The1993National League Championship Series was a semifinal series inMajor League Baseball’s1993 postseason played between thePhiladelphia Phillies andAtlanta Braves. The Phillies stunned the 104-win Braves, who were bidding for their third consecutive World Series appearance, and won the NLCS, 4–2.

The Phillies would go on to lose to theToronto Blue Jays in theWorld Series in six games.

The Phillies, led by outfielderLenny Dykstra and pitcherCurt Schilling, had gone from worst-to-first, fending off a hard-chargingMontreal Expos team in late September, to win the division title with a 97–65 record, and continue the Pennsylvania reign of NL East championships by the Phillies and thePittsburgh Pirates, theirin-state rivals during the early 1990s.^[1][2] The Braves, who had advanced to the World Series each of the past two seasons, won a classic division race over the 103–59San Francisco Giants, finishing with a franchise-best 104–58 record. The heavily favored and playoff-seasoned Braves brought their legendary pitching rotation of Cy Young winnerGreg Maddux,Tom Glavine,John Smoltz, andSteve Avery into the NLCS with them.

After Philadelphia edged Atlanta in an exciting Game 1 that went intoextra innings, the Braves hammered the Phillies in the next two games to a take a 2–1 series lead. However, the Braves' bats suddenly fell silent and the Phillies rebounded by winning close contests in the final two games in Atlanta to send the series back toVeterans Stadium with Philadelphia on top three games to two. The Phillies took Game 6 by a score of 6–3, sending them to their firstWorld Series appearance in ten years.

Philadelphia won the series, 4–2.

Wednesday, October 6, 1993, atVeterans Stadium inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Curt Schilling began the series spectacularly by striking out the first five hitters he faced. The Phillies struck first in the bottom of the first onJohn Kruk's RBI forceout offSteve Avery with runners on first and third, but the Braves tied the game in the third on back-to-back two-out doubles by Avery andOtis Nixon. Next inning, after a leadoff walk and single,David Justice's sacrifice fly put the Braves up 2–1, butPete Incaviglia's home run in the bottom of the inning tied the game. The game would be back and forth and low-scoring. In the sixth, Philadelphia loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a double when awild pitch by Avery give them to a 3–2 lead. In the top of the ninth, after a leadoff walk toBill Pecota offMitch Williams, third basemanKim Batiste's errant throw to first onMark Lemke's groundball put runners on first and third with no out. After a sacrifice bunt, Nixon's groundout tied the game, forcing extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, after a one-out double by Kruk offGreg McMichael, Batiste lined a double just beyond the reach of Atlanta third basemanTerry Pendleton to score the winning run. Schilling finished the game with eight innings pitched and ten strikeouts in the no-decision.

Thursday, October 7, 1993, atVeterans Stadium inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

The Braves offense crushed Phillies starterTommy Greene in Game 2. An upper deck two-run home run byFred McGriff gave Atlanta a 2–0 first inning lead. In the third,Jeff Blauser's one-out home run extended their lead to 3–0. After a double, single and walk loaded the bases,Terry Pendleton's two-run single made it 5–0 Braves and knock Greene out of the game.Damon Berryhill's three-run home run offBobby Thigpen made it 8–0 Braves.Greg Maddux gave up just two runs (onDave Hollins's two-run home run in the fourth) in seven innings. Pendleton's home run in the fifth offBen Rivera made it 9–2 Braves. In the eighth, with two on via a single and error,Otis Nixon's RBI single made it 10–2 Braves offDavid West. After another single loaded the bases,Ron Gant cleared them with a double. In the ninth,Sid Bream singled with two outs offLarry Andersen and scored on Nixon's double.Mike Stanton pitched a scoreless eighth andMark Wohlers allowed a home run toLenny Dykstra in the ninth as the Braves' 14–3 win tied the series heading south to Atlanta.

Saturday, October 9, 1993, atAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium inAtlanta, Georgia

The Phillies struck first in Game 3 on back-to-back leadoff triples byMariano Duncan andJohn Kruk in the fourth off Tom Glavine. Kurt's home run in the sixth extended their lead to 2–0, but Glavine allowed no other runs in seven innings pitched.Terry Mulholland pitched five shutout innings before the Braves' offense erupted in the sixth. After a leadoff single and walk, consecutive RBI singles byFred McGriff andTerry Pendleton tied the game.David Justice's two-run double then put the Braves up 4–2.Roger Mason relieved Mulholland and second baseman Duncan's error onMark Lemke's ground ball allowed another run to score to make it 5–2 Braves. Next inning, Pendleton's single with two on offLarry Andersen made it 6–2 Braves.David West then allowed a two-out walk to load the bases before Lemke's bases-clearing double made it 9–2 Braves. In the top of the eighth, Duncan tripled with one out offKent Mercker and scored on Kruk's groundout. Next inning,Greg McMichael allowed a one-out double, single and RBI double toJim Eisenreich before retiring the next two batters to end the game as the Braves took a 2–1 series lead with a 9–4 win.

Sunday, October 10, 1993, atAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium inAtlanta, Georgia

John Smoltz andDanny Jackson faced off in a close Game 4. The Braves took an early 1–0 lead on aMark Lemke double in the second with two on, but the Phillies went on top in the fourth inning with two unearned runs.Darren Daulton reached on Lemke's error, then moved to third onMilt Thompson's double. AfterKevin Stocker's sacrifice fly tied the game, starter Jackson hit the go-ahead RBI single. Atlanta had baserunners throughout the rest of the game, but could not get a clutch hit as the Phillies hung on to win 2–1. Phillies closerMitch Williams allowed the first two runners to reach in the ninth, but a double play groundout by Ron Gant helped him get out of it and earn the save. The Phillies left 15 runners on, going 1 for 11 with them in scoring position, while the Braves stranded 11, going 1 for 15 with them in scoring position.

Monday, October 11, 1993, atAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium inAtlanta, Georgia

With the series tied 2–2, the Phillies and Braves needed extra innings to decide Game 5. Philadelphia got on the board in the first offSteve Avery whenMariano Duncan singled andJohn Kruk doubled down the right field line. In the bottom of the first, the Braves missed a chance to score whenFred McGriff hit one off the top of the right field fence sendingJeff Blauser racing around third to try to score. However,Wes Chamberlain fielded the carom cleanly, threw to shortstopKevin Stocker, who then relayed the ball home to nail Blauser. In the fourth the Phils went up 2–0 on Chamberlain's sacrifice fly which scored Pete Incaviglia who had reached on a three base error committed byRon Gant. Meanwhile,Curt Schilling was again lights out, tossing nine strikeouts. In the top of the ninth, a seemingly inconsequential insurance run scored whenDarren Daulton homered offGreg McMichael.

However, up 3–0 entering the bottom of the ninth, trouble brewed on the horizon. Schilling walked Blauser to open the frame. Then Gant hit a sharp grounder to third whichKim Batiste booted for his second key error of the series.Mitch Williams was again asked to relieve Schilling, who would take a seat in the dugout peeking in through a towel at the beleaguered closer. The first batter Williams faced, McGriff, roped an RBI single past Duncan sending Blauser home and Gant to third.David Justice then hit a sacrifice fly to left scoring Gant which cut the lead to 3–2.Terry Pendleton followed with a bullet past the mound and'92 LCS heroFrancisco Cabrera chopped a ball up the middle that skipped past Stocker's glove to tie the game at 3–3. With one out and Pendleton taking third on the Cabrera hit, the series was hanging in the balance with the Braves 90 feet (27 m) away from victory. The next batterMark Lemke lined a shot down the left field line that looked to be a game-ending base hit for Atlanta. The crowd at Fulton County Stadium screamed and then sighed as the ball veered foul at the last second. Williams regrouped to strikeout Lemke and gotBill Pecota on a flyout to hold the game even.

In the tenth,Lenny Dykstra vaulted Philadelphia back into the lead when he drilled a full countMark Wohlers fastball over the fence in dead center field. 40-year-oldLarry Andersen then came on in the bottom half to retire the Braves in order, closing out the 4–3 nail biter. The victory put the Phillies up 3–2 going back to the Vet.

Game 5 also happened to be the final afternoon League Championship Series game to be played onColumbus Day, which became a regular occurrence after the LCS expanded to being a best-of-seven contest in1985.

Wednesday, October 13, 1993, atVeterans Stadium inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Trying to force a Game 7, the Braves sent their ace,Greg Maddux to the mound in Game 6. However, a very hard-hitMickey Morandini line drive in the first inning hit Maddux in the leg. He suffered what was described the following inning as a deep tissue bruise. He stayed in the game, but his effectiveness was clearly compromised by the injury.Darren Daulton hit a bases-loaded two-run double in the third. After the Braves got on the board in the fifth onJeff Blauser's RBI single with two on offTommy Greene,Dave Hollins connected for a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, putting Philadelphia on top 4–1. Morandini's two-run triple in the sixth finally chased Maddux, who later refused to make any excuses for his subpar performance but when directly asked about it, he did acknowledge that he had been pitching in pain from the line drive he took off his calf in the 1st inning. Blauser hit a two-run home run in the seventh to make it 6–3 Phillies, butDavid West andMitch Williams finished the Braves with a perfect eighth and ninth, respectively. It was their first pennant in 10 years.

Although he did not get any decisions during his two appearances in the six-game series,Curt Schilling's 1.69ERA and 19 strikeouts were still enough to earn him the 1993 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. Schilling became the only pitcher in major league history to be named a postseason series MVP (League Championship Series or World Series) without either a pitching decision or a save, as of 2015^[update].

1993 NLCS(4–2):Philadelphia Phillies overAtlanta Braves

Owners and theMLBPA agreed to realign by changing the divisional format starting in1994, with the creation of a third division in each 14-team league. This in turn led to the creation of another round of postseason play, theDivision Series and the addition of awild card; meaning for the first time ever, a team did not have to win their division to qualify for the postseason.^[9] The Braves would end their 24-year stay in theNational League West, move to theNational League East, and form adivisional rivalry with the Phillies.

Despite having been exceptional for the Phillies in NLCS,Mitch Williams self-imploded during theWorld Series. Williams earned a save in Game 2 of the series, relievingTerry Mulholland as the Phillies tied the series at a game each. However, Williams suffered the loss in Game 4, the highest-scoring game in World Series history, as the Blue Jays scored six times in the eighthinning to earn a 15–14 victory and take a 3–1 series lead. Afterwards, Williams received death threats from angry Phillies fans for blowing the game.^[10] After the Phillies won Game 5 in a complete-game shutout byCurt Schilling, the series returned to Toronto for Game 6. The Phillies scored five runs in the seventh inning to take a 6–5 lead, and it was up to Williams to preserve the victory and force a Game 7. With oneout and two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning,Joe Carter hit a 2–2 pitch over the left-field wall for awalk-off home run, giving the Blue Jays an 8–6 victory and a World Series championship.

The ‘93 Phillies proved to beone-hit wonders, as 1993 was theonly year the Phillies even posted a winning record in the 1990s. Meanwhile, the Braves continued their dominance of the National League in the remaining years of the 1990s, winning pennants in1995 (and the1995 World Series),1996, and1999. However, the Braves did not win another pennant until2021, while the Phillies had their own run of dominance from 2007 to 2011, which included two consecutive World Series appearances in2008 and2009. They beat theTampa Bay Rays, an expansion team not formed until 1998, in five games in 2008, and lost to theYankees in six games in 2009.

The Phillies and Braves would meet in the postseason again in2022 and2023, with the Phillies winning both match-ups in four games.

• 1993 NLCS at Baseball-Reference

• National League Championship Series
• 1993 Major League Baseball season
• Philadelphia Phillies postseason
• Atlanta Braves postseason
• 1993 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 1993 in sports in Pennsylvania
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• October 1993 sports events in the United States

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