Flat Phillies need a big weekend from their fans after losing to the Padres in Game 2 of the NLCS

SAN DIEGO — If there’s any solace to be taken from an 8-5 loss, it’s this:

The Phillies are coming home. Again.

They’ve been in this situation before. They were in this situation exactly one week ago, in fact; flat and fatigued. They had no juice in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, and they blew a lead in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series to the Padres here Wednesday.

But you were there for them when they got home last week, and you helped them get here.

Can you do it again? They believe in you.

“The Bank’s gonna be hoppin’,” Bryce Harper predicted.

“We feel great about grabbing a win here on the road,” said Rhys Hoskins, who collected his second home run of the postseason. “Philly’s gonna show up and back us, the way they did last week.”

Granted, it’s not a perfect parallel. The question: Will a greedy crowd be as crazy as a starving crowd?

“I think it will be even more electric,” said Aaron Nola. He got shelled Wednesday. He hopes the crowd has his back.

Jean Segura agreed: “I think they’re going to be more excited.”

For anyone who attended the ear-splitting, seat-shaking, three-hour descents into madness that were Friday and Saturday last week, that seems impossible.

Hell, maybe even a little dangerous.

Last week, the storm has been brewing for days, and for years. When the Phillies returned last week, they’d been gone 19 days, clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 11 years, and had won a playoff round for the first time in 12 years, which guaranteed the first home playoff game since 2011.

They’d also won a second-round playoff game against the defending World Series champions, in Atlanta. It was best-of-five, and it needn’t go back down South. They needed two wins, and they were playing with house money.

They smelled blood. The fans smelled blood.

Everybody feasted.

When the Phillies resume the NLCS on Friday night, it won’t be like last Friday night, right? It won’t be as passionate a reunion ... will it? Phillies fans won’t be nearly as frenzied ... will they? Can they?

Will you? Can you?

“Oh yeah,” said Noah Syndergaard, who is expected to start Game 4 on Saturday. “I think it will be even more intense.”

Why?

“Why?” he replied. “Because we’ll have a chance to win the series.”

Oh yeah.

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Usually, it’s unseemly to write about the patrons of the ballclub and the publication, but it’s only pandering if it isn’t relevant. Phillies fans were relevant.

They fueled the two wins over the Braves last weekend. How they behave Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for Games 3, 4, and 5 will play a large part in whatever drama unfolds. Atmosphere is supposed to be intangible, but when you can’t hear the pitching coach on the mound and when you can’t hear your teammates calling you off a fly ball, atmosphere becomes a very tangible thing.

Of course, if presumptive starters Ranger Suárez, Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler pitch like Aaron Nola pitched on an unseasonably hot Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, whoever packs Citizens Bank Park this weekend, and however they act, won’t matter a bit.

Nola hadn’t given up an earned run in his last three starts, in which he clinched a playoff berth, then clinched the wild-card series, then buried the Braves in Game 3, but he gave up six runs in 4⅔ innings Wednesday. Fans cannot be expected to buoy a team whose starter gives up six earned runs.

Have no doubt, that could happen again. The Padres have an excellent lineup, and neither Suárez nor Syndergaard should, at this moment, be regarded as “excellent.”

The people who pay their salaries, however, should be. That’s you. You pay their salaries, and you earned your keep last weekend.

The energy from the crowd spurred a 17-4 run differential in Games 3 and 4 of the NLDS.

It propelled Nola to a six-inning performance with no earned runs in Game 3. You stood for him as he exited.

It pushed Hoskins to his first postseason home run, when his frustration with himself and your frustration with him exploded in glorious release. He spiked his bat. You pounded a beer.

It gave J.T. Realmuto a tailwind as he raced around the bases in Game 4, the only catcher in playoff history with an inside-the-park home run.

You cannot recapture that feeling ... can you? You cannot make the Bank shake again ... can you?

Why not?

After all, this time the Phillies have a better chance. The Braves won 101 games. The Padres won 89.

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After all, this isn’t a bonus round. Last time, maybe you thought the Phillies didn’t deserve a postseason, needed 160 games to slide into the first full-season third wild-card spot. Last time, maybe you looked at the first-round matchup against a toothless Cardinals team in St. Louis, and you figured that anybody could’ve beaten the Cardinals, or the Brewers, or whomever the NL Central presented.

This time is different.

This time, you know your team belongs.

This time, you know your team, having nullified home-field advantage, should win the series.

This time you know Harper can carry them. He’s owning the 2022 postseason, hitting .419 with a 1.390 OPS. He singled and doubled Wednesday.

He was one of just a handful of Phillies who were ready to work at 1:36 p.m. PDT.

That’s OK. They’ll all damn sure be ready to go Friday at 7:37 p.m. EDT.

Will you?