A former first-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies is the toast of the town as the team advanced past the wild card round via a two-game sweep of the Miami Marlins.
It was Bryson Stott who put the final nail in the coffin of the Marlins in the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s game. Taking to the plate against Miami pitcher Andrew Nardi with the Phillies up 3-0 and the bases loaded, the UNLV product cleared the bases with a grand slam.
It sent Phillies fans inside Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy as the defending National League champions took a 7-0 lead.
This represents just the second postseason grand slam in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 141 years of existence. He joins Shane Victorino (2008) on that limited list.
It’s not like Stott’s emergence should be seen as a surprise. The 24-year-old infielder was pretty darn solid in his sophomore season for Philadelphia.
Related: 2023 MLB Playoffs results and game-by-game results
Bryson Stott stats (2023): .280 average, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 31 SB, .747 OPS
The red-hot Phillies will now go on to face the division-rival Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series starting Saturday in Georgia.
Considered the odds-on favorites to win the World Series after a dominating 104-win regular season, this likely isn’t the matchup Atlanta wanted. Philadelphia finished the regular season by winning eight of 11. It then outscored the Marlins by a margin of 11-2 in the two wild card games.
While the Phillies lost eight of 13 against Atlanta during the regular season, they did take two of three on the road from the Braves in September.
Either way, Bryson Stott’s grand slam Wednesday evening guaranteed that the MLB world will be able to enjoy these two division rivals go at it with an appearance in the National League Championship Series at stake.