YORK, Pa. — Now that the Philadelphia Phillies dispatched the Atlanta Braves with a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of the National League Division Series Thursday night, Major League Baseball's Final Four has been set.
The Phillies booked their second straight trip to the National League Championship Series by eliminating the Braves for for the second year in a row, riding three solo home runs -- two by the incandescent Nick Castellanos, and one by the equally scalding Trea Turner.
Starter Ranger Suarez pitched five strong innings, hanging pitch-for-pitch with Braves ace Spencer Strider, and Philly's bullpen finished it off with four scoreless (but extremely tense) innings of relief.
The Phillies will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks, another wildcard team that upset a 100-game winner. The D-backs swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in their best-of-five NLDS matchup.
Over in the American League, the defending world champion Houston Astros are back in the ALCS after knocking off the Minnesota Twins in their Divisional Series matchup. Houston will face the Texas Rangers, who swept the Baltimore Orioles.
The Rangers are seeking their first-ever World Series title. They are one of six teams to have never won a World Series.
Houston, of course, defeated the Phillies in last year's World Series and have another championship in 2017.
The Phillies will get a three-day break before the NLCS begins on Monday. They'll have home-field advantage in the series because they had a better record than Arizona in the regular-season.
The break allows Philly to send ace Zach Wheeler to the mound in Game 1. Aaron Nola will get the ball in Game 2, while Suarez will start Game 3. The Phillies can use either Taijuan Walker for Game 4 or go with a bullpen game.
The NLCS will be televised on TBS. Here's the schedule:
- Game 1: Diamondbacks at Phillies, Monday, Oct. 16, 8:07 p.m.
- Game 2: Diamondbacks at Phillies, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 8:07 p.m.
- Game 3: Phillies at Diamondbacks, Thursday, Oct. 19, 7:07 p.m.
- Game 4: Phillies at Diamondbacks, Friday, Oct. 20, 8:07 p.m.
- Game 5 (if necessary): Phillies at Diamondbacks, Saturday, Oct. 21, 8:07 p.m.
- Game 6 (if necessary): Diamondbacks at Phillies, Monday, Oct. 23, 7:07 p.m.
- Game 7 (if necessary): Diamondbacks at Phillies, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 8:07 p.m.
The ALCS will begin Sunday night. The games will all be televised on FOX43 and FS1.
Here's the schedule:
- Game 1: Rangers at Astros, Sunday, Oct. 15, 8:15 p.m. (FOX43)
- Game 2: Rangers at Astros, Monday, Oct. 16, 4:37 p.m. (FOX43/FS1)
- Game 3: Astros at Rangers, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 8:03 p.m. (FS1)
- Game 4: Astros at Rangers, Thursday, Oct. 19, 8:03 p.m. (FS1)
- Game 5 (if necessary): Astros at Rangers, Friday, Oct. 20, 7:07 p.m. (FS1)
- Game 6 (if necessary): Rangers at Astros, Sunday, Oct. 22, 8:03 p.m.
- Game 7 (if necessary): Rangers at Astros, Monday, Oct. 23, 8:03 p.m. (FOX43/FS1)