ATLANTA – If Alec Bohm is indeed in his final days with the Phillies, he’s going out with a bang.
Bohm, who’ll soon be a free agent, smacked a solo home run with two outs in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Phillies to a dramatic 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The best-of-three series is tied at a game apiece. A winner-take-all Game 3 is set for Thursday. It was not immediately clear who would start Game 3. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler are both possibilities. If Wheeler gets the call he’ll be on short rest.
Bohm’s homer was one of three that the Phillies hit against the Braves’ bullpen in the late innings. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hit back-to-back shots in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Harper’s game-tying homer came moments after he misplayed a ball in right field in the seventh inning that paved the way for the Braves to score two runs and break a 1-1 tie.
The Phillies’ beleaguered bullpen got a huge lift from rookie Andrew Painter. He did not allow a run over the final three innings and got the win. He struck out Dominic Smith looking with two men on base to end the game. The final pitch was initially ruled a ball but overturned by ABS.
Starting pitchers Cristopher Sanchez and Tyler Mahle hooked up in a tight pitchers’ duel.
Atlanta’s Mahle pitched seven innings and allowed just one run. The run came in the first inning as the Phillies stroked three hits. He put up zeroes the rest of his day.
Sanchez went 6 2/3 innings and gave up just three runs, two of them after his defense collapsed in the seventh. He threw a career-high 116 pitches.
It was a 1-1 game entering the bottom of the seventh. The Phillies’ defense betrayed them in the inning. One inning after making an excellent play to start a 3-2-3 double play, first baseman Bohm could not get an out on a bunt as the Braves put runners on first and second. With one out, Harper then misplayed a ball in right field – it was generously scored a double — that allowed the Braves to score the tie-breaking run. Matt Olson followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game.
With a two-run lead, the Braves went to lefty Dylan Lee in the top of the eighth. He allowed back-to-back homers to the first two batters he faced, Schwarber and Harper, as the Phillies tied the game.
Bohm’s homer in the 10th came against right-hander Didier Fuentes. Bohm has RBIs in both games of the series. He had 88 RBIs during the regular season. None were as big as Thursday’s. It helped the Phils live for another day.
More coming…