Rob Thomson fires warning shot at Braves, believes Phillies crowd will be up for upcoming NLDS games - "It's going to be raucous and wild"

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson spoke to the media after their loss to the Atlanta Braves in their National League Division Series on Monday and said that the crowd will be a huge factor in the upcoming game. While the Phillies shut out the Braves in a convincing 3-0 victory in the first game, they went on to throw away a 4-0 lead in the second.

While Rob Thomson never made it to the major leagues as a player, he joined the New York Yankees as the third base coach in 2008 and went on to win the World Series with them in 2009. After almost two decades in New York, he joined the Phillies as bench coach in 2018 and became the manager in 2022.

The Phillies took an early lead on Monday thanks to an RBI single from Alec Bohn in the first before J. T. Realmuto launched a two-run homer in the third. Bryson Stott then drove in a run in the fifth with an RBI single to give them a 4-0 lead. However, their bullpen crumbled after that, and the Atlanta bats took them to the stands.

The next two games of the series will be played at Citizens Ball Park in Philadelphia and it is expected to be a noisy affair. While manager Rob Thomson reached the World Series in his first year as manager, he is now counting on their home crowd to give them the extra push and help them finish the job.

"That’s a little disappointing, Thomson said. "But we’ve got home-field advantage now. We split. We’re going back home. It’s going to be raucous and wild.”

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J. T. Realmuto and Zack Wheeler give Rob Thomson plenty to be optimistic about

While J. T. Realmuto's two-run homer in the third marked his fifth postseason home run and made him the catcher with the most postseason HRs in Philadelphia Phillies history, Zack Wheeler entered the record books on the other side of the ball. Wheeler tied the franchise record for the most strikeouts in an MLB postseason game with 10 recorded over 6.1 innings on the night.

However, the Atlanta Braves went on to tie the series with a win later in the game, setting up the picture for a charged atmosphere for the series ahead.