Bryce Harper went from potentially wearing one of the most painful mistakes of the Philadelphia Phillies’ season to delivering one of their biggest swings.
With Philadelphia facing elimination Wednesday in Atlanta, Harper’s defensive miscue helped the Braves break a tie in the seventh inning. One inning later, the veteran slugger erased much of the damage himself, blasting a game-tying home run that helped send the Phillies toward a dramatic 4-3 victory in 10 innings in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card series.
Alec Bohm ultimately delivered the winning blow, barely clearing the right-field fence with a solo homer in the 10th to keep Philadelphia’s season alive.
Harper Gets His Chance at Phillies Redemption
The turnaround was particularly striking for Harper.
With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh, a fly ball headed toward right field appeared manageable at first. Harper misread it, however, and the ball sailed over his head. The mistake helped Atlanta score twice and take a 3-1 lead.
“I thought it was going to be a pop fly just right at me and then it kept traveling,” Harper said afterward. “Obviously, a ball I should have caught.”
There was little time to dwell on it.
Kyle Schwarber opened the Phillies’ comeback with a home run that cut Atlanta’s advantage to 3-2 in the eighth. Harper followed with another homer to tie the game.
J.T. Realmuto said he could sense what was coming.
“Once Schwarber hit that home run, you just felt like Bryce was going to do the same,” Realmuto said. “You could feel it coming.”
For Harper, recovering from the mistake meant relying on something he has accumulated over decades: experience under pressure.
“I think you try to flush it as quickly as possible,” Harper said.
He pointed to a baseball life spent playing important games from an unusually young age. Harper became nationally famous before reaching the majors, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school player in 2009.
That history, he explained, taught him how quickly baseball can force a player to move beyond failure.
Bohm Answers His Own Costly Mistake
Bohm had his own chance at redemption.
Earlier in the seventh, he fielded Ha-Seong Kim’s sacrifice bunt and attempted to get an out at second. The throw did not arrive in time, leaving Atlanta with two runners aboard and nobody out.
Three innings later, Bohm stepped to the plate against Didier Fuentes and drove a ball 357 feet toward right field. It just cleared the wall.
“I didn’t know it was gone until I heard it hit — kind of a rattle against the fence above the wall,” Bohm said.
The moment carried additional weight after a difficult season for the former No. 3 overall draft pick. Bohm is approaching free agency after recording his lowest wins above replacement since 2021, and he recently settled a lawsuit involving his parents.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Bohm said. “I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve made a lot of really close friends along the way and had a lot of people to lean on along the way.”
Harper, Bohm’s teammate throughout his major league career, was particularly pleased to see him deliver.
“I’m proud of him,” Harper said. “He’s been through the wringer this year, on and off the field.”
A Historic Challenge Ends a Wild Night
Even after Bohm’s homer, the game still had one more unusual twist.
With Andrew Painter on the mound, a 99 mph fastball to Dominic Smith was initially called a ball. Realmuto challenged the call, and replay overturned it for strike three, ending the game. It marked the first MLB postseason game to end on a challenge.
Painter’s reaction apparently left little doubt about how he viewed the pitch.
“He looked more sure it was a strike than I was, to be honest,” Realmuto said.
Painter worked three innings of relief to earn the victory despite starting with six balls. The highly regarded rookie had previously been sent back to Triple-A for a month before returning to Philadelphia.
Realmuto called the outing “a career-altering performance.”
The late drama also overshadowed an impressive pitching duel earlier in the night. Atlanta starter Tyler Mahle allowed only one run over seven innings while striking out six, facing Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez. Philadelphia’s seventh-inning defensive problems eventually charged three runs to Sanchez.
The Phillies survived without top reliever Jhoan Duran, who was unavailable after surrendering Austin Riley’s Game 1 home run.
Whether Duran will be ready for Thursday’s Game 3 remains uncertain. Asked about his availability, Phillies manager Don Mattingly offered only two words:
“I hope.”
That leaves Philadelphia facing another elimination game, but at least they’ll have another game to play. On Wednesday night, two players who made costly mistakes got another chance. Harper tied it. Bohm won it. And the Phillies escaped Atlanta with their season still alive.
