Not to stress. After Wheeler put Duvall to lead off the seventh, Riley offseted his earlier miscue in a substantial method, getting the Braves on the board:.
With Workman still in the game, Flowers knocked a leadoff single, and was replaced as a pinch-runner by Alex Jackson (?). Inciarte tried to bunt Flowers over, but missed out on the pitch the first time, later took a strike to make it 2-2, and struck out on a curve in the dirt. The Phillies did the obvious thing, intentionally walking Freeman to bring up Pache, but Brian Snitker smelled blood in the water.
For a long while, this game was all Phillies, thanks to Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler. In the first inning, after Rhys Hoskins drew a one-out walk, Harper straight-up obliterated the very first pitch he saw from Robbie Erlin, a sinker on top edge of the zone, deep into the Atlanta night. The ball traveled an approximated 470 feet, the second-longest homer hit up until now this year, the second-longest of Harpers career, and the sixth-longest quit by the Braves in the Statcast era. (Amusingly, numbers 3 through six on that latter list right now were all courtesy of Giancarlo Stanton.).
On his very first pitch, Swanson singled on a liner through the shift. Freddie Freeman then walked on four pitches that were no place near (and 2 strikes). Neris got Duvall to fly out to shallow left, keeping the game 4-3 for a little while, but then offered method to the most high-profile of Philadelphias bullpen moves to date– Brandon Workman, he of the 2.1 fWAR last year with the Red Sox.
On the plus side, Melancon got Harper to strike a routine fly to left, where it was easily captured by Cristian Pache, who had actually come in as a defensive replacement for Ozuna. On the minus side, Walker was able to simply barely beat Paches toss home, scoring the connecting run. Melancon bounced back to start out Realmuto, but the Braves would now need to walk it off if they were going to win this video game.
Having actually accumulated just 12 strikeouts in his past 4 starts of the year, Wheeler struck out 8 Braves throughout his 7 innings of work. Wheeler enabled his very first hit with one out in the second, an infield single to Matt Adams. Erlin got into a bit of a mess in the 3rd by enabling a single to Hoskins and strolling Harper, but got out of it with a strikeout and an infield pop.
The video game did not end right there, though it could have. dArnaud grounded to short, which became a forceout in the house. In surreal, perfect-for-2020 style, the home plate umpire ruled that Realmutos foot came off the plate as he received the toss, and for that reason that Jackson was safe at house as the winning run. In some sort of a lot more strange alternate universe, game-ending plays cant be challenged, and the Braves walk off best then and there. That, nevertheless, is not this universe– a quick replay evaluation confirmed that no, Realmuto did not make a gigantic blunder, and Jackson was rightfully ruled to be displaced at house. That was only a temporary reprieve for the Phillies, though. With 2 outs and a 2-1 count, Adam Duvall ended the video game:.
Not rather 470 feet (426 ), however 2 runs is 2 runs, and the deficit was halved. Tyler Flowers linked for a two-out double later in the frame, bringing up Ender Inciarte as the tying run, but Wheeler struck the latter out to end his night.
Lets just say, well, that relocation did not exercise, courtesy of Matt Adams:.
In any case, that big blow turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead with space for much more, even though it just had actually a. 270 hit likelihood. (Thanks Adam Haseley and playing Adams to pull in the outfield!).
An inning later, his 26th pitch, a hanging curveball, was smacked into left-center by Adam Duvall to offer the Braves a 6-5 walkoff success. The Phillies had actually rallied to connect the video game in the ninth after Workmans very first error, it was all for naught, as the Braves beat them again and took the series.
Pinch-hitter Neil Walker began the inning with a bouncer simply past a diving Riley for a leadoff single (.190 hit probability). After Melancon got McCutchen to fly out for the first out, he plunked Hoskins, packing the bags with just one out. Up next, of course, was Harper.
Realmuto struck a single off Dansby Swansons glove to begin the inning, however was later tossed out on a take attempt of 2nd since he for a short time popped off the bag. Greene then quickly provided a two-out walk, however got a pop-out from Didi Gregorius to keep it a 4-2 video game.
Brandon Workmans first pitch for his brand-new group turned a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit. An inning later, his 26th pitch, a hanging curveball, was smacked into left-center by Adam Duvall to offer the Braves a 6-5 walkoff triumph. The Phillies had rallied to connect the video game in the ninth after Workmans very first misstep, it was all for naught, as the Braves beat them once again and took the series.
Erlin completed his outing with 4 innings of two-run ball, enabling 2 hits, 2 strolls, and of course, the huge Harper blast. He started out three. The first 8 balls in play versus him likewise went in the air, however he ended his outing with back-to-back groundouts.
Grant Dayton began and threw a perfect top of the 6th, but Wheeler was still cruising, retiring the top of Atlantas order for a 3rd time on 14 pitches. With one out in the seventh, Andrew McCutchen, who had actually hit two simple fly balls and then almost homered off ODay in the fifth, linked off Dayton for a solo shot into the left-field corner. At that point, it was 4-0 Phillies, and with Wheeler in command so far, things were looking pretty grim for the house team.
The combination of Hoskins taking second, moving to 3rd on a wild pitch, a walk to Harper, and J.T. Realmuto smash through the infield made it 3-0 Phillies. Minter struck out Phil Gosselin to end the inning, however Wheeler just rolled over the Braves again, shutting them down in the bottom of the fifth after Rileys leadoff single.
The Braves, though did not actually get more. Riley struck the next pitch to third, allowing Segura to cut down pinch-runner Charlie Culberson at the plate. Worker started out Johan Camargo to send out the video game to the ninth with his group now routing by one.
The world might be figuratively (and actually, stay safe out there, TCers in California and the Mountain West) on fire, but Braves baseball is still pretty enjoyable, and tonight was a terrific example of why. They torched the Philadelphia bullpen once again, enhancing to 16-11 on the season. Theyll choose the sweep on Sunday Night Baseball tomorrow.
In the first inning, after Rhys Hoskins drew a one-out walk, Harper straight-up eliminated the very first pitch he saw from Robbie Erlin, a sinker at the leading edge of the zone, deep into the Atlanta evening. The ball traveled an approximated 470 feet, the second-longest homer struck so far this year, the second-longest of Harpers career, and the sixth-longest provided up by the Braves in the Statcast era. Melancon bounced back to strike out Realmuto, but the Braves would now have to walk it off if they were going to win this game.
