Did he or didn’t he?

A wild game that was filled with several twists and turns was overshadowed by one controversial ninth-inning call on Sunday night.

With one out and the go-ahead run standing at third base in a 6-6 game, Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan gambled by sending Alec Bohm home on a Didi Gregorius fly ball that traveled just 230 ft. out to Braves left fielder Marcell Ozuna.

Surprisingly, Bohm broke for home and slid his left foot across (or perhaps over) the front right corner of the plate, barely beating the tag of Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud to score the eventual game-winning run.

Home plate umpire Lance Barrett ruled Bohm safe. The Braves challenged that he did not touch the plate. Chaos ensued.

Several Braves players were so confident the call would be overturned after viewing the play on the Truist Park video board that they left the field. But replay officials upheld the call, one that put the Phillies in front while also drawing the ire of Braves manager Brian Snitker.

https://twitter.com/potofwater2391/status/1381428318780547072?s=20

After the game, Atlanta starter Drew Smyly had strong words about the controversial replay decision.

“In real time, it’s obviously bang-bang. Lance [Barrett] is right there in position making the best call that he can, but then we have five different angles on a national televised game, and it’s clear that his foot didn’t touch the plate, that it was on the chalk,” Smyly said. “Everyone saw it and everyone knows it, and for MLB not to overturn that, it’s embarrassing. Why even have replay if you won’t overturn that?”

Phillies manager Joe Girardi saw the play a bit differently.

“It was a narrow one and it was by the skin of his big toe, I think, that we scored,” Girardi told reporters. “It looked like his big toe kind of hit the corner of the plate is what we saw when we saw a lot of the angles.”

Bohm, for his part, had a very diplomatic take.

“I was called safe. That’s all that matters,” he said with a smile.

Of course, Twitter also went wild as debate raged over both the play and the use of replay. In the moments immediately following the game, “he never touched the plate” was trending. DraftKings Sportsbook even made the decision to refund Braves moneyline bettors:

Some Braves fans in attendance threw trash on the field to show their displeasure with the call, providing ESPN play-by-play guy Matt Vasgersian with an opportunity to take a cheap shot at Philly sports fans. Fans who were, you know, at home, not throwing trash on the field.

While Vasgersian missed the mark, Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson directed some postgame criticism at its rightful target.

The replay controversy served as a messy exclamation point on what was already a thoroughly entertaining baseball game played in front of a national audience, although it didn’t look like it would be much of a game early on.

That’s because the Phillies started the night with a simply brutal first inning.

Smyly needed just eight pitches to retire the Phillies in the top half of the frame, while the Braves would quickly build a three-run lead in the bottom half of the inning thanks to five hits, including two infield singles, a homer and a double, off Phillies starter Matt Moore.

Moore, who wasn’t sharp for the second time in as many starts to begin the season, did manage to give the Phillies a pair of scoreless frames in the second and third, which bought just enough time for the offense to get back in the game.

Trailing 3-1 in the fourth inning, Rhys Hoskins cut the Phillies’ deficit to one when he capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a solo blast:

Smyly would get the next two batters before Bohm and Jean Segura kept the inning alive with a pair of singles. That brought Gregorius to the plate, who entered the night 0-for-10 in his career against Smyly.

He was due, I guess.

The Phillies’ lead would be short-lived, however, as Ronald Acuña Jr. drove in what felt like his 20th run of the series with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to make it a 5-4 game. An inning later, what felt like Freddie Freeman’s 10th homer of the series would tie things up.

Bryce Harper would temporarily put the Phillies ahead again in the sixth with this solo shot, his 11th homer in 30 career games at Truist Park:

But Acuña would again respond with a solo homer of his own, setting up the ninth-inning drama.

After being staked with a one-run lead, Phillies closer Hector Neris nailed down his second save of the season in as many tries by retiring Pablo Sandoval, Acuña, and Ozzie Albies in order.

The save capped an important win for the Phillies, who moved to 6-3 and hold an early two-game division lead as they head to New York for a four-game series with the Mets.