Bryce Harper had a difficult seventh inning to carry into the dugout Wednesday night in Atlanta, then answered it one inning later with the swing that kept Philadelphia’s season moving. Harper and Kyle Schwarber opened the eighth with consecutive home runs, and Alec Bohm supplied the deciding drive in the 10th as the Phillies beat the Braves, 4-3, to extend the National League Wild Card Series to a winner-take-all Game 3.
The result
The game turned sharply in the bottom of the seventh, with the score tied 1-1 and Atlanta holding runners at first and second with one out. Drake Baldwin sent a ball toward right field that looked playable, but Harper first shaded left, stopped, then had to reverse course as the ball kept carrying.
Harper retreated, jumped near the warning track and saw the ball skip away off his glove for an RBI double. Sean Murphy, who had gone back toward second expecting an out, scored to put Atlanta ahead. A sacrifice fly two hitters later brought home another run, giving the Braves a 3-1 lead.
The inning also ended Cristopher Sánchez’s night. The Phillies left-hander worked 6 2/3 innings and threw a career-high 116 pitches.
Philadelphia did not let the missed chance define the night. Schwarber led off the eighth with a home run, and Harper followed with another shot to even the score at 3-3. In the 10th, Bohm delivered the go-ahead solo homer that gave the Phillies their 4-3 final.
A defensive move tested, then redeemed
Harper’s right-field misplay carried extra weight because he had only returned to the outfield after Luis Arraez arrived at the Trade Deadline. Arraez, sidelined for this series by a sprained left ankle, is not on Philadelphia’s Wild Card roster.
The Phillies reshaped their defense after adding Arraez: Harper moved from first base to right, Bohm shifted from third to first, and Bryson Stott took over at third. Harper had not played the outfield since 2022 and had not been a regular there since 2021.
For most of the stretch run, the arrangement held together. Stott continued to provide Gold Glove-level work at third, while Bohm settled in at first after some early rough patches. Bohm also made a key defensive contribution Wednesday, helping complete a 3-2-3 double play in the sixth that preserved the tie.
Then came the seventh-inning ball that briefly made the whole rearrangement look fragile. Harper’s response came quickly. The club’s “Showman” erased the deficit with his bat, and Bohm finished the recovery an inning later.
The next game
Philadelphia and Atlanta will meet Thursday in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series. First pitch is still to be determined, with the game scheduled for NBC and Peacock.
