The Atlanta Braves faced the Philadelphia Phillies in game two of the Wild Card series in a chance to clinch the series and move on to the next round.
Tyler Mahle, the key trade deadline acquisition, took the mound for the Braves. He has been on fire in the second half of the season for the Braves. with a 1.99 ERA with forty-eight strikeouts to only nine walks.
This is his first postseason appearance of his career and he was a little shaky in the first inning. Trea Turner smacked the second pitch he saw
for a double. Schwarber then moved him to third on a ground out. This brought up struggling former MVP Bryce Harper to the plate. He took an splitter low and outside the opposite way for an RBI single to put the Phillies up by one. Alec Bohm followed that up with a single to put runners on the corners with only one out. Fortunately, Mahle calmed down and got Stott to hit a come-backer to the mound for a fielder’s choice via a pickle at third and then struck out Brandon Marsh to limit the damage.
The first inning continued to be exciting when the Braves came up to bat. Ronald Acuña led off the bottom of the first with a career OPS of 1.000 against Cristopher Sánchez. He was able to draw a walk. Baldwin struck out, but Acuña stole second against one of the best defensive catchers in recent memory in J.T. Realmuto. Albies grounded out, but then Acuña stole again and made it to third. Matt Olson then came up clutch and knocked Acuña in to tie the game at one before Dubón hit a 101.9 MPH line out.
Mahle looked much better in the second. He got Sosa and Crawford to flyout. He did surrender a single to Realmuto but then got revenge on Turner and struck him out. Unfortunately, the bottom of the inning was not any better for the Braves with them being sat down in order.
Mahle started get in the groove and show us why we were excited to have him be the game two starter in the third inning. He struck out Schwarber, and got Harper to ground out. He showed he was not intimidated even though the top of the lineup got to him last time. He walked Bohm, but then got Stott to groundout.
Some questioned why Kim was in the lineup, but he did his job in his first appearance. He was able to draw a six pitch walk. For some reason, Acuña then followed Kim up with watching three straight strikes without swinging. Drake Baldwin did not do much better with a six pitch strikeout. Albies then followed that up with a pop up.
The fourth inning started out great. The only offense from the Phillies was a single from Justin Crawford. Mahle was able to induce two groundouts and a lineout. This brought up Matt Olson in the bottom of the fourth. Olson was able to draw a 3-1 count (although the strike looked low), but it ended in a groundout to second. He was followed by two more groundouts.
If anyone questioned the Tyler Mahle acquisition, that should be put to bed. He sat down the Phillies in order in the fifth to include striking out both Schwarber and Harper. It looked like the Braves may get something going in the fifth. After a Harris groundout, Murphy doubled. Kim popped out and Sánchez intentionally walked Acuña to face Baldwin. Unfortunately for the Braves, that move paid off when Baldwin grounded out.
Mahle stayed in the game for the sixth and the only offense he surrendered was a single to Marsh. The Sixth looked very promising for the Braves. They loaded the bases thanks to a Albies single and back-to-back singles from Dubón and Riley after an Olson strikeout, but then Harris grounded into a double play to kill the momentum.
In the seventh the Braves chose to ride the hot hand and leave in Tyler Mahle. He was able to get Crawford to groundout on a low splitter, Realmuto to strikeout, and Turner to line out. It really showed that the Phillies do not have faith in their bullpen because Sánchez came back out to pitch after loading the bases in the previous inning. The Braves took advantage. Murphy walked and then Kim was able to get on as well via a misplayed bunt. Acuña struck out again, but then Baldwin came up big with a double to put the Braves up by one on a ball that appeared to be misplayed by Harper. Albies then was intentionally walked to load the bases. Olson came through again and gave the Braves another run via a sac fly. This brought in Alex McFarlane to pitch. McFarlane then got a groundout to end the inning.
Dylan Lee came in to pitch. He did well yesterday, but there was this sinking feeling of him coming in because he has struggled in the regular season as of late. The bad feeling was warranted because he surrendered back-to-back HRs to Schwarber and Harper to tie the game. Harper made up for his mistake. Fortunately, he was able to get two more outs and was relieved by Iglesias. In true Iggy fashion, he did his job and ended the top of the eighth.
The Phillies opted to bring in Andrew Painter in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Austin Riley won an ABS challenge and walked. Unfortunately, Michael Harris followed that up with his second GIDP of the game, and then Sean Murphy popped up.
With every inning that went by, the drama got higher and higher and in the ninth that held true. Iglesias stayed in to pitch the ninth and Sosa was able to single off of him, but appeared to be injured and was replaced with Derek Hill. Crawford tried to bunt the runner over, but it was unsuccessful. Realmuto then popped up. This brought us to the top of the lineup with two outs. The Braves opted to bring in rookie Dider Fuentes to try and get the third out after struggling yesterday. Under unimaginable pressure, he was able to get Trea Turner to pop out and end the inning, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth.
Yastrzemski pinch hit for Kim against Painter and hit a routine fly ball. Acuña continued his struggles with a ground out. Baldwin singled, but then Albies flied out to RF to send the game to extras. Fuentes stayed in the game to pitch the tenth and struck out Schwarber, then proceeded to get Harper to ground out, but then Alec Bohm put in the dagger with a solo shot on a ball over the middle of the plate to take a one run lead. This led to a single from Stott and De La Cruz. Fuentes was able to strike out Hill, but the damage was done.
The Braves got some offense going in the bottom of the tenth. Olson struck out, but Dubón was able to get a single. Riley came up to bat with a chance to be the hero again, but also struck out. Michael Harris singled and then the Braves opted to pinch hit Dominic Smith for Sean Murphy. This ultimately failed with Smith striking out on three pitches to include an overturned ABS challenge to end the game.
The offense had plenty of opportunities to score with eleven runners left on base, and the bullpen collapsed. If this game was simulated multiple times the Braves likely would have won the majority of them, but it that is not how it played out today in a demoralizing loss.
The Braves will likely face the Phillies’ ace Zack Wheeler tomorrow and will bring in Grant Holmes to pitch. This loss stings.
