Elle's Baseball Musings: Painter escapes in relief, Bohm homers in 10th as Phillies edge Braves 4-3 to force Game 3
By Elle Elena ·
Bryce Harper was crouched in right field with his cap off, two outs in the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon, while Don Mattingly walked out to take the ball from Cristopher Sánchez. Two batters earlier, Drake Baldwin had lifted a fly ball toward the warning track at Truist Park, and it went off the top of Harper's glove for a run-scoring double. Matt Olson's sacrifice fly made it 3-1 Atlanta. The Phillies were six outs from going home in two games.
I watch outfielders between pitches more than most people, so this is the play I keep replaying. The inning started with a leadoff walk to Sean Murphy and a Ha-Seong Kim bunt that Alec Bohm tried, and failed, to turn into a force at second. Harper played first base until the trade deadline and is back in the outfield for the first time since 2022. Per the AP, he was playing shallow with runners on first and second, got a late jump, and was reaching up near the track when the ball arrived. No error was charged. "Probably should have been caught, obviously," he said.
Afterward, he explained what he was thinking out there. "Obviously a world of emotion there," Harper said. "I'll tell you what. I was thinking about Krew, my son, what I would say to him in that situation."
He had his answer an inning later. Atlanta went from Tyler Mahle (one run in seven innings) to lefty Dylan Lee. Kyle Schwarber worked a full count from 0-2, fouled off a fastball, and hit a 3-2 slider 447 feet to right-center at 111.7 mph. MLB.com noted that Lee had not allowed a homer to a left-handed hitter in 92 at-bats this season. Harper followed with a 1-1 slider hit 418 feet to right-center, and it was 3-3. "Everybody is going to make mistakes at some point, but it's how you come through in the next situation," he said. That works as a dad answer, too.
Mattingly gave the bottom of the eighth to Andrew Painter. He is 23, a starter in the regular season, and per MLB.com he could not recall ever making a genuine relief appearance. Jhoan Duran was unavailable after throwing 27 pitches in Game 1.
His first six pitches were balls. Austin Riley, whose three-run homer off Duran won Game 1, walked on four pitches (the fourth was called a strike until Riley won his challenge). Painter missed twice more to Michael Harris II, and pitching coach Caleb Cotham came out. J.T. Realmuto kept his message short: "You got here, so you gotta trust your stuff here. You're plenty good enough to get this guy out." Painter threw a 98 mph fastball for a called strike, then a changeup that Harris rolled to Bohm for a 3-6-3 double play. Murphy popped the next pitch up in foul territory. Six balls, then three pitches and three outs.
I have a soft spot for young players who struggle badly, go back down, and figure something out. Painter had a 7.06 ERA when the Phillies sent him to Triple-A on June 17. He returned July 31 and posted a 3.65 ERA in 11 outings. Mattingly's version: "Went down, went to work, came back. He's been a different guy."
Painter got through the ninth around a two-out single by Baldwin, ending it with a 99.9 mph fastball that Ozzie Albies flied to right. Postseason rules put nobody on second to start the 10th. Schwarber struck out and Harper grounded out. Then Bohm hit a 1-1, 99.4 mph fastball from Didier Fuentes 357 feet the other way, over the wall in right. It was his first opposite-field homer since Opening Day, and MLB.com says he joined George Vukovich, Lenny Dykstra and Realmuto as the only Phillies with a go-ahead extra-inning homer in the postseason.
In the bottom of the 10th, Painter struck out Olson looking on a full-count fastball, and the call held up when Olson challenged. After a Mauricio Dubón single, a Riley strikeout and a Harris bloop to left, it was two on and two out for pinch-hitter Dominic Smith. Smith, a lefty, swung through two changeups. I have a weakness for a right-hander's changeup against a left-handed hitter, and those two were beauties. The 0-2 pitch was a 99 mph fastball on the inside edge, and plate umpire Adam Beck called it a ball. Painter was already walking off, tapping his head. Realmuto challenged, the call flipped to strike three, and the AP says no postseason game had ever ended on a strike-zone appeal before.
"He looked more sure it was a strike than I was, to be honest," Realmuto said. He called it "a career-altering performance." Harper went with "Absolute dawg mentality." The line was three scoreless innings, three hits, one walk, three strikeouts and 37 pitches. MLB.com says Painter is the youngest pitcher in Phillies history to win a postseason game.
Game 3 is Thursday at 1:00 p.m. CT at Truist Park on NBC and Peacock. The AP expects Grant Holmes to start or pitch in bulk relief for Atlanta, and Mattingly said he is assuming "all hands on deck." Painter said he could pitch again if needed. "I didn't think I was going to be closing a game in the playoffs," he said. "But I think I'm capable of a lot."
-Elle