Phillies Set Franchise Record in Game 1 Win Over Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies set a franchise record during their huge Game 1 victory against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The Philadelphia Phillies came into Game 1 of the NLDS with a clear strategic plan.

They wanted to be aggressive.

It was something manager Rob Thomson felt would give his team the best chance to win by putting pressure on the Atlanta Braves' defense.

The commentators on TBS kept repeatedly saying that this was something that Thomson emphasized to them during the pregame meeting with the broadcast crew.

That plan came to fruition when the Phillies set a franchise record for most stolen bases in a single postseason game with five.

Trea Turner had two steals in the same inning when he took second and third base. Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott stole the other three bases.

Five steals is the most in a postseason game since the Los Angeles Angels reached that mark in 2007.

"We can do a lot of different things to score runs, and we've done it all year, where we've scored by using our speed and some small ball," Thomson said.

Combining Philadelphia's slugging ability with the threat of stealing bases is a scary thought for opposing teams.

The Braves know this and will be mindful of that strategy.

"We'll have to do a better job than we did, that's for sure. We knew that coming in that they're aggressive," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "We're going to have to do a better job holding the ball and things like that."

The aggressiveness of the Phillies will be an interesting thing to monitor during Game 2 when they face Max Fried.

The left hander only had four bases stolen on him in six attempts during the 2023 regular season.