ATLANTA — Hours before his team faced elimination on Wednesday, Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly exuded confidence that his team’s season wouldn’t be ending that day.
Asked about the team’s pitching plans for a potential Game 3 of its National League wild-card series against the host Atlanta Braves if the Phillies were to win Game 2, Mattingly corrected the reporter, saying, “When we win (Wednesday).”
Mattingly was proven correct, although maybe not in the way he expected, when Philadelphia rallied for a 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Braves, forcing a winner-take-all game on Thursday.
The Phillies were down to their final six outs on Wednesday when Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper delivered back-to-back homers to tie the game at 3-all.
For Harper, who was responsible for digging Philadelphia into a 3-1 hole when he misjudged Drake Baldwin’s fly ball the prior inning, resulting in a go-ahead double, it was a redemptive moment.
He credited putting things in a personal perspective to take advantage of the immediate opportunity for redemption.
“I was thinking about Krew, my son, what I would say to him in that situation,” Harper said postgame. “I think it’s a learning situation not for myself but everybody else as well. I think you try to flush it as quick as possible.”
The Braves’ back-end bullpen trio of Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias has been among the strongest in the majors this season, with all three posting ERAs of 3.09 or better over 60-plus innings during the regular season.
All three have been used in each of the first two games of this series, and only Iglesias has yet to allow a run.
Lee, who gave up three home runs in 71 regular-season appearances, served up the back-to-back homers to blow the 3-1 lead Atlanta had just assembled in Game 2.
Fuentes yielded J.T. Realmuto’s go-ahead seventh-inning triple on Tuesday before allowing Alec Bohm’s game-winning homer on Wednesday in the top of the 10th.
Fuentes, 21, became a breakthrough do-it-all weapon for the Braves this season, capable of handling high-leverage spots and covering multiple innings while posting a 2.45 ERA with 92 strikeouts over 73 1/3 innings.
Braves manager Walt Weiss is seeing the big picture when evaluating how Fuentes has handled his first postseason.
“It’s all part of it. When you’re a late-inning reliever, these things happen,” Weiss said. “I’ve seen some great ones that this has happened to. I saw one of the greatest. I was at shortstop when Kirk Gibson did his thing (in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series) off one of the greatest closers of all time (Dennis Eckersley). It comes with the territory when you’re pitching late in close games.”
The bad news for the Braves, as far as trends go, is that they have lost their last six playoff elimination games.
The Phillies are trying to become the second team in as many seasons, along with last year’s New York Yankees, to rally from down 1-0 to win a wild-card series.
Neither manager announced his pitching plans for Game 3 after the Wednesday game.
The Phillies could throw either right-handed veteran Aaron Nola (7-12, 4.67 ERA) on regular rest or right-hander Zack Wheeler (14-5, 3.00) on three days’ rest after he threw 97 pitches in the regular-season finale on Sunday.
The Braves are likely to use Grant Holmes (10-6, 3.44) as their bulk pitcher. It remains to be seen, though, if he will get the start or if Atlanta could elect to throw an opener before turning the ball over to him.
–Curt Weiler, Field Level Media
