Alec Bohm put Philadelphia ahead with a two-out home run in the 10th inning and the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Wednesday to force a decisive third game in their National League Wild Card Series. The Phillies rallied with back-to-back homers from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper after trailing 3-1 in the seventh. Harper's homer made up for a crucial fielding mistake an inning earlier.
Andrew Painter (1-0), a starter in the regular season, saved the Phillies’ beleaguered bullpen with three scoreless innings to close things out. Painter stranded two runners in the 10th when he struck out Dominic Smith with a successful ABS challenge. Playing under traditional extra-inning rules that don't include designated runners at second base like in the regular season, Bohm delivered his third career postseason home run, a 357-foot shot to right field off right-hander Didier Fuentes (0-1).
The Phillies will try to continue their postseason dominance over the Braves in Thursday's Game 3. Philadelphia beat Atlanta in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS. In the seventh, Drake Baldwin's double glanced off Harper's glove in right field, driving in Sean Murphy to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead.
Harper, who resumed playing the outfield late this season for the first time since 2022, got a poor jump and was leaping for the ball near the warning track. He was not charged with an error. Matt Olson added a sacrifice fly.
"Probably should have been caught, obviously," Harper said. The Phillies pulled even with eighth-inning home runs by Schwarber and Harper off Dylan Lee, the winning pitcher in the Braves’ 5-3 opening win on Tuesday. Schwarber’s drive carried 447 feet and Harper followed with a 418-foot drive.
Tyler Mahle allowed one run on six hits in seven innings for Atlanta. Cristopher Sanchez allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings for Philadelphia while throwing a career-high 116 pitches. Painter gave up a one-out single to Mauricio Dubon in the 10th, then struck out Austin Riley before giving up a bloop single to Michael Harris II.
Painter's 0-2 fastball to Smith was called inside by plate umpire Adam Beck, but Painter and catcher J.T. Realmuto immediately called for a robo-ump challenge. ABS confirmed the ball clipped the strike zone, the first time a postseason game has ended with a strike-zone appeal.
Harper, a first baseman before moving to the outfield at the trade deadline, was playing shallow and was late to adjust to Baldwin’s drive with runners on first and second. Harper reached up only to have the ball bounce off his glove for a double. Ronald Acuna Jr. walked, stole second and then stole third with Edmundo Sosa not covering the bag before scoring on Olson’s single in the first.
Sánchez didn’t allow another hit until Sean Murphy doubled to center field with one out in the fifth. Mahle kept pace, though he didn’t have a perfect inning until the fifth, when he struck out Schwarber and Harper. Sánchez issued an intentional walk to Acuña with two outs before Baldwin’s grounder to second base ended the inning.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
