of the NLCS to the Padres on Wednesday.
But you were there for them when they got home. And you helped them get here.
Can you do it again?
Granted, it’s not a perfect parallel. The question: Will a starving crowd be as crazy as a greedy crowd?
When the Phillies returned last time, they’d been gone 19 days, clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 11 years, and they’d won a playoff round for the first time in 12 years, which guaranteed the first home playoff game since 2011.
They’d also won a second-round playoff game against the defending World Series champions, in Atlanta. It was best-of-five, and it needn’t go back down south. They were riding a wave of recent success and relief, and they were playing with house money. They smelled blood. The fans smelled blood. Everybody feasted.
When the Phillies resume the National League Championship Series on Friday night, it won’t be like last Friday, right? It won’t be as passionate a reunion ... will it? Phillies fans won’t be nearly as frenzied ... will they?
Poor form
It’s unseemly to write about the patrons of both ballclub and publication, but it’s only pandering if it isn’t true. Phillies fans fueled the two wins over the Braves last weekend. How they behave Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, for Games 3, 4, and 5, will play a large part in whatever drama unfolds.
Of course, if presumptive starters Ranger Suárez, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler pitch like Aaron Nola pitched on an unseasonably hot Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, whoever packs Citizens Bank Park this weekend won’t matter.
Fans cannot be expected to buoy a team whose starter gives up six earned runs. Make no doubt, that could happen again. The Padres have an excellent lineup, and neither Suárez nor Syndergaard should, at this moment, be regarded as “excellent.”
The people who pay their salaries, however, should be. That’s you. You pay their salaries, and you earned your keep last weekend.
The energy from the crowd spurred a 17-4 run differential in Games 3 and 4 of the NLDS.
It propelled Nola to a shutout performance in Game 3. You stood for him as he exited.
It pushed Rhys Hoskins to his first postseason home run, when his frustration with himself and your frustration with him exploded in glorious release. He spiked his bat. You pounded a beer.
It gave J.T. Realmuto a tailwind as he raced around the bases in Game 4, the only catcher in playoff history with an inside-the-park home run.
You cannot recapture that feeling ... can you? You cannot make the Bank shake again ... can you?
Show out
Why not?
After all, this time the Phillies have a better chance. The Braves won 101 games. The Padres won 88.
After all, this isn’t a bonus round. Last time, maybe you thought the Phillies didn’t deserve a postseason, needed 160 games to slide into the first full-season third wild-card spot. Last time, maybe you looked at the first-round matchup against a toothless Cardinals team in St. Louis, and you figured that anybody could’ve beaten the Cardinals, or the Brewers, or whoever the NL Central presented.
This time is different.
This time, you know your team belongs.
This time, you know your team, having nullified home-field advantage, should win the series.
This time you know Bryce Harper can carry them. He’s owning the 2022 postseason, hitting .419 with a 1.390 OPS. He singled and doubled Wednesday. He one of just a handful of Phillies who were ready to work at 1:36 p.m. PDT.
That’s OK.
They’ll damn sure be ready to go Friday at 7:37 p.m. EDT.
Will you?
