1983 National League Championship Series

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Philadelphia won the series, 3–1.

Game 1

Tuesday, October 4, 1983, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Mike Schmidt hit a two-out homer off Jerry Reuss in the first, and the Phillies made it hold up as Steve Carlton and Al Holland combined to scatter seven Dodger hits. The Dodgers' only threats came in the sixth, when Steve Sax singled, Bill Russell sacrificed Sax to second, and Sax went to third on a Carlton wild pitch. Carlton retired the last two hitters, however. Another threat came in the eighth when singles by Sax and Dusty Baker and a walk to Pedro Guerrero loaded the bases, chasing Carlton. Holland came in and retired Mike Marshall for the third out and finished the game.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 5, 1983, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

The Dodgers drew first blood with a Ken Landreaux RBI single in the first with two on. Gary Matthews tied it for the Phils in the second with a home run off Fernando Valenzuela. Valenzuela and Cy Young Award winner John Denny would continue dueling until the Dodger half of the fifth. Valenzuela led off and reached third when Garry Maddox misplayed a fly-ball. However, with one out, Valenzuela was thrown out at the plate on a Greg Brock ground ball (Brock reached first). Seemingly out of the inning, Denny walked Dusty Baker and then gave up a tie-breaking two-run triple to Pedro Guerrero.

The Dodgers' final run came in the eighth when Bill Russell walked with two outs, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by catcher Jack Fimple. Valenzuela and Tom Niedenfuer would combine to scatter seven hits for the win.

Game 3

Friday, October 7, 1983, at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

With the series shifting to Philadelphia, Dodgers starter Bob Welch was pulled from the game in the second after walking two with one out. A wild pitch and passed ball by reliever Alejandro Pena scored the game's first run. After Bo Diaz walked, Ivan de Jesus's RBI groundout made it 2–0 Phillies. Next inning, Joe Lefebvre's sacrifice fly with two on made it 3–0 Phillies. In the top of the fourth, rookie Charles Hudson allowed a leadoff single, then a two-out two-run homer by Mike Marshall to cut the Phillies' lead to 3–2. However, Hudson only allowed two other hits and pitched a complete game. Gary Matthews's leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning extended the Phillies' lead to 4–2. Next inning, Dodgers reliever Rick Honeycutt allowed a one-out single and double, then Matthews's two-run single off of Joe Beckwith made it 6–2 Phillies. Matthews hit another RBI single in the seventh off of Pat Zachry in the seventh that capped the scoring at 7–2 Phillies, giving them a 2–1 series lead.

Game 4

Saturday, October 8, 1983, at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Series MVP Gary Matthews hit a three-run homer in the first off Jerry Reuss after two straight two-out singles. Dusty Baker's leadoff home run in the fourth off of Steve Carlton put the Dodgers on the board. In the fifth, Pete Rose hit a leadoff single and scored on Mike Schmidt's double to knock Reuss out of the game. Schmidt then moved to third on a groundout and after an intentional walk, scored on Garry Maddox's fielder's choice off of Joe Beckwith. Sixto Lezcano added a two-run homer in the sixth off of Rick Honeycutt after a two-out single. Baker drove in the Dodgers' other run in the eighth with an RBI single off of Ron Reed after a leadoff single as Steve Carlton pitched his second win, scattering 10 hits with relief help from Reed and Al Holland. The Phillies moved to their second World Series in four seasons.

Out of the 14 postseason series that Pete Rose played in, this was the only one in which he did not record an RBI. He did hit well in the series, compiling six hits and one walk in seventeen plate appearances. Oddly enough, in the thirteen series in which Rose had an RBI, he never drove in more than two runs in any of them.