Fans have last laugh with Arcia at plate

PHILADELPHIA — The team bulletin board, as far as the Phillies were willing to show the world, was clear on Wednesday afternoon.

For whatever may have been said by Atlanta after its Game 2 come-from-behind win on Monday, the Phillies downplayed it before Game 3.

“Really, I don’t think anybody needs any motivation right now,” manager Rob Thomson said again early Wednesday. “But if that adds to our motivation, that’s great.”

It was good for Phillies fans in the second inning Wednesday, roaring their approval when Aaron Nola struck out Orlando Arcia.

According to a FoxSports report, it was Arcia who was said to have made the potentially offending comment, while delighting in the doubling off of Bryce Harper at first base on Michael Harris II’s game-ending catch Monday. Much as the sarcastic “atta-boy” has fueled vitriol in Philadelphia’s social media and sports radio realms, it is supposedly a non-factor in the room that matters most.

“We don’t really pay that too much mind,” outfielder Brandon Marsh said. “We know it’s just good banter. It’s two just NL East teams going at it. So we’re just ready to get out there tonight.”

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Atlanta wasn’t ready to name a Game 3 starter until Wednesday morning, when manager Brian Snitker selected Bryce Elder over AJ Smith-Shawver. From a Phillies perspective, they were preparing for a young, live-armed righty one way or the other.

Elder, 24, got the edge after recovering well during the Braves’ de facto bye week. He tired down the stretch of a season in which he made 31 starts, went 12-4 and threw 174.2 innings.

His two starts against the Phillies are instructive: seven innings of three-hit, shutout baseball June 22 at Citizens Bank Park, then four runs, five walks and three hits in 3.2 innings on Sept. 20.

“I think we just kind of felt like after the way he threw at the intersquad and with the layoff, that he was the guy,” Snitker said. “He’s been a starter for us all year. It was a big reason why we won the decision. We liked what we saw.”

Elder had a 2.97 ERA in 106 innings before the All-Star Break and 5.11 in 13 starts after, though the opposing batting average difference (.237 to .257) isn’t quite so stark.

Smith-Shawver, just 20, will be available out of the bullpen. A seventh-round pick in 2021, he started the year in High-A, didn’t give up a run in five appearances either there or at Double-A and was in the big leagues by June 1. His 25.1 innings pitched would be notably brief regular-season experience if not for teammate Daysbel Hernandez (3.2 regular-season IP) or the Phillies’ Orion Kerkering (3 IP).

Thomson said the difference in preparation was slight. Familiarity with Elder helps even more.

“I think we’re prepared for him,” Thomson said. “We prepared for both him and Smith-Shawver. So we were ready for it, but he’s a command guy. He can really locate the baseball. It is going to be a fastball, sinker, slider, change up to left-handers. He can pitch.”

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Any concerns about a carryover from the dramatic Game 2 loss seemed distant ahead of Game 3.

“We’re back in the Bank. So we’re pretty happy,” Marsh said. “Splitting the series in Atlanta, it was big to get one in Atlanta. So we know how good they play there. And the second one got away from us a little bit, but we’re blessed with more opportunities here at home in front of the best crowd. So like I said, we’re just really excited. The vibes are up.”

The Phillies were 38-34 this year after a loss. They are following a similar trajectory from last year, though the Game 2 loss in Atlanta wasn’t quite as potentially draining as this year’s squandering of a 4-0 lead.

Thomson has lauded the group’s resilience countless times this season – they were, after all, 25-32 in early June.

“I think it’s from the top to the bottom,” Marsh said. “We have a really solid group of veteran guys that lead this club to battle every night. And guys like myself, (Bryson) Stott, (Alec) Bohmer, we feed off of them, and they set the tone for us.”

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NOTES >> The starting pitching shoe is on the other foot for Game 4. Snitker will return Spencer Strider on regular rest, after the power righty went seven innings, allowing five hits, two runs (one earned), with two walks and eight strikeouts. Thomson won’t name a Game 4 starter until after Wednesday. … As Thomson pointed out, Game 3 was the 39th game since the start of 2022 between the teams. The Phillies are 17-22, though just 8-11 at home, including 1-5 this year. Marsh: “It is just two really good teams. That is where you get rivalries from, especially in the same division. So we love it. I’m sure they love it. And this is why we play the game, for a series like this one.”  … Trea Turner’s four stolen bases is tied for fifth in Phillies postseason history, with Larry Bowa and Lenny Dykstra. That’s all-time, not just in a single playoffs. … With his seventh career playoff start, Aaron Nola broke a tie with Joe Blanton and Cliff Lee for fourth in franchise history. He and Zack Wheeler (eight starts) trail co-leaders Cole Hamels and Steve Carlton (13 each).