The Atlanta Braves rallied in the 9th before walking off the division rival Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 in eleven innings in Truist Park on Friday night.
Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
The bottom of the 11th, clearly.
Atlanta entered the frame down 5-4, with Philly picking up a single run in the top half of the inning. Ozzie Albies was at second base, and the only lineup regular that was scheduled to hit in the inning was Austin Riley.
Despite homering earlier in the game, Riley grounded out to short, meaning Ozzie was stranded at second base. He stayed there when Dominic Smith, who was only in the game to play first base after Matt Olson was pinch-run for in the 10th, popped out on the first pitch.
But don’t worry, because…
checks notes
Ha-Seong Kim came to save the day.
The backup shortstop, only in the game after Mauricio Dubón had to move to left field once Mike Yastrzemski was pinch-run for, ripped an RBI single through the left side to tie the game at five.
It was a good piece of hitting, too - Kim resisted chasing a 0-1 changeup out of the zone, but recognized the pitch out of the hand when lefty Brooke Raley tried to double up but missed his spot, leaving the offspeed in the zone.
And that set the stage for Drake Baldwin.
Baldwin got up 2-0, Raley battled back to 2-2, and then Baldwin got out in front of a sweeper that caught the zone away, launching it to the right-center gap and giving Kim the time to race around and score the winning run from first base.
The Phillies broadcast was, understandably, a bit down about it.
But know who was absolutely hyped? Ronald Acuña Jr., who stepped up from the on-deck circle to guide Kim through a possible play at the plate and immediately launched the celebration.
Today’s Player of the Game
In a first, the Player of the Game, as voted on by the Postcast, was…the entire team.
Atlanta used practically the entire bench, with Brewer Hicklen and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. both scoring in extras as pinch-runners, while Dominic Smith played first base in extras and Kyle Farmer grabbed a bat and was prepared to hit for Didier Fuentes in the 12th, once the lineup spot he was occupying came back around.
The bench’s preparation to get the job done when called on reflects well on the coaching staff, especially bench coach Tony Mansolino. And the specific usage of the bullpen is a feather in Walt Weiss’ cap tonight. Dylan Lee and Didier Fuentes were both warming to replace Chris Sale after the seventh, with Lee getting the call for a clean eighth. But after Lee gave up a leadoff double to Bryce Harper in the 9th and got a flyout from Luis Arraez, Weiss went to Victor Mederos, not Fuentes, for the final two outs of regulation. That allowed Atlanta to deploy closer Raisel Iglesias for the 10th and then go to Didier Fuentes for the eleventh (and likely the twelfth, had it gone that far).
What You’ll Be Talking About
Philly’s self-immolation tonight.
Philadelphia handled so much of this game incorrectly, both on the field and in the dugout.
Bryce Harper got thrown out on the basepaths after he made the amateur mistake of breaking from 2nd to 3rd on a ground ball to the shortstop, with Mauricio Dubón easily making the out. Inexcusable for a veteran to do mostly anytime, but in the 9th inning of a one-run game?
The defense wasn’t clean, either, with DaShawn Keirsey Jr. scoring the tying run in the 9th all the way from first after centerfielder Derek Hill misplayed a routine ground ball.
The coaching decisions were a bit odd, as well.
Manager Don Mattingly was insistent on not using closer Jhoan Duran, who pitched on both Wednesday and Thursday (taking the loss), which was understandable. He also refused to use righty Orion Kerkering, despite the youngster not pitching since last week.
And just as we wrote earlier in the week, Atlanta was able to get to Philly’s vulnerable non-Duran relievers. Three different Phillies relievers gave up runs late, with Jonathan Bowlan (9th inning), Chase Shugart (10th), and Brooke Raley (11th) all taking blown saves after some questionable pitch calling and locations.
This almost felt like Philadelphia’s last gasp here - the Phillies are now five games back with just two more to play against Atlanta. They are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top Wild Card spot, just three games ahead of the San Diego Padres and 3.5 ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final playoff spot.
Do they still try and push for the division, treating both of these remaining games as must-win contests? Or do they just focus on getting healthy while making sure they maintain one of the two top Wild Card spots?
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the contest.
What’s Next for the Braves?
Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.05, but 2-1, 1.24 with Atlanta) gets the ball at 7:15 tomorrow night for game two, but he won’t be facing Jesús Luzardo - Philly scratched the lefty due to a sore shoulder, with his next start being pushed back to next week. Manager Don Mattingly has yet to announce who will get the ball tomorrow evening.