The Phillies kept their October pulse Wednesday at Truist Park, turning a seventh-inning collapse into a 4-3, 10-inning win over the Braves and forcing a deciding Game 3 in the NL Wild Card Series.
For a few minutes in the late innings, the afternoon looked as though it might end with Philadelphia walking into an uncertain offseason. Atlanta used a two-run seventh to take control after a fly ball got away from Bryce Harper in right field, and Alec Bohm made a costly decision on a bunt near the mound by trying unsuccessfully to erase the lead runner at second.
Cristopher Sánchez was lifted by interim manager Don Mattingly shortly afterward. Harper, left alone in right field as the Braves crowd roared and Guns N’ Roses played through the stadium, crouched without his cap while the inning unfolded.
Then the Phillies answered with two swings.
Schwarber and Harper erase the deficit
Kyle Schwarber opened the eighth against Dylan Lee and crushed a full-count slider an estimated 447 feet. Ronald Acuña Jr., stationed in right field for Atlanta, did not turn to follow the drive as it cleared the park.
Harper came next and drove a 1-1 slider to right field for a game-tying homer, pulling Philadelphia level at 3-3. It was a rapid reversal after the difficult seventh, and it gave the Phillies the kind of emotional swing catcher J.T. Realmuto had described after Tuesday’s painful Game 1 defeat.
Realmuto had said the game’s shifting emotions, even after a loss, are part of what makes baseball compelling. Less than a day later, Philadelphia found the favorable side of that ride.
Bohm delivers in the 10th
Bohm finished the recovery job in extra innings, sending an opposite-field home run out for the go-ahead run in the 10th. It was his first opposite-field homer since Opening Day.
The blast put Bohm in a small piece of Phillies postseason history. He became the fourth Philadelphia player to hit a go-ahead extra-inning homer in the playoffs, joining George Vukovich in Game 4 of the 1981 NLDS, Lenny Dykstra in Game 5 of the 1993 NLDS and Realmuto in Game 1 of the 2022 World Series.
Painter handles the final three innings
Rookie right-hander Andrew Painter, making his first true relief appearance, covered the last three innings and held Atlanta in check. His toughest moment came in the bottom of the 10th, when the Braves put two runners aboard with two outs.
Philadelphia escaped on the final pitch when Realmuto successfully challenged the automated ball-strike system ruling, converting the call into a strikeout of Dominic Smith and ending the game.
| Game 2 | Result |
|---|---|
| Phillies | 4 |
| Braves | 3, 10 innings |
The clubs will meet again Thursday in Game 3. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. ET unless Phillies-Braves is the only Wild Card Series still alive, or the White Sox-Astros series is the only other active matchup. Under either of those circumstances, Philadelphia and Atlanta would play at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
