Phillies blank Diamondbacks, score 10 runs in Game 2 to take 2-0 NLCS lead

The Athletic has live coverage of Phillies vs. Diamondbacks in NLCS Game 7.

PHILADELPHIA — The meetings held by the hitters of the Philadelphia Phillies can feel simplistic. “It’s a little old-school,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “It’s less information, in a good way.” Sometimes, Turner explained, all you need is a plan and some gumption. “We’re not scared to swing the bat as a team,” he said.

This ethos has guided the Phillies, who completed a 10-0 thumping of the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday, to maraud through this October. “For us, as an offense, we’re not looking to take hitters’ pitches,” designated hitter Kyle Schwarber explained after Game 1 on Monday.

A fastball down the middle? Don’t expect a take. A hanging breaking ball? Better duck. The Phillies came out swinging at the outset of this postseason and have yet to stop. They have played eight games. They have hit 19 home runs. If there is a better postseason formula, other clubs would love to hear it. “We’re not up there to walk,” Turner said. “We’re up there to hit.”

Schwarber and Turner led the charge in Tuesday’s victory, which gave the club a 2-0 lead over the Diamondbacks. After Turner went deep in the first, Schwarber supplied a pair of homers. Arizona starter Merrill Kelly yielded only three hits. All of them cleared the fence. After Kelly departed in the sixth, a two-run double by catcher J.T. Realmuto extended a four-run rally. The lineup hung another four-spot in the seventh, turning a tense evening into laughter.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola scattered three hits across six scoreless innings. He struck out seven. His curveball befuddled his opponents, who have trailed from the outset of both games here. The crowd at Citizens Bank Park effectively spent 18 innings in celebration. The ballpark may sit quiet for a while. Arizona will need to win twice during the next three games at Chase Field in order to send this series back East.

GO DEEPER

NLCS Weird & Wild: Turner, Schwarber, Nola make history as Phillies 'blow up' The Vet again

Before Game 1, Kelly opted to nudge the rattlesnake’s cage. He compared the prospect of playing in South Philadelphia to his experience with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic this past spring. The noise at loanDepot Park in Miami felt deafening after Turner, Kelly’s teammate, supplied a go-ahead grand slam in the quarterfinals. How could this ballpark top that?

“I haven’t obviously heard this place on the field,” Kelly said, “but I would be very surprised if it trumped that Venezuela game down in Miami.”

Turner smirked when asked about Kelly’s comment before the game. “I would just wait and see,” Turner said. “And we’ll see what he says after.”

Kelly did not have to wait long. Neither did the Phillies. In Game 1, Schwarber crushed Arizona starter Zac Gallen’s first pitch into the seats and Bryce Harper did the same two batters later. Both dingers came on belt-high fastballs. Philadelphia offered Kelly more room to breathe on Tuesday, but only ever so slightly. Turner, in the second at-bat of the first inning, hit a solo shot on a belt-high fastball. The memo must not have reached Kelly’s locker.

Kelly steadied himself after the blast. He worked around a four-pitch walk to Harper. He ignored the fans jeering both his first name and his last. He tip-toed through the Phillies lineup, retiring six consecutive hitters before Schwarber came up with two outs in the third. Kelly challenged Schwarber with a fastball at the waist. Schwarber met the challenge with his lumber. He did not require the barrel to power the ball beyond the right-field fence for a second solo shot.

Nola kept the lead safe. When Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte singled to begin the fourth inning, he became the first Diamondback to hit the ball out of the infield. Nola benefited from some nifty defense at the corners. Alec Bohm knocked down a hard-hit grounder at third base from catcher Gabriel Moreno in the second. Harper laid out to scoop a grounder from rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll in the third. Bohm dove again to stop another well-struck ball in the fourth.

Marte bedeviled Nola again in the sixth. When Nola left a two-seam fastball up in the zone, Marte smashed a one-out double into right field. Nola maintained his poise as he faced Arizona’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters for a third time. He induced a weak swing from designated hitter Tommy Pham, who tapped a curveball into the ground for the second out. To escape, Nola fooled first baseman Christian Walker with another curve to record his seventh strikeout of the evening.

The Phillies padded the lead in the bottom of the frame. Schwarber led off with loud noise. Kelly let a 2-1 changeup float over the plate. Schwarber deposited the baseball beyond the right-center fence.

Kelly would not remain in the game for much longer. After Harper walked, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo inserted left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply in the hopes of securing the platoon advantage over left-handed hitter Bryson Stott with two outs. The move backfired when Stott grounded a single. Mantiply served up a pair of doubles to Realmuto and outfielder Brandon Marsh, as the game drifted out of Arizona’s reach.

GO DEEPER

The Phillies have owned October. They have that look again, but this feels different

Required reading

(Photo: Kyle Ross / USA Today)