Well, you just knew this was going to happen in the future for these clubs, eh?
After another close game was decided on a knife’s edge, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies are headed toward a winner-take-all third game of the Wild Card Series. There were some twists and turns but in the end, the three guys the Braves couldn’t let beat ended up beating them. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper faced Dylan Lee in the eighth inning (right after the Braves took the lead), then Alec Bohm beat Didier Fuentes in the tenth inning to essentially decide the game.
For the first seven and a half innings, it looked like the Braves were going to pull off another one. Tyler Mahle in particular was fantastic with seven good finishes as he only allowed one run while he was there. It turned out he was having his way when Walt Weiss dropped a bombshell in the post-match press conference and said Mahle was dealing with an injury just before the match and was considered a game-time decision.
“We had a scare before the game. He felt an abdominal pull. We didn’t know if he was going to get the start,” Weiss said when asked whether or not Tyler Mahle was actually done after the seventh inning. When he asked to know more about Mahle’s pre-match status, he explained that it was really a breeze for Mahle ahead of today’s match.
“We weren’t sure. It was right around the time of the game, after he came out of the bullpen,” Weiss said. “He ended up working on it, and it got better as the game went on. But we fought from the start.” In this particular context, that makes Mahle’s start all the more impressive — especially since it was his first career playoff start. Much credit is due to Mahle for going out there and toughing it out, but now his status will be questioned going forward, and hopefully he’ll feel better as the playoffs progress (hopefully).
Meanwhile, it was another tough day for Didier Fuentes, who now gave up that big triple to JT Realmuto in Game 1 and the home run to Bohm in Game 2. This is a very difficult stat for Fuentes in the playoffs, but Weiss likely used his own experiences as a player to keep Didier’s head up during this particularly low moment.
“When you’re a late-inning reliever, these things happen,” Weiss said. “I’ve seen some greats that it’s happened to. I’ve seen one of the greatest. I was at shortstop when Kirk Gibson did his thing against (Dennis Eckersley,) one of the greatest closers of all time. That’s part of the territory when you’re pitching late in close games. Every once in a while they catch you.”
Weiss also supported his decision to go to Dylan Lee, which made sense at the moment given how the first match went. “Lee is our high-leverage southpaw,” Weiss explained when asked if he could go with Lee in that situation. “(He) hit the same part of the order yesterday pretty easily. He threw the ball really well yesterday. So no, it’s his inning every time.”
Finally, Dominic Smith got the call for a big fight at the end and Weiss had to answer a question about that situation as well. Once again, Weiss supported his player in this situation and said he had a “good feeling” that Dominic Smith could potentially have another big moment.
“Dom is a very good pinch hitter and he’s a professional strikeout player,” Weiss said when asked about Smith’s arrival for the tenth inning. “I think there was a good chance he could even take a walk there and pass the baton to Yaz. I just felt good about Dom in that situation. He came through for us.”
Overall, it’s a tough pill to swallow for the Braves (especially considering the missed opportunities Atlanta had in the game, including a tough double play by Michael Harris II as Cristopher Sánchez barely held on for a tie in the sixth inning) but at the same time, the Phillies had to take their medicine in Game 1.
It’s all part of the dramatic ebb and flow that comes with the playoffs — especially since these two are division rivals who have faced each other all season. There are no more secrets, no surprises for the other. It will simply be a matter of who will be the better team over the next nine (or so) rounds.
Hopefully, once the smoke clears tomorrow, it’ll be the Braves who head to Los Angeles for the weekend, but for now, it’s clear the margin for error is as slim as everyone thought. The Braves made their hay, the Phillies responded in kind and now it’s time to see who can make that knockout shot in Game 3. We’ll see what happens when the Braves play their first real game in October this season – with everything on the line.
Gn sports
