ATLANTA — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper leaned on his decades-long experience playing in big games to shrug off a potential season-ending miscue in the field, redeeming himself with a tying home run in the eighth inning.
The Phillies carried the momentum into extra innings, when Alec Bohm hit the game-winning homer Wednesday to keep Philadelphia’s season alive with a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of their National League Wild Card series.
It was a wild turn of events after what looked to be a decisive gaffe by Harper in the seventh inning, when a fly ball to right field went over his head, helping the Braves score two runs and break what had been a 1-1 tie.
“I thought it was going to be a pop fly just right at me and then it kept traveling,” Harper said after the game. “Obviously, a ball I should have caught.”
Harper’s been one of the most famous baseball players on Earth since his Sports Illustrated cover in 2009 as a high schooler and a long career of dealing with pressure and the failure inherent in baseball has given him a different perspective than he had early in his career.
“I think you try to flush it as quickly as possible,” he said. “I grew up playing in a lot of big games. I’ve said it in the past about the postseason. Playing huge games that people are counting on you from the time you are 10 years old all the way until now, I don’t think people understand what that feels like or looks like. Because when you guys were 10 years old, you probably weren’t playing in front of 3,000 people yelling and screaming at you, wondering why you’re not the player you want to be or anything else.”
Harper’s shot came right after a Kyle Schwarber’s home run that cut the lead to 3-2. Teammate J.T. Realmuto claims he saw Harper’s coming: “Once Schwarber hit that home run, you just felt like Bryce was going to do the same. You could feel it coming.”
Two batters before Harper’s defensive miscue, Bohm fielded a sacrifice bunt from Ha-Seong Kim and threw to second base, but his throw wasn’t in time, giving the Braves two baserunners with no outs in a 1-1 score. He also redeemed himself, hitting the deciding homer off Didier Fuentes in the 10th — a 357-foot shot that barely cleared the right-field fence.
“I didn’t know it was gone until I heard it hit — kind of rattle against the fence above the wall,” Bohm said.
The No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, Bohm has had rocky career with the Phillies and is set to become a free agent after the playoffs after posting his lowest wins above replacement since 2021. He was also involved in a lawsuit against his parents that was settled confidentially earlier this month.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Bohm said. “I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve made a lot of really close friends along the way and had a lot of people to lean on along the way. I really wouldn’t have rather had it any other way.”
Harper has been Bohm’s teammate for Bohm’s whole big league career and has seen the ups and downs up close.
“I’m proud of him. He’s been through the wringer this year, on and off the field. No person or player or anybody should have to go through those situations. … I played with him for a long time, and for him to have that moment, obviously in that situation, I’m super proud of him, super happy for him.”
This was also the first MLB playoff game to end on a challenge, with Realmuto challenging the umpire’s initial call of a ball on a 99 mph fastball from Andrew Painter. It was overturned to strike out Dominic Smith to end the game.
Realmuto chuckled recalling Painter’s confidence on the mound as Realmuto asked for the decisive challenge. “[Painter] looked more sure it was a strike than I was, to be honest. He was that excited to get that out, to make that pitch in that situation.”
Somewhat lost in the late-game theatrics was a sterling start from Braves righty Tyler Mahle, who went pitch-for-pitch with Cristopher Sanchez, a leading NL Cy Young candidate, ultimately ending with a better line (7 innings, 1 run, 6 strikeouts) due to the 7th inning defensive miscues from the Phillies putting three runs on Sanchez’s ledger.
Painter’s three innings of relief earned him the win, even as he started shakily, throwing six balls to start his outing. Painter is another former first round pick that arrived as a hyped-up rookie this year, but was demoted to Triple-A for a month and came back notably improved.
“That’s a career-altering performance, in my opinion,” Realmuto said of Painter.
After giving up the game-winning home run to Austin Riley in game one, top Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran wasn’t available today. When asked if he’d be available tomorrow, Phillies Manager Don Mattingly said, “I hope.”