Philadelphia

Phillies

The Braves grabbed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh after defensive miscues from Bohm on a sac bunt and Harper on a fly to right, but the Phillies came right back in the eighth, with Schwarber and Harper taking Dylan Lee deep after Lee went the entire regular season without ever allowing a homer to a lefty. Andrew Painter kept things tied afterwards, and Bohm hit a rare opposite field homer off Didier Fuentes in the 10th to give the Phillies the lead. Bohm’s homer was his third in 40 career postseason games. Including the regular season, it’s his ever extra-inning homer. Game 3 will take place Thursday. The Braves are expected to throw Grant Holmes as a starter or bulk guy, with the Phillies likely starting Aaron Nola and perhaps going to Zack Wheeler later.

Sánchez allowed one run in the first and then was charged with two in the seventh after the defense botched a sac bunt, getting no outs, and let a routine fly to right drop for a double. With some more help, Sánchez would have gotten through seven allowing one run today.

With Jhoan Duran seemingly unavailable after throwing two innings Tuesday, the Phillies went to Painter in the eighth after tying the game at 3-3 in the top of the inning and just let him keeping. His first six pitches were actually balls, but he finally threw a strike with the seventh and then the eighth turned into a double-play ball from Michael Harris II and the ninth was a popout. Painter went on to allow one single in the ninth and two with a one-run lead in the 10th before striking out Dominic Smith to end the game. It’s the kind of showing from Painter that has to make the Phillies feel considerably better about their pen if they manage to advance.

Harper singled in a run in the first and then hit the second of back-to-back homers with Kyle Schwarber to tie the game in the eighth after his own misplay helped the Braves go ahead by two runs in the seventh. Harper’s homer was his 18th in 59 postseason games.

Marsh sat out Game 1 with the Braves throwing left-hander Chris Sale, but he’ll be back in against Tyler Mahle. Marsh hit a career-high 18 home runs this season while stealing 11 bases and posting a .260/.304/.408 slash line.

Sánchez will attempt to keep Philadelphia’s postseason hopes alive after Atlanta rallied for a comeback win during the late stages of Tuesday’s series opener at Truist Park. The odds are stacked against the Phillies since teams that win the opening contest in the best-of-three Wild Card Series era have gone on to win 21 of 24 times. The 29-year-old lefty rapped up another phenomenal regular season with a 2.91 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 231/45 K/BB ratio across 207 innings of work. This will be one of the biggest spots of his career.

Realmuto lined a ball into the right-field corner off Didier Fuentes that scored a pair of runs in the seventh that gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately for Realmuto and the Phillies, that lead would not last. The 35-year-old will be behind the plate in a must-win Game 2 against Atlanta on Wednesday.

Duran came in to pitch the seventh and eighth as interim manager Don Mattingly looked to cement a Game 1 win. He did the job in the seventh, but the 28-year-old gave up a hit and a hit-by-pitch before leaving a pitch in the middle of the plate to Austin Riley that Riley hit out to right field. Duran also threw 27 pitches, so while he’ll likely be available for Wednesday’s must-win game, it’s not a guarantee. Duran is one of the best relievers in the sport, but it wasn’t his day, and it’s fair to wonder if his manager put himself in the best position to succeed Tuesday.

So much for being the “opener. " Luzardo was able to throw 77 pitches, and outside of a scuffle in the second inning where he allowed his lone run, he was outstanding. The left-hander allowed just three hits, walked one and whiffed six while throwing 48-of-77 pitches for strikes. He generated a solid 11 swings-and-misses while averaging 96.6 mph; down ever-so-slightly from his average heater. If all checks out well and Philadelphia advances, he should be just fine for the NLDS against the Dodgers.

With Luis Arraez sidelined with an ankle injury, Sosa will enter the lineup at third base, and Bryson Stott will shift back to second base. The team will leave Alec Bohm at first base and Bryce Harper in right field. With Chris Sale on the mound, it will be Bryan De La Cruz in left field and Brandon Marsh heading to the bench.