The 2023 National League Championship Series was the best-of-seven playoff between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the 2023 World Series.
The series began on October 16 and Game 7 was played on October 24. TBS televised the games in the U.S. This was the second time in LCS history, and second year in a row, that two wild card teams faced each other. For the third straight full season, a team with less than 90 wins won the NLCS, as the 84-win Diamondbacks pulled off the upset to defeat Philadelphia in seven games.
Background
The Arizona Diamondbacks qualified for the postseason as the sixth seed wild card entrant with a 84–78 record. In the Wild Card Series, they swept the third-seeded and National League Central division winner Milwaukee Brewers, and then swept and upset the second-seeded and National League West division winner 100-win Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series to reach the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2007.
The Philadelphia Phillies qualified for the postseason as the fourth seed wild card entrant with a record of 90–72. In the Wild Card Series, they swept the Miami Marlins, and then defeated the National League East division winner Atlanta Braves, who held the best regular season record of 104–58 this season, in the Division Series in four games to return to the NLCS for the second consecutive season.
This series was the first postseason meeting between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks. This was also the second straight year that the two wild card seeds played in the NLCS. Since 2022, when the postseason got expanded, the only lower-seeded League Championship Series played was the 2022 NLCS (between the fifth and sixth seeds).
Philadelphia went 4–3 against Arizona in the regular season, though the two teams last met in June before the postseason.
Matchup
Game summaries
This was the first postseason meeting between Arizona and Philadelphia.
Game 1
Arizona starter Zac Gallen was shaken up early by Philadelphia's offense, giving up two solo home runs to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the bottom of the first (Schwarber's on Gallen's very first pitch of the night). Nick Castellanos added on in the second with another solo shot. In the third, Harper singled in Trea Turner to put the Phillies up 4–0. In the fifth, J. T. Realmuto singled in Harper to give the Phillies a five-run lead. The Diamondbacks scored on a two-run Geraldo Perdomo homer to make it 5–2 in the sixth. Alek Thomas then hit a sacrifice fly to score Christian Walker to make it 5–3 in the seventh. Craig Kimbrel closed out the win for the Phillies.
Game 2
In contrast to the relatively close Game 1, Game 2 was a 10–0 blowout in favor of the Phillies. Aaron Nola started for Philadelphia and Merrill Kelly started for Arizona. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber hit solo home runs off Kelly in the first and third innings, respectively. Schwarber homered again in the sixth, taking Kelly out of the game. Kelly's replacement, Joe Mantiply, gave up a two-run double to J. T. Realmuto to give the Phillies a five-run lead. Brandon Marsh doubled, scoring Realmuto and making the score 6–0. The Phillies scored four more runs in the seventh inning off Ryne Nelson, with Alec Bohm, Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos all driving in runs. Nola struck out twelve batters, tossed six shutout innings, and only allowed three hits. With the win, the Phillies took a 2–0 series lead as the series shifted to Arizona.