The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday at Truist Park in Atlanta, evening their National League Wild Card Series at one game apiece. Alec Bohm delivered the decisive blow, a two-out solo home run in the top of the 10th, sending the best-of-three series to a deciding Game 3 on Thursday.
How Bohm's homer sealed a dramatic comeback
Bohm sent a 1-1 pitch from Atlanta reliever Didier Fuentes into the right-field seats with the score tied 3-3 in extras to give Philadelphia the win. The blast came with the Phillies fighting for their playoff lives after falling behind earlier in the game.
It was Bohm's first opposite-field home run since Opening Day, and he became the fourth player in Phillies history to hit a go-ahead homer in extra innings of a postseason game, joining George Vukovich, Lenny Dykstra and J.T. Realmuto. The celebration on the field reflected just how much the moment meant to a Phillies club that had been on the brink of elimination.
Braves led before late collapse
The Phillies rallied with back-to-back homers from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper after trailing 3-1 in the seventh, with Harper's homer making up for a crucial fielding mistake an inning earlier. Atlanta had taken the lead thanks to a mishap in the field involving Harper, only to watch the Phillies' bats answer immediately.
Matt Olson's RBI single in the first accounted for the Braves' only run until they added two more against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez in the seventh. Atlanta had won Game 1 a day earlier, riding an Austin Riley eighth-inning three-run homer that lifted them to a 5-3 victory.
Cristopher Sánchez battles through traffic
Cristopher Sánchez ended his day with 116 pitches, six strikeouts and three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings of work. The left-hander, who entered the game after posting an 18-7 record with a 2.91 ERA in the regular season, had taken two losses against the Braves this year but allowed just a total of three earned runs across those two starts before Wednesday.
Sánchez navigated trouble for much of the afternoon. Things got hairy for him in the sixth when Atlanta had the bases loaded with one out, but after a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, Sánchez stayed composed and induced a ground ball that led to a 3-2-3 double play, with Bohm firing home before scurrying back to first for the inning-ending putout. He ultimately couldn't finish the seventh, exiting after the Braves' go-ahead rally.
Painter's postseason debut saves the bullpen
With Philadelphia's relief corps worn down, interim manager Don Mattingly turned to rookie right-hander Andrew Painter, a starter during the regular season, to close things out. Painter saved the Phillies' beleaguered bullpen with three scoreless innings to close things out.
The 23-year-old delivered in the biggest moment of his young career. He sealed Philadelphia's victory with a 99-mph four-seam fastball that clipped the outside edge of the zone and that the Automated Ball-Strike system overturned to clinch a game-ending strikeout, stranding two Atlanta runners in the process.
What comes next for both teams
The Phillies tied up their wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves at 1-1 with the win, and Game 3 will take place Thursday. The decisive contest returns to Truist Park, with the winner advancing to the NL Division Series and the loser's season coming to an end.
The start time for the finale hinges on the results of the other Wild Card matchups around the league. The start time of Game 3 depends on which series are still active through play on Wednesday, with Phillies-Braves starting at 2 p.m. ET unless it is the only remaining series, or if White Sox-Astros is the only other active series. Fans following the White Sox-Astros series will want to keep an eye on that scoreboard as well, since it could shift Thursday's first pitch to prime time.
For Bohm, who is set to hit free agency after the season, the moment carried extra weight. His performance capped a turbulent campaign and gave Philadelphia new life heading into a win-or-go-home finale against a Braves team that has now let two late leads slip away in as many days.