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Just Find a Way: Phillies Late-Inning Heroics Force a Game 3
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
The Phillies, with their backs against the wall, sent their ace to the mound to save the season. Cristopher Sanchez battled through 116 pitches, Bryce Harper made a crucial mistake, and the Phillies hit three home runs in the last three innings of this game. The Phillies win 4-3 and force a Game 3, and that is one of the best baseball games that I have ever watched.
10 thoughts, in the moment, from a wild one:
1. Phillies strike first in the opening frame
The Phillies started off Game 1 with an early 1-0 lead, and they did it again on Wednesday. Trea Turner lead off the game with a double, followed by an RBI single from Bryce Harper. Alec Bohm got Bryce Harper over to third on a single, but Harper was thrown out in between third and home on a Bryson Stott bouncer back to the mound.
Nothing is confirmed, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the Phillies had Harper going on contact there, no matter what.
2. The Braves answer back immediately
The Braves wasted no time to tie this game up. Ronald Acuna Jr walked to lead the inning off, and after stealing 2nd and 3rd base, Matt Olson smoked an inside slider to right field to even the score at 1. It took Cristopher Sanchez 23 pitches to get through the 1st inning.
3. Chasing early
The game of baseball was summed up for the Phillies in the first three innings. First pointed out by old friend Anthony San Filippo (SanFrancisco):
Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Alec Bohm saw a total of 10 pitches in the first inning, with 7 of them in the strike zone. They went double, groundout, RBI single single. Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott then saw 8 pitches, with 2 of them in the strike zone. They went groundout/strikeout.
Justin Crawford, Edmundo Sosa, and Trea Turner only saw 6 pitches in the zone out of 13 total; all three of them made outs. JT Realmuto got a fastball down broadway and ripped it into centerfield. When the Phillies are patient at the plate, they succeed. When they are not, they fail. It’s as simple as that, and it’s been as simple as that for five seasons now.
The gameplay for Tyler Mahle is jumping out of the screen; beat the Phillies with splitters out of the zone. 7 of the first 9 outs made by the Phillies were on splitters. 5 of those 7 splitters were out of the zone.
4. Cristopher Sanchez vs Tyler Mahle
After bad first innings from both Sanchez and Mahle, the two pitchers both settled in during the middle of the game. Tyler Mahle ripped through the Phillies order in the 4th and 5th inning, getting Turner, Schwarber, and Harper to go down 1-2-3 in the 5th with two strikeouts. Sanchez got through the top six hitters in the Braves lineup unharmed in the 3rd and 4th. Sean Murphy roped a double in the 5th inning, but Sanchez got out of the jam, even after intentionally walking Acuna Jr.
5. No run support for Cristopher Sanchez
Cristopher Sanchez was not his best today, there’s no doubt about that. But Sanchez battled. His stuff wasn’t where it usually is, and it showed the most in the 6th inning. Sanchez loaded the bases, and the Phillies needed some magic with 1 out. Sanchez rolled a ground ball from Michael Harris II, and Alec Bohm made one of the biggest defensive plays of his career…a 3-2-2 double play, just as we all expected.
6. The biggest defensive miscue of the season
The Phillies have been a bad defensive team all season, and it all came full circle in the 7th inning. Cristopher Sanchez got Drake Baldwin on a liner to left field, but Bryce Harper misplayed the ball and it went over his head. I don’t know if the win caught it, Harper couldn’t see it, or it was just a flat-out misread, but it’s another heartbreaking moment for the Phillies.
7. JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT…
After Bryce Harper’s game-changing miscue in right field in the bottom of the 7th, Schwarber and Harper were due up for the Phillies down 3-1.
Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run, and I don’t think Ronald Acuna Jr moved an inch. It was an absolute nuke job.
Bryce Harper came up to the plate after Schwarber looking to redeem himself (as much as he can) for the error…and he did just that.
Schwarber and Harper go back to back to right field, and we have a tie game.
8. What a situation for Andrew Painter’s postseason debut
What if I told you back in May that Don Mattingly’s best option in a tie, must-win postseason game was Andrew Painter in the 8th inning?
Painter threw six straight balls to start the frame, but got Harris II to ground into a double play, and Sean Murphy ended the inning on 1 pitch. Mattingly would bring Painter back out for the 9th, and he would send this game to extras. I can’t even describe how big of a moment that is for Painter, the kid who was once sent down to the the minors in his rookie season. The biggest two innings of his life, on the biggest stage, and he looked as confident as ever.
9. Trea Turner…what was that?
With 2 outs and a runner on 1st base, the Braves went to Didier Fuentes and pulled Raisel Iglesias out of the game, due to the head-to-head numbers of Turner and Harper.
Turner swung at the first pitch Fuentes threw and ended the inning on a pop-up in foul territory.
10. ALEC BOHM, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
The guy that people wanted DFA’d at the trade deadline, the guy that is probably not coming back to the Phillies. Alec Bohm stepped up in the 10th inning with Fuentes still on the mound, and crushed an opposite field solo home run to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
What a baseball game. It’ll most likely be a mix of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola on Thursday for the Phillies. They are 1 win away from advancing, and 1 loss away from their season being over.
The best two words in sports: Game 3.
Luke Arcaini has been writing about the Phillies for 6 seasons, and is now in his 2nd year covering for Phillies down at Citizens Bank Park for Crossing Broad. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke