The Philadelphia Phillies staved off elimination in the most dramatic fashion possible on Wednesday, rallying from two runs down to beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 10 innings and force a winner-take-all Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series.
Alec Bohm's two-out solo home run off Braves reliever Didier Fuentes in the top of the 10th inning sealed the win at Truist Park, keeping Philadelphia's season alive a day after Atlanta had taken the series opener. The deciding game is set for Thursday in Atlanta, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series.
Eighth-inning comeback turns the game
The Phillies looked finished when they trailed 3-1 in the seventh inning. Atlanta had seized the lead when a fly ball from Drake Baldwin glanced off Bryce Harper's glove in right field, allowing Sean Murphy to score, before Matt Olson added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Then came the power. Kyle Schwarber launched a 447-foot solo shot to open the eighth, his 24th career postseason home run — moving him past George Springer into third on the all-time list. Harper followed immediately with a 418-foot blast of his own to tie the game at 3-3, atoning for his earlier fielding lapse. Harper had already driven in Philadelphia's first run with a first-inning single.
Pitchers hold the line, defense delivers
Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez held the Braves to one run over six innings, escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth when Bohm — playing first base after a mid-season position switch — turned a sharp double play. On the other side, Tyler Mahle was superb in his first career postseason start, giving Atlanta seven innings and just one run.
The hero in the end may have been Andrew Painter. A starter during the regular season, Painter pitched three scoreless innings in relief, stranding the winning run in the ninth and the tying and winning runs in the 10th. He closed the game by striking out Dominic Smith — the final pitch first called a ball before an ABS challenge overturned it to strike three.
Rivalry history on the line
The Braves had taken Game 1 on Tuesday 5-3, powered by Austin Riley's three-run homer off Jhoan Duran in the eighth. Philadelphia has beaten Atlanta in three prior postseason meetings — the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS — but has never in franchise history won a postseason series after losing Game 1. Thursday's decider will be their chance to change that.
Sources: Phillies force Game 3 over Braves on Alec Bohm's 10th-inning homer (USA Today), Phillies rally back to force decisive Game 3 vs. Braves in NL wild card (Sportsnet)
Alec Bohm's two-out solo home run off Braves reliever Didier Fuentes in the top of the 10th inning sealed the win at Truist Park, keeping Philadelphia's season alive a day after Atlanta had taken the series opener. The deciding game is set for Thursday in Atlanta, with the winner advancing to face the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series.
Eighth-inning comeback turns the game
The Phillies looked finished when they trailed 3-1 in the seventh inning. Atlanta had seized the lead when a fly ball from Drake Baldwin glanced off Bryce Harper's glove in right field, allowing Sean Murphy to score, before Matt Olson added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Then came the power. Kyle Schwarber launched a 447-foot solo shot to open the eighth, his 24th career postseason home run — moving him past George Springer into third on the all-time list. Harper followed immediately with a 418-foot blast of his own to tie the game at 3-3, atoning for his earlier fielding lapse. Harper had already driven in Philadelphia's first run with a first-inning single.
Pitchers hold the line, defense delivers
Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez held the Braves to one run over six innings, escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth when Bohm — playing first base after a mid-season position switch — turned a sharp double play. On the other side, Tyler Mahle was superb in his first career postseason start, giving Atlanta seven innings and just one run.
The hero in the end may have been Andrew Painter. A starter during the regular season, Painter pitched three scoreless innings in relief, stranding the winning run in the ninth and the tying and winning runs in the 10th. He closed the game by striking out Dominic Smith — the final pitch first called a ball before an ABS challenge overturned it to strike three.
Rivalry history on the line
The Braves had taken Game 1 on Tuesday 5-3, powered by Austin Riley's three-run homer off Jhoan Duran in the eighth. Philadelphia has beaten Atlanta in three prior postseason meetings — the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS — but has never in franchise history won a postseason series after losing Game 1. Thursday's decider will be their chance to change that.
Sources: Phillies force Game 3 over Braves on Alec Bohm's 10th-inning homer (USA Today), Phillies rally back to force decisive Game 3 vs. Braves in NL wild card (Sportsnet)
