PHOENIX — Chase Field was loud Friday with no fans in attendance. Artificial crowd noise at field level could be heard constantly during the Arizona Diamondbacks’ scrimmage before heading to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in the National League Championship Series starting Monday.
I could hear it clearly from the outside gate. Since the start of the postseason in 2004, the Phillies have posted a 26-11 record at Citizens Bank Park, the best home team in the playoffs.
D-backs Game 2 starter Merrill Kelly knows what a Phillies playoff game inside Citizens Bank Park is like. He took his brother to Game 3 of last year’s World Series, where Philadelphia hit five home runs against the Houston Astros and took a 2-1 series lead.
“I’ve seen them probably as loud as they can possibly be,” Kelly said. “They hit five home runs in that game, so I can’t believe what we’re going to experience is even bigger than that.”
Closer Paul Swald is a former member of Philadelphia’s National League East rival, the New York Mets, so he’s familiar with the setup Arizona relievers can endure.
There are fans directly above the away bullpen.
“There’s a little cove there and I think a lot of us are going to spend a lot of time away from the fans,” Sewald said. “I’ve been there more than six times. If you come from a team in New York, they’re not really excited to have you. This is the postseason, so things are going to change. I think we’ll be spending a lot of time in the cove.”
The Diamondbacks are 5-0 this postseason with four road wins. They outscored the Brewers in Milwaukee 11-5 in two games and outscored the Dodgers in Los Angeles 15-4 in two games.
Philadelphia hasn’t lost at home this postseason, and fans had a lot to say about the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.
The series already had plenty of bulletin board material for the famously rowdy crowd. Braves ace Spencer Strider joked that he would prefer games without fans before the postseason begins. Shortstop Orlando Arcia taunted Phillies star Bryce Harper in the clubhouse after he was doubled to end Game 2, yelling, “Atta boy, Harper.”
Phillies fans had a field day enjoying these seemingly insignificant moments, preparing signs and shirts to mock the Braves. The NLCS won’t have the added headline of pitting divisional foes against each other, but the D-backs expect to play in the toughest environment, and many are excited.
It’s always noisy in Philadelphia. #postseason pic.twitter.com/KWGR5qklf1
— MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2023
“People say it’s scary, but I think that’s the fun part, right?” Kelly said. “That’s why we’re here. We’re doing it for the fans…Even if the fans are yelling, as long as there’s 40,000 to 50,000 people in the stands, that’s who we are. I think it’s exciting.”
First baseman Christian Walker has been going to Phillies games since growing up in the area, but he had never seen a playoff game at Citizens Bank Park.
“The sports fan in me is so excited,” Walker said. “When you talk about potentially the best, probably the best postseason environment in baseball, other stadiums and atmospheres don’t often come to mind. That’s what I think about when I make noise.”
Third baseman Evan Longoria is in a unique position, having played in the World Series in Philadelphia as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. Although the Phillies dominated the Rays to win the title, Longoria said it was a lifetime ago for him. He said the experience will be an eye-opener for the D-backs, but Arizona has endured tough conditions.
Arizona piled up the scoring early and eliminated the Dodgers’ home field advantage by leading the entire series. The only time the stadium is this loud is when the visitors are in control.
“What we did in Los Angeles was kind of take an early lead and make the crowd uncomfortable and get the crowd out of there…It was all about taking the pressure off the pitching and trying to jump out in front. , it gets a little bit easier. Understanding those things and the nerves will be there, it’s a natural reaction,” Longoria said. “I think our players did a really good job accepting how chaotic the playoffs can be and the wild nature of playing on the road.”
Atlanta didn’t hold a lead against Philadelphia for long, but the Phillies have a lineup full of power threats that can change a game with one swing. Harper hit two home runs in Game 3, and Nick Castellanos hit two home runs in both Games 3 and 4.
Manager Tori Lovullo said if his club was ever going to be “on glass,” he would have seen it in Milwaukee. This was the first playoff experience for most of his club, but even though the players were still young, they didn’t seem fazed by the moment.
After a capacity crowd celebrated Arizona’s blowout win over the Dodgers on Wednesday, the Diamondbacks will return to Chase Field for Games 3-5. It was a different Chase Field environment than many of these Diamondbacks had ever experienced.
“The noise was so loud that it was hard to hear my pitch communication. That’s a good problem to have,” Sewald said. “The bank is going to be a home-field advantage for them. When we get back here, we want Chase to be a home-field advantage.”