ATLANTA — Jhoan Duran left the bullpen after the final note of “God Bless America.” It was only the seventh-inning stretch, two innings sooner than the star closer typically goes to work.
Yet nobody was surprised.
Because if the Phillies have a postseason pitching plan, it is to use the fewest pitchers possible to get 27 outs in a game. All hands on deck? Try six arms, maybe seven, even though there are a dozen on the roster.
So, Jesús Luzardo pushed his recently inflamed left shoulder for 77 pitches against the Braves here Tuesday in his first start in 22 days. Fifteen outs down in Game 1 of the best-of-three wild-card series.
And once the Phillies took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh inning, with the top of the Braves’ order coming up, interim manager Don Mattingly called on Duran to get as many of the last nine outs as he could.
There wasn’t much choice.
It ended the way it always seems to end for the Phillies in Game 1s. For the third consecutive postseason, the bullpen coughed up a late lead. This time, Duran threw a clean, 12-pitch seventh and got two outs in the eighth. Then, an infield single, a hit batter, and …
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran pitched more than one inning only once during the season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“There’s no secret that we’ve had our share of blown leads, not just Game 1 but throughout the postseason,” said J.T. Realmuto, whose two-run triple into the right-field corner put the Phillies ahead 3-2 in the top of the seventh. “Sixth, seventh, eighth inning, it’s something we have to get better at. And we have the guys in here to do it.”
Well, that’s the thing. The Phillies had deeper, better bullpens the last two years. Rob Thomson didn’t use Duran in the seventh inning last year because he had Strahm and David Robertson. In 2024, Hoffman and Strahm were All-Stars.
This year, the bridge to Duran buckled when $22 million setup man Brad Keller tore an elbow ligament in July. Dave Dombrowski, a future Hall of Fame executive with a blind spot for building past bullpens (ask fans in Detroit) didn’t suitably reinforce it at the trade deadline.
And it collapsed almost entirely in the last few weeks due to ineffectiveness (José Alvarado and Orion Kerkering) and injury (Jonathan Bowlan).
Before the game, Mattingly and pitching coach Caleb Cotham agreed to script the pitching accordingly. If they could get to the seventh inning with a lead, they would go to Duran early.
Duran said he was aware of the plan. For weeks, the Phillies have discussed using him for more than three outs in the postseason.
“I feel like stuff like that happens in the postseason all the time,” Trea Turner said. “I was more wondering how long he was going to go.”
Turner has seen this before, notably with the Nationals in 2019. They won a wild card despite a bullpen that had a 5.66 ERA in the regular season. In the playoffs, they leaned primarily on two relievers and used starters Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Anibal Sanchez out of the bullpen on side days.
And they won the World Series.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner played for the 2019 Nationals, who won the World Series despite a poor bullpen.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“We had very few [relievers],” Turner recalled. “Our two main guys were [Sean] Doolittle and [Daniel] Hudson, and we kind of pieced together after that. Corbin picked us up a lot. … You’ve just got to find a way.
“I mean, it’s frustrating. But it’s not over.”
It’s not. But since the creation of the best-of-three miniseries in 2022, the Game 1 winner has won 15 of 16 series. Only the Yankees lived to tell about a series-opening loss, and they were playing at home.
The Phillies will pin their hopes to Cristopher Sánchez, and he did win 18 games with a 2.91 ERA. They went 23-10 in his starts, albeit only 8-6 on the road and 0-2 against the Braves.
But unless Sánchez throws a complete game, Mattingly will face the conundrum of how to get the last three, six, or more outs from less than a handful of trustworthy options.
Zack Wheeler would be on two days’ rest after throwing 97 pitches Sunday in the must-win regular-season finale. Aaron Nola would be on three days’ rest after starting on two days’ rest Saturday night. And the Phillies probably need to hold him back to start a potential Game 3 here Thursday.
Duran threw 27 pitches, his highest total since Aug. 16. Could he pitch again Wednesday in Game 2?
“Maybe yes, maybe not,” he said. “I don’t know. I need to do my catch play first.”
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly has few relievers he can trust.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Rookie righty Alex McFarlane will be available after only 16 pitches in the sixth inning. But he gave up the go-ahead run on a hard single by Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies’ triple off over center fielder Derek Hill’s outstretched glove at the wall in right-center field.
Mattingly suggested that Bowlan was an option in the ninth inning if Duran had gotten through the eighth. Rookie starter Andrew Painter will sit in the bullpen again, and could easily get a phone call even though he hasn’t pitched in relief.
Consider what Mattingly said before Game 1: “I think you look at it and, is he one of our better guys? That’s just what I’m looking at. And he’s one of our better guys. … It’s hard to go to somebody else that, I don’t want to use names, but somebody else over him that’s not the same caliber.”
With a one-run lead in the seventh inning of another Game 1, Mattingly didn’t have anyone as good as Duran.
There are two days left in September, but Red October already is in full swing.
The Phillies’ matinee postseason opener on Tuesday featured Phillies analyst John Kruk, Braves analyst C.J. Nitkowski, and Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play for the 5-3 Braves win in Atlanta. “Inside the pitch analyst” Joey Votto and field reporter Ashley ShahAhmadi rounded out the broadcast crew for NBC.
If you were stuck in the office or made the trip to Truist Park for the best-of-three National League wild-card series, here’s what you missed on the broadcast:
Dressed to the nines
Now that’s a sight you don’t see every day. Kruk, usually clad in a Phillies polo shirt and hat, traded in his usual attire for a suit and tie.
Per NBC rules, all broadcasters and analysts are required to wear a formal suit and tie while calling national games. Kruk is no exception.
But while his outfit might have looked a bit spiffier than usual, the man inside the suit was no different. When advertising the new season of The Voice on NBC with judge Queen Latifah, Kruk revealed that she “played second base for [him] one day.” That day seemingly was a ’90s-era MTV Rock n’ Jock softball game.
And just when it seemed the comment would stand alone and the conversation was headed in a different direction, Kruk circled back to say, “She made a heck of a play.”
Whatever the opposite of the announcer jinx is, the broadcast booth had it on Tuesday.
With Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto up to bat and runners on the corners in the top of the seventh, Kruk mentioned that Realmuto opted to take extra batting practice and has been working on hitting the ball to the opposite field in recent weeks.
Then Realmuto did just that, hitting one to the right-field corner to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.
It happened again in the bottom of the eighth when Austin Riley was batting against Jhoan Duran. Nitkowski mentioned that when the two faced each other Sept. 6 in Philly, Riley hit a go-ahead RBI triple off Duran on the first pitch he saw. Riley then hit what ultimately was a game-winning three-run home run off the first pitch he saw from Duran.
On the field, the Phillies and Braves were battling things out, but in the booth, the opposing analysts blended well.
Despite joking about calling the game as a homer on X, Nitkowski and Kruk put aside their differences for the broadcast, with a chemistry that worked in the booth.
Both men were complimentary of their opposing team when the moment called for it, while also being unafraid to point out issues with their own teams.
Kruk spent much of Chris Sale’s 6⅓ innings complimenting the left-handed pitcher for his ability to get batters swinging at his pitches in the longest postseason appearance of his career.
Me walking into the NBC booth tomorrow ready to call a fair and balanced game. pic.twitter.com/5s8i1FczEs
The broadcast crew will be back together Wednesday for Game 2, which also will be played at 2 p.m. in Atlanta.
Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (left) jogs off the field after the final out as the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (center) celebrates their win with Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin (right).Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Austin Riley celebrates his three-run homer in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after catching a line drive off the bat of Atlanta Braves Matt Olson in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott celebrates after he scores in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryan De La Cruz (right) celebrates with Bryson Stott after they both scored on J.T. Realmuto hit in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto knocks in two runs in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott singles in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Derek Hill reaches for a ball of the bat of Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alex McFarlane pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper strikes out in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber singles in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto strikes out to end the fifth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies second baseman Edmundo Sosa celebrates his fifth inning double.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo delivers a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the fourth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo reacts to the third out in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Ha-Seong Kim tags Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner as he tries to steal second base in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (left) and Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (center) talks as pitching coach Caleb Cotham makes a visit after the Phillies game up a run to the Atlanta Braves.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale pitches in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Derek Hill (right) celebrate after Schwarber scores on an Alec Bohm double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alec Bohm hits a RBI double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper (right) and Trea Turner greet each other before the start of game 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — The only thing dead in the Phillies dugout was the stare from the guy who is now their brightest hope. All around him, Cristopher Sánchez’s stunned Phillies teammates gathered their belongings and shuffled toward the clubhouse tunnel in the wake of a come-from-behind 5-3 win by the Braves. But Sánchez remained, his eyes locked on the pitching rubber at Truist Park.
“Just looking out at the mound,” Phillies designated Kyle Schwarber said later, a gleam in his eye.
The Phillies competitive advantage in this best-of-three wild-card Series was always going to be Game 2. That was true before they nearly stole Game 1 with a two-run go-ahead triple by J.T. Realmuto off Didier Fuentes in the seventh inning. It remains true now, even after Austin Riley stole the game back with a three-run home run off Jhoan Duran in the eighth.
Win Game 2 with your ace on the mound. Find a way in Game 3. That was the most likely formula heading into the series. It is the only formula now.
“We knew we had to win two out of three, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Realmuto said. “Losing Game 1 isn’t going to deter us at all.”
The history is daunting, sure. Since MLB expanded its playoff format to include the best-of-three wild-card series, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the series 21 out of 24 times.
Yet few of those teams had a pitcher like Sánchez starting Game 2. The veteran lefty enters the postseason fresh off a second straight Cy Young-caliber season, with a 2.91 ERA in 207 innings and a career-best strikeout rate of 10.0 batters per nine innings. Sánchez has faced the Braves twice this season, holding them to three runs in 12 innings with 13 strikeouts and four walks. Over the last two seasons, he has posted a 2.19 ERA in four starts against Atlanta.
That Sánchez has never faced Atlanta in the postseason is a testament to his meteoric rise over the last few seasons. In 2022 and 2023, when the Phillies twice knocked off the Braves in the National League Division Series, Sánchez pitched a total of 2⅓ postseason innings, all of them in the 2023 NL Championship Series against the Diamondbacks. By last October, he had become their ace, holding the Dodgers to three runs in 12 innings with 13 strikeouts and three walks in the Phillies’ four-game NLDS loss.
This year, there is nobody they’d rather have on the mound.
Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (left) jogs off the field after the final out as the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (center) celebrates their win with Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin (right).Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Austin Riley celebrates his three-run homer in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after catching a line drive off the bat of Atlanta Braves Matt Olson in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott celebrates after he scores in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryan De La Cruz (right) celebrates with Bryson Stott after they both scored on J.T. Realmuto hit in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto knocks in two runs in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott singles in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Derek Hill reaches for a ball of the bat of Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alex McFarlane pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper strikes out in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber singles in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto strikes out to end the fifth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies second baseman Edmundo Sosa celebrates his fifth inning double.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo delivers a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the fourth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo reacts to the third out in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Ha-Seong Kim tags Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner as he tries to steal second base in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (left) and Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (center) talks as pitching coach Caleb Cotham makes a visit after the Phillies game up a run to the Atlanta Braves.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale pitches in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Derek Hill (right) celebrate after Schwarber scores on an Alec Bohm double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alec Bohm hits a RBI double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper (right) and Trea Turner greet each other before the start of game 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“The playoffs are momentum-based it seems like, and really momentum starts with your starting pitcher,” interim manager Don Mattingly. “It’s just a game at that point.”
Clearly, Game 1 was an opportunity squandered. It could very well prove decisive, especially if Duran’s 27-pitch workload in the seventh and eighth innings impacts his availability or effectiveness moving forward. Both Mattingly and Duran said afterward that they would wait and see about his availability for Game 2. Therein lies the most valid criticism of the manager’s strategy in Game 1. If you are going to risk Duran being unavailable behind Sánchez in Game 2, you’d better make sure you win Game 1.
They could have. That was surely Mattingly’s mindset, even if it would have left him still needing some other pitcher to save the game in the ninth.
The Braves had their guy on the mound, having won five of Chris Sale’s last six starts against the Phillies, all primarily because of him. The Phillies were forced to start Jesús Luzardo rather than Zack Wheeler, who would have been on the mound had they clinched a playoff berth sooner than Game 162. They nearly transcended those circumstances.
Luzardo was magnificent, facing the top of the Braves’ order three times and throwing 77 pitches in five innings despite entering the game having thrown just four pitches since returning from a 20-day stint on the injured list. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Alec Bohm. Luzardo gave up a leadoff double to Mauricio Dubón in the bottom of the second, which eventually led to a game-tying run. It was the only run Luzardo allowed.
While the Braves briefly retook the lead on an Ozzie Albies triple off rookie setup man Alex MacFarlane in the sixth, the Phillies answered loudly with Realmuto’s two-run triple to the right field corner in the seventh.
Jesús Luzardo delivered five innings for the Phillies on Tuesday in Atlanta.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It sure felt like we’d seen this sort of thing before. For eight innings, all of it was there. The demon lurking in the corners of their minds, memories of postseasons past. Three losses in four games in 2022. Three losses in four games in 2023. Orlando Arcia poking the bear. Realmuto racing around the bases for an inside the park home run in 2022. This was the postseason and it was the Phillies and it was the Braves and thus, all of it felt as if it’d already been written.
And then it didn’t. One swing of the bat was all that it took. It came in a manner that, from the other dugout, felt like an exorcism. Two on, two out, one-run lead, Duran on the mound, the Phillies four outs away from stealing a Game 1 win on Tuesday in which everything seemed to be going right.
“You know, everyone walks away from that game and everyone says what if,” Schwarber said. “The what ifs go away when you leave here. Everyone’s focused on the task at hand tomorrow.”
ATLANTA — Derek Hill thought he had a chance at it.
Off the bat, even Austin Riley didn’t think it was gone. He barreled up a mistake from Phillies closer Jhoan Duran — who was pitching in the eighth inning as an indication of how shallow the Phillies’ bullpen is this time of year — and as he made his way toward first, Riley prayed that it would keep carrying.
“It just caught a jet stream,” said Hill.
The ball landed atop the brick wall in center field of Truist Park, taking with it the Phillies’ chances in Game 1 of the wild-card series. Riley’s three-run shot propelled the Braves to the 5-3 come-from-behind win. And it left Duran shaking his head on the mound, as the latest Phillies reliever to watch a late lead evaporate in the first postseason game.
“That’s a dagger,” Bryce Harper said.
The Braves’ Austin Riley celebrates his three-run homer in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
In Game 1 of the 2024 National League Division Series, a combination of Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, and Orion Kerkering coughed up a one-run lead over the Mets in the eighth inning. In Game 1 of the 2025 NLDS, Strahm gave up a three-run homer to the Dodgers in the seventh. The Phillies lost both games, and eventually both series.
Two of those relievers are not on the team anymore, and Kerkering finished the season at triple A. It was the Phillies’ best bullpen arm that lost the game Tuesday.
“In our minds, we had our best guy out there,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “You live with this one.”
Even by postseason standards, when managers tend to become more aggressive with their pitching changes, Mattingly using his closer for the seventh and eighth was a surprising move. But the Phillies were clinging to a one-run lead, courtesy of a two-run triple from J.T. Realmuto, and the circle of trust in the bullpen has been ever-shrinking.
Should the Phillies have gotten to the ninth still with the lead, the plan for the final three outs would depend where the Braves were in the order, Mattingly said. Andrew Painter or Jonathan Bowlan were potential options, and the Phillies could have also used a combination of relievers.
It nearly worked out. Duran needed 12 pitches to handle the top of Atlanta’s order in the seventh, and got two outs on three pitches to start the eighth. But a soft infield hit from Michael Harris II to shortstop, followed by a mislocated splitter that hit Ozzie Albies gave the Braves some more life. And then Duran missed his spot to Riley with a fastball.
Jesus Luzardo gave up one run in five innings. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“It’s hard to see something like that,” Duran said. “I missed the pitch in the zone, and I paid the price.”
The early deployment of Duran wasn’t the first risk Mattingly took with his pitching plan on Tuesday.
It had been 22 days since Jesús Luzardo started a game. He faced batters for the first time on Sunday, in a four-pitch outing that lasted mere minutes. Nobody — not Braves manager Walt Weiss and his club, not even Mattingly — knew what to expect from him when he took the ball to start Game 1. Mattingly hoped he would at least begin the game “on a good foot.”
But Luzardo delivered much more than that. He held the Braves to one run and three hits over five innings, turning a 1-1 game over to Alex McFarlane. For 77 pitches, Luzardo went toe-to-toe with Atlanta ace Chris Sale.
“I feel like our bodies are pretty well-conditioned, even though I was down for three weeks,” Luzardo said. “But I feel like the long season helped condition me for that situation.”
Luzardo gave up one run in the second on a ground single up the middle from Mike Yastrzemski. An adrenaline spike helped him top out at 98.2 mph with his fastball during the outing. But as the game progressed, Luzardo felt like he was tiring. His velocity started to drop in the fourth and fifth innings, and that was the end of the line.
“He gave us more than we thought, honestly,” Mattingly said. “Just kept checking with him every inning, checking with the trainers, seeing if he was having trouble getting loose between innings. Zeus was great today.”
Phillies center fielder Derek Hill can’t come up with a ball hit by the Braves’ Ozzie Albies in the sixth inning. Yong Kim
The Phillies managed to squeeze out a first-inning run against the 37-year-old Sale, who started the game a little erratic with his command. A walk to Kyle Schwarber and a double from Alec Bohm on an elevated fastball well above the zone got the Phillies on the board first.
The second time he walked out to the mound, though, Sale seemed back to himself, and he diced up the Phillies lineup. Sale continued his career dominance over Bryce Harper, who went 0-for-3 against him.
It briefly appeared Harper’s fortunes might be changing when he came a few feet from a towering two-run shot that would have given the Phillies the lead in the sixth. But it landed just foul, and Harper badly whiffed on a slider well outside two pitches later to strike out.
“It was close,” Harper said of the foul ball. “Not close enough.”
The Braves briefly took a lead in the seventh off McFarlane before the Phillies snatched it right back. Hill was inches from another highlight-reel catch in center on a deep fly ball from Albies at the wall, but he slightly mistimed it and the ball deflected off his wrist. Hill couldn’t corral the ball immediately, and Albies advanced to third on an RBI triple.
After the Phillies finally chased Sale from the game in the seventh, they jumped in front again with a triple of their own. Realmuto pounced on a fastball from Didier Fuentes and sent it to the right field corner, where Ronald Acuña Jr. misplayed it, allowing two runs to score.
“Obviously the triple was fun, exciting. Not too many batters later, giving up the lead, that wasn’t fun,” Realmuto said. “That’s the playoffs, though. It’s such a roller coaster, and that’s why we love this game so much, is the emotions that come with it.”
Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (left) jogs off the field after the final out as the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (center) celebrates their win with Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin (right).Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Austin Riley celebrates his three-run homer in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after giving up a three-run homer to the Atlanta Braves Austin Riley in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran reacts after catching a line drive off the bat of Atlanta Braves Matt Olson in the eighth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott celebrates after he scores in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryan De La Cruz (right) celebrates with Bryson Stott after they both scored on J.T. Realmuto hit in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto knocks in two runs in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryson Stott singles in the seventh inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Derek Hill reaches for a ball of the bat of Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alex McFarlane pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper strikes out in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber singles in the sixth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto strikes out to end the fifth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies second baseman Edmundo Sosa celebrates his fifth inning double.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo delivers a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the fourth inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo reacts to the third out in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves Ha-Seong Kim tags Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner as he tries to steal second base in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (left) and Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (center) talks as pitching coach Caleb Cotham makes a visit after the Phillies game up a run to the Atlanta Braves.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerAtlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale pitches in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Derek Hill (right) celebrate after Schwarber scores on an Alec Bohm double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Alec Bohm hits a RBI double in the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper (right) and Trea Turner greet each other before the start of game 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
As Riley’s ball kept carrying in the eighth, it was hard not to be reminded of those other Game 1s, and what happened after them. Falling behind in a wild-card series is an even graver blow. Since the current playoff format was instituted in 2022, only one team has ever advanced to the division series after dropping the first game.
But the Phillies have done unlikelier things.
“We know what’s at stake tomorrow,” Schwarber said. “So it’s, sure, frustrating, right? Everyone walks away from that game, and everyone says, ‘What if?’ But the what ifs go away when you leave here, and everyone’s focused on the task at hand tomorrow.”
In the dugout after the final out, Schwarber noticed Cristopher Sánchez standing off by himself, staring out at the mound. Sánchez will take the ball on Wednesday as the Phillies see if they have any last-minute heroics left in them to extend their season another day.
“Let’s go. You know what I mean?” Schwarber said. “That’s our guy.”
Whether the Phillies experience a Red October remains to be seen, but they are in for a Red September in Atlanta with summerlike temperatures and what looks to be a hitter-friendly atmosphere.
On a Tuesday in which the sun was fighting mightily to prove its existence over Philadelphia — in what has been an unusually gloomy September — the skies over Atlanta were perfectly clear and forecast to stay that way through the next three afternoons.
Highs there Tuesday afternoon should crest in the mid-80s, said Todd Vaughan, meteorologist with the regional National Weather Service in Peachtree, Ga.
That would be about 20 degrees warmer than it was Sunday, when the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in South Philly to make the postseason.
Temperatures may make a run at 90 degrees Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, when the humidity would also be increasing, said Vaughan. As for winds, “They’ll be less than 10 mph,” he said.
On Sunday, in dismal, rainy Citizens Bank Park, winds were gusting to 29 mph.
As for what could go wrong with the Atlanta forecast, Vaughan said, “The forecast confidence is pretty high.”
An aside: If the best-of-three series goes to a third game, the Phillies’ Aaron Nola is on record as saying he loves to pitch in the heat. However, he also has given up a lot of long balls this season, and meteorologist Paul Dorian, who maintains a “Home Run Index” based on weather variables, said conditions would be favorable for homers this week.
No rain would be expected in Atlanta until Friday night, at which time the Phillies would be on the West Coast for their next series or heading back home for the winter.
If they return to Philly by Friday, they may rediscover that Ernest Hemingway was on to something with The Sun Also Rises, with clear skies and highs in the Atlanta-like 80s.
In fact after Tuesday, the sun should reign over Philly through the week, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist at the weather service in Mount Holly. Highs are expected to be in the 70s Tuesday and Wednesday, and low 80s on Thursday.
You may have noticed a Vitamin D shortage this month. Overall, skies have been more than 70% cloud-covered since Sept. 1, according to weather service sky data, in what normally is one of the sunnier months.
“It’s been an unusually cloudy month for September, Staarmann said.
The clouds are due back this weekend. Rain is possible Friday night into Saturday, he said, and maybe more on Sunday.
If the Phillies have their way, they’ll be in Los Angeles playing in the Division Series.
The island of St. Thomas and the city of Cornelia, Ga., seem different in almost every conceivable way. One is surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea; the other, tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
One has yearlong heat and humidity; the other has four seasons. But the two communities, roughly 1,600 miles apart, share an unlikely similarity. Both played a role in Alex McFarlane’s journey to the Phillies.
McFarlane was born and raised on the eastern side of St. Thomas. It was hardly a baseball hotbed; only 16 of the sport’s 23,804 big leaguers have come from the Virgin Islands. Nevertheless, word of his athleticism — and arm — spread quickly.
There were early signs. As a boy, the future Phillies reliever would spend his days with a milk carton full of tennis balls, fooling around with different grips, and throwing them against the side of his garage.
His mother, Tami Noel, had to get the siding replaced because of the dents imprinted by her hard-throwing son. “He beat the crap out of it,” said McFarlane’s former math teacher, Liz Elger.
In the seventh grade, during a dodge ball game, McFarlane accidentally beaned a classmate in the head. Of course, he was not the only culprit. Plenty of other middle schoolers were slinging red projectiles across the gym.
Phillies rookie reliever Alex McFarlane had a 2.84 ERA in 19 games during the regular season.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
But none were slinging with the force McFarlane was. And the kid who got hit looked “dazed,” according to Elger’s husband, Joey, who taught the future big leaguer P.E. and history.
“It wasn’t like a concussion,” he said, “but we had to go to softer balls.”
When he was 15, one of McFarlane’s coaches in St. Thomas connected him with Team Elite, a travel team out of Georgia. Up until that point, he’d only played recreational baseball; high school baseball didn’t exist at his academy.
Team Elite provided plenty of exposure (he committed to the University of Miami his junior year) but also had its limitations. McFarlane couldn’t experience the ups and downs of a full season. Their program was more about development and garnering scouts’ attention than winning a championship.
High school baseball was where most players learned this side of the game. But it was never an option for McFarlane, until tragedy struck his hometown. In September of 2017, two Category 5 storms, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, hit the Caribbean.
St. Thomas was destroyed. It took over 100 days to fully restore power. The island was crowded with trucks, helicopters and military equipment. The already-limited athletic facilities were being used as staging grounds for FEMA.
Liz Elger moved back to her hometown of Cornelia, Ga., with her young daughters, while her husband helped with relief efforts. McFarlane stayed with his family, making sure they were settled.
Video: Phillies celebrate clinching a fifth-consecutive postseason berth
In 2018, the pitcher decided to take a risk. He was about to embark on his senior year, but would have little access to baseball or physical training on the island, due to disaster recovery efforts.
So, his mom reached out to the Elgers and asked if her son could stay with them. McFarlane moved to northeast Georgia that fall, living with Atlanta Braves fans, while playing for Habersham Central High School.
And this week, McFarlane, a 25-year-old rookie who has emerged as a trusted reliever for the Phillies, will face their favorite team in the National League wild-card series, 80 miles south of the mountain town he once called home.
“A huge credit to them for taking me in, and helping me out,” McFarlane said. “It’s something that I’m forever grateful for.”
Alex McFarlane and the Elger family in the summer of 2025.Liz Elger
A ballplayer who could do it all
The Elgers have worked as international educators for the past 16 years. They’ve taught everywhere from Saipan to Lithuania to Tanzania, where they’re based now.
But before they traversed the globe, Liz and Joey were two Habersham students who loved the Braves. This was especially true for Joey, a bat boy for the team in the 1980s.
He was a baseball broadcaster for Stanford throughout college, and an intern at the Baseball Hall of Fame after graduating, but eventually returned to Habersham with Liz in 2005 to accept their first teaching jobs.
When the couple moved to St. Thomas in 2012 to work at the VI Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy, they found a community that was just as tight-knit as Cornelia.
The school’s principal called it a “three-legged stool.” Because the academy was small, with only 400 students from pre-K to 12th grade, it had a strong sense of cohesion. Parents and teachers would often see each other socially.
This is how the couple got to know Noel, a small-business owner on the island.
McFarlane was not the first St. Thomas athlete the Elgers took in. In 2017, Liz was contacted by the mother of two aspiring soccer players, Quinn and Grant Farrell, who asked if they could stay with her in Georgia.
Grant spent his senior year playing for Habersham, and soon secured an athletic scholarship at Division II Emmanuel University, in nearby Franklin Springs, Ga. The high school’s baseball coach, Chris Akridge, took notice.
Alex McFarlane with his high school baseball coach at Habersham Central, Chris Akridge, in Atlanta earlier this month.Chris Akridge
“Chris was kind of teasing us,” Joey said. “‘Do you know any baseball players?’”
As it turns out, they did. By the fall of 2018, McFarlane was at Habersham’s workouts. To Akridge, the timing was almost too good to be true.
The Raiders had only secured one playoff berth in their last 50 years. They’d recorded only one winning season in their last six. All of a sudden, Habersham had a player who could do it all: hit leadoff, roam center field, and start every seven days.
McFarlane led his team in all offensive categories, batting .480 with a .570 on-base percentage, and a 1.270 OPS. He led (or tied) his team in all pitching categories as well, posting a 1.80 ERA with 68 strikeouts and a 1.074 WHIP across 10 starts.
Even as a teenager, he emanated the toughness he’d later show as a Phillie. Akridge remembers one outing, against Appalachee High School, when McFarlane gave up a cheap home run to an eight-hole hitter in the third.
At first, he looked rattled. Then he settled in, and threw a complete game in a comeback victory. The next day, McFarlane approached his coach at school.
“He said, ‘You know, coach, that was awesome,’” Akridge recalled. “‘I’ve never experienced anything like that.’”
Joey and Liz and their daughters, Grady and Niall, attended every game, often FaceTiming Noel so she could see her son pitch. They quickly realized that they were not alone.
Joey Elger grew up a big Braves fan, and even served as a bat boy for the team in the 1980s.Joey Elger
When McFarlane took the mound, scouts flocked to Habersham; usually 20 to 25 of them, leaning against the fence and crowding the stands. They began to visit the Elgers’ home, talking to the prospect at their living room table.
Because Noel was back in St. Thomas, Joey and Liz supervised these visits. This led to some interesting encounters. One afternoon, former Braves infielder Keith Lockhart showed up to their door.
He was scouting for the Chicago Cubs. Liz asked the former big leaguer if he wanted any water, and went to the kitchen to grab a cup. The one she chose happened to be a giveaway from the 2001 NLDS, when Lockhart was on the Braves’ roster.
“It was a plastic cup, and he was on there,” she said, laughing. “It was a picture of their celebration after they won.”
Scouts would often ask McFarlane who his favorite player was growing up. The young pitcher didn’t hesitate, and as a Braves fan, Joey never forgot his answer.
“Chris Sale,” he recalled. “And I remember him mentioning his approach as much as anything. He said that he just had such an even keel out there. Watching him, he never felt like he was out of control.”
Grady Elger (left), Alex McFarlane, and Niall Elger at a Jersey Shore BlueClaws game in 2025.Liz Elger
From Braves fans to Phillies fans
After McFarlane graduated from Habersham in 2019, and attended Miami, the Elgers moved to Lithuania for another teaching assignment.
They still managed to keep track of their favorite pitcher though, sending texts after his outings, and catching the occasional minor league game whenever they were back in the United States.
In the summer of 2025, they drove 10 hours from Georgia to Aberdeen, Md., to watch McFarlane pitch for single-A Jersey Shore. His game was rained out, so they found a Caribbean restaurant nearby and reminisced over dinner.
The family stayed for his game the following night, before flying to Tanzania, where they now live. They have become somewhat accustomed to seeing McFarlane in a baseball uniform, but what he’s done for the Phillies has been surreal to them.
And the Elgers have seen real growth in his demeanor. Joey pointed to the home run McFarlane gave up to the Braves’ Ronald Acuña on Sept. 6 as an example.
“When he started pitching in the Phillies organization, we noticed that the stuff that had just happened [in the game] was gone,” Elger said. “And he really was able to reset himself. I think probably three or four years before, if that Acuña home run had happened, we would have tensed up, ourselves.”
Rookie Alex McFarlane has quickly emerged as a crucial part of the Phillies’ bullpen.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Now, not so much. McFarlane had one of his best outings of the season just over a week later, when he struck out the Mets’ Juan Soto on three fastballs. Elger woke up in East Africa to a slew of text messages from family and friends.
He had to watch the video twice to believe it. So did Akridge, who sent the clip to his entire coaching staff.
“It’s crazy that seven years later, here he is, blowing the ball by Juan Soto,” Akridge said. “It’s amazing.”
The Elger and the Akridge families will be following closely on Tuesday night, from opposite corners of the world, as McFarlane goes up against their favorite team (and his favorite pitcher).
But they won’t waver in their support. Even if it comes at the expense of the Braves.
“We will be rooting for the Phillies with all of our hearts,” Liz said.
History isn’t on the side of a Phillies’ wild-card comeback
Bryson Stott jogs off the field after the final out as Braves players celebrate their Game 1 win. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
If the Phillies hope to comeback against the Atlanta Braves, they’ll also need to overcome history.
Since 2022, when MLB made the best-of-three wild-card series permanent, 16 teams have gone down 0-1. Just one team – the New York Yankees in 2025 – managed to come back to win the series.
There’s also Phillies history to overcome. Philly is 0-9 all-time when losing Game 1 in any postgame series.
Austin Riley celebrates his game-winning three-run homer against the Phillies.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – Not this time.
With the Phillies one out from taking a one-run lead into the ninth inning here Tuesday – and possibly stealing another Game 1 of another playoff series against the rival Braves – Jhoan Duran gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to Austin Riley in a 5-3 loss.
The Phillies now trail in the best-of-three series. Since 2022, when the wildcard miniseries was created, the winner of Game 1 has won all but one of 16 series.
Duran was called into the game in the seventh inning, a drastic move by interim manager Don Mattingly in an attempt to mitigate a combustible bullpen. Duran retired the side on 12 pitches and came back out for the eighth inning.
After Duran swiftly got two outs, including a line drive back to the mound, Michael Harris II reached on a throwing error by shortstop Trea Turner. After Ozzie Albies got hit by a pitch on the foot, Riley smashed a 100 mph fastball to right field.
Phillies turn to closer Jhoan Duran early to hold late lead
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran pitches in the seventh inning. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – J.T. Realmuto snapped an 0-for-34 slump in the final game of the regular season. Now, he has given the Phillies a lead in Game 1 of the wild-card series.
Oh, and Jhoan Duran is being asked to hold it … in the seventh inning.
After the Phillies knocked Braves ace Chris Sale from the game with one out in the seventh inning, Realmuto lined a 99-mph fastball from Braves reliever Didier Fuentes into the right-field corner to drive home Bryan De La Cruz and Bryson Stott and open a 3-2 lead.
Duran, the star closer, has gotten more than three outs in a game only once this season.
Phillies reliever Alex McFarlane gave up a run in the sixth inning against the Braves.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Phillies’ bullpen gave up a go-ahead run.
The first call to the bullpen in the postseason went to hard-throwing rookie Alex McFarlane, among the few trusted options for interim manager Don Mattingly. And after allowing a one-out single to Michael Harris II, McFarlane gave up an RBI triple off leaping Derek Hill’s glove at the wall in right-center field.
Hill, who gained notoriety for robbing a homer earlier in the season against the Mets in New York, nearly did it again — and in the same spot in Turner Field where Harris stole a homer from Nick Castellanos and doubled off Bryce Harper to end Game 2 of the 2023 NL division series.
But Hill couldn’t come down with Albies’ blast. He lost his glove, regrouped on the warning track, and held Albies to a triple.
McFarlane emerged as the top setup reliever in the Phillies’ shaky bullpen despite being in double-A at the All-Star break. He got called up in late July and posted a 2.84 ERA in 19 games.
In the top of the sixth inning, Bryce Harper nearly put the Phillies ahead with a two-run home run off Braves starter Chris Sale. However, it drifted a few feet right of the foul pole in right field.
Harper ultimately grounded out to shortstop and the game remained tied — for the moment. In the bottom half of the inning, it was again a difference of inches that helped the Braves break the tie and take their first lead of the series, as a triple from Ozzie Albies hit off the hand of center fielder Derek Hill.
The double off reliever Alex McFarlane, who had recently taken over for starter Jesus Luzardo, put the Phillies down, 2-1. If they go on to drop Game 1, those two moments could loom large.
Jesús Luzardo gave up one run in five innings against the Braves in Game 1 on Tuesday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Jesús Luzardo was more than an opener.
Making his first start in 22 days because of an inflamed left shoulder, Luzardo faced 22 batters, recorded 15 outs on 77 pitches, and got the Phillies through five innings in a 1-1 game against Braves ace Chris Sale.
Rookie reliever Alex McFarlane entered to begin the sixth.
Luzardo breezed through a 10-pitch first inning, allowed a run in the second, then set down nine of 12 batters.
The Phillies’ bullpen didn’t stir until the fifth inning, when Jonathan Bowlan and lefty Tim Mayza began loosening. But Luzardo struck out Ha-Seong Kim and Drake Baldwin, and after hitting Ronald Acuna Jr. on the foot, he got Matt Olson to ground out.
Luzardo hadn’t started since a 109-pitch complete game against the Braves on Sept. 7.
Jesus Luzardo has struck out four through four innings.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Interim manager Don Mattingly said that the Phillies’ plan for Jesús Luzardo’s start on Tuesday was to “read and react.”
The lefty had not started a game since his Sept. 7 shutout against the Braves, so no one was sure what to expect from him in Game 1. Well, Luzardo’s pitch count is at 61 through four innings and the Phillies don’t have an arm up quite yet in the bullpen. Several relievers have begun their stretching routines during the top of the fifth, but at the moment it appears that Luzardo will be returning for the bottom of the inning.
The Braves have one run on three hits against him as the game remains deadlocked at 1-1. Luzardo has struck out four, two on his fastball and two on his sweeper.
Ha-Seong Kim tags Trea Turner as he tries to steal second base in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Chris Sale only picked off one baserunner all season.
It took until the third inning of Game 1 for him to notch his second. Sale fooled Trea Turner, who was off and running from first as Sale stepped off the rubber, and was easily tagged out at second to end the top of the third inning. Turner made some contact with Atlanta shortstop Ha-Seong Kim while sliding, and Kim stayed down for a few moments.
After a 23-pitch first inning, Sale has been much more efficient. He needed eight pitches for the second and 12 pitches for the third.
ATLANTA — After a 10-pitch first inning from Jesús Luzardo, he dealt with some traffic in the second.
With runners on the corners, Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley attempted to check his swing, but the ball hit off the knob of his bat. It rolled back to Luzardo, who grabbed it, and caught Mauricio Dubón in a run down between third and home for the second out of the inning.
The Braves tied up the game on the very next pitch, when Mike Yastrzemski singled up the middle. But after falling behind, 3-0, to Ha-Seong Kim, Luzardo battled back to strike him out on a fastball, stranding a pair.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale pitches in the first inning against the Phillies in game 1 of the National League Wild Card.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The top of the Phillies’ lineup scored a run off Kyle Schwarber’s one-out walk and Alec Bohm’s two-out double, and, significantly, worked braves ace Chris Sale for 21 of the 23 pitches he threw in the first inning.
Alec Bohm hits a RBI double in the first inning against the Braves. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — The Phillies drew first blood in Game 1.
In a 2-2 count, Alec Bohm chased a high four-seam fastball from Chris Sale and sent it to the center field wall. Michael Harris II couldn’t come up with the catch, allowing Kyle Schwarber to score from first and Bohm to sail into second with a double.
The Braves held the Phillies to one run in the first, but Sale has looked erratic early. He still struck out Trea Turner and Bryce Harper — dialing his fastball up to 100 mph to get Harper swinging — but he has not been working in the zone much. The Phillies will need to cut down on their chasing to keep the pressure on the Atlanta ace.
According to Statcast, Chris Sale gave up only one hit all season on a fastball above the strike zone. And that was a single to Bobby Witt Jr. – on Opening Day. https://t.co/frSSo6yZuA
Cristopher Sánchez on starting Game 2 and his confidence in Jesús Luzardo
Cristopher Sánchez will start Game 2 Wednesday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Cristopher Sánchez was sitting among the relievers in the Phillies’ bullpen during Game 162.
He didn’t get called on — if he had, it would only have been in a true emergency situation — but it had been left-hander’s idea to head out there that day after catch play.
“I let [interim manager Don Mattingly] know early on that I was ready to go out there for an inning if they needed me,” Sánchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “It’s just an important game, so I was just ready to go in case they needed me. But I did let him know early on that I felt great and ready to go.”
Now, Sánchez is lined up to start Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Braves. But before they can get there, the Phillies are turning to fellow lefty Jesús Luzardo for Game 1. Luzardo did wind up making a relief appearance during Sunday’s regular season finale, needing four pitches for the eighth inning, his first time facing live hitters since Sept. 7.
“He prepared himself in the best way possible while he was out and he never let go,” Sánchez said of Luzardo. “He was just ready, focused, and prepared for him to come back in the healthiest way possible for him. It’s not a coincidence that he had a great outing at home on Sunday. It was a good inning, he pitched a good inning, and that’s what I’m expecting from him today to have a good outing, a good start. And he’s going to be able to give us the win tonight. That’s what I expect out of him.”
Sánchez and Luzardo are the only two lefties in the Phillies’ rotation. Despite their different arsenals and their physical differences — Sánchez stands six inches taller than Luzardo — they have more in common than it might appear. Both mainly rely on one key out pitch that is one of the best of its kind in baseball: Sánchez’s changeup and Luzardo’s sweeper.
“We help each other out a lot,” Sánchez said. “I learn a lot from him, and I’m pretty sure that he learns a lot from me too. We talk a lot. We have a lot of conversations too. He’s a great pitcher, and the year he had, I think he deserves it. He works for it, and I’m just happy for him, and I think he deserves all the good things that happened to him this year.”
Can the Phillies find success against Braves ace Chris Sale?
Braves ace Chris Sale has been dominant against the Phillies. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Phillies found a little bit of success against Chris Sale their last time out, scoring three runs in seven innings of a 6-5 loss on Sept. 11. In their previous five games against the Braves lefty, the Phillies had managed just four runs in 31 innings.
All three of those runs on Sept. 11 came on a bases clearing double by Derek Hill in the second inning. Not surprisingly, Hill is in the lineup for Game 1 on Monday.
“It doesn’t ever get easier with him,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said a few hours before first pitch. “The more you see him, maybe you’ve also had some back and forth with pitches and counts and how he pitches you, so you have a little better feel for that. But that doesn’t really make it any easier.
“I think with guys like Chris, you have to be able to give and take. You try to take something from him. Maybe it’s a pitch, maybe it’s a side, maybe it’s whatever, height maybe you’re looking at.
“But you just don’t take the whole plate and say I’m going to handle everything. It’s kind of hard nowadays with anybody like that with the stuff that guys have.
“The more you see him, I don’t know if it helps you or helps him one way or the other. But it’s nice that you at least have seen the angle. You’ve seen the movement. You have some sort of ground zero.”
How will Andrew Painter fare if he’s needed out of the bullpen?
Rookie Andrew Painter came out from the bullpen twice this season.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – As much as the Phillies are unsure what to expect from Jesus Luzardo in Game 1, they can’t predict how rookie starter Andrew Painter will fare if he’s needed out of the bullpen either.
But it won’t stop them from using him.
“I think you look at it and, is he one of our better guys?” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “That’s just what I’m look at. And he’s one of our better guys. He’s been obviously starting all year long. He’s got different pitches. Yeah, he’s one of our better guys. It’s hard to go to somebody else that, I don’t want to use names, but somebody else over him that’s not the same caliber.”
A starter throughout his time in the minor leagues, Painter did come in from the bullpen twice this season. He entered in the third inning April 12 after overcoming a migraine that prevented him from starting; the Phillies brought him in behind an opener June 12 in Milwaukee.
Otherwise, the 23-year-old has only started.
“It’s hard to be too comfortable in that you haven’t seen him out of the pen,” Mattingly said. “The phone rings, you’ve got to get up and get going. We haven’t been able to do that. We didn’t get to that.”
Mattingly said the “best-case scenario” would be to use Painter at the beginning of an inning, without runners on base, after giving him ample time to warm up. But the Phillies also won’t hesitate to use Painter in a stickier situation if he’s the best option.
Jesus Luzardo will start Game 1 against the Braves Tuesday afternoon.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – Upon announcing that Jesus Luzardo would start Game 1 for the Phillies, Don Mattingly quickly clarified.
“I should say open,” he said.
The Braves aren’t buying it.
Never mind that Luzardo has thrown four pitches in a game over the last three weeks because of an inflamed left shoulder. The Braves won’t believe he’s limited until they see it.
“Very skeptical,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Tuesday, laughing. “Donnie is great, man. I think if he’s pitching well, he’ll keep going. That’s kind of how I look at it, and that’s typically how it works. I didn’t put a whole lot of stock into that. I’m sure the game will dictate how deep he goes.”
Indeed, although Mattingly wouldn’t disclose a pitch limit for Luzardo, he elaborated about the Phillies would approach Luzardo.
“Medical calls it ‘read and react,’” Mattingly said. “So, I think that’s what it is today.”
In other words, the Phillies will take whatever they can get from Luzardo before turning to the bullpen.
Pitcher Brooks Raley didn’t make the Phillies’ wild-card roster.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The Phillies announced their wild-card roster Tuesday morning, and reliever Brooks Raley did not make the cut. That means all three players the Phillies acquired at the trade deadline won’t play during the wild-card series.
Second baseman Luis Arraez is out with a sprained left ankle, while reliever Caleb Kilian was placed on the 60-day injured reserve with an oblique strain.
Pitchers (12): Left-handers – José Alvarado, Tanner Banks, Jesús Luzardo, Tim Mayza and Cristopher Sánchez. Right-handers – Jonathan Bowlan, Jhoan Duran, Alex McFarlane, Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter, Chase Shugart and Zack Wheeler.
Catchers (3): Rafael Marchán, J.T. Realmuto and Garrett Stubbs.
Infielders (5): Alec Bohm, Otto Kemp, Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner.
Outfielders (5): Justin Crawford, Bryan De La Cruz, Bryce Harper, Derek Hill and Brandon Marsh.
Kyle Schwarber could be on the move again in the Phillies’ lineup.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Will Kyle Schwarber be back batting leadoff again this series?
Two moves reeked of panic to me over the weekend when the walls were closing in: starting Aaron Nola on two-days’ rest and moving Trea Turner to leadoff.
No Phils batter has hit first more in the last five years since Schwarber, who had been batting leadoff again this season since August. You want to change it up? Do it two weeks ago and not in the final weekend when everyone is talking about 1964. The offense has been at its best over the last five years when Schwarber is batting leadoff. There’s no reason to go away from that now.
I’m also curious about the Phillies’ plan to navigate the late innings if they have a lead.
How do they get the ball to Johan Duran? Jonathan Bowlan is back but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 17. Does Don Mattingly trust him like he did before the groin injury? Jose Alvarado was rocked on Saturday by the Rays. Can you ask him to get important outs? Alex McFarlane’s velocity dipped in the final week and the results were concerning on Sunday. Brooks Raley was acquired to be that guy, but he’s almost unusable.
This series could ultimately be decided by the bullpen and the lack of options.
After clinching on Sunday, the Phillies open their fifth straight postseason on Tuesday in Atlanta.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The Phillies have won 88 or more games just 23 times in their 144-year history. And I can’t imagine any of those 23 seasons were more maddening than the last six months. Well, maybe that 1964 season was. But we don’t need to rehash that right now.
The Phils have given you enough reasons this month to doubt that they can win twice in Atlanta and keep this thing going. They still don’t have a cleanup hitter, the bullpen is thinner than the new-look Joel Embiid, they lost their second-to-last game of the season by 11 runs, and they’re carrying three catchers on their postseason roster. So it’s hard to be bullish on the Phils, who are countering Chris Sale with an opener in Game 1 on Tuesday (2 p.m., NBC).
But before you check out, remember that this Braves team actually seems beatable. Their bullpen is even stronger with the return of Robert Suarez but they lost two starters this month to injuries. The Phillies know what Ronald Acuna Jr. did in September but Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley each had an OPS in September less than .640. And the Braves have not won a playoff series since they won it all in 2021. Two of their last three October exits were at the hands of the Phils.
So here’s three ways to talk yourself back into the Phillies before the start of the wild-card series.
They’ve been here before. Twice. The Phils weren’t able to line up their pitchers in the 2022 and 2023 NLDS after using Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to get through the wild-card round. They arrived in Atlanta both years with questions about their pitching. The Phils used Ranger Suárez, who gave the Phils three-plus innings in back-to-back years and proved his mettle while becoming one of this era’s beloved players. The Phils are in a similar pinch on Tuesday as Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez are unavailable after pitching in the final series of the season.
Jesús Luzardo will start Game 1 but interim manager Don Mattingly called him an “opener” as the Phils don’t know how long Luzardo can pitch three days after returning from the injured list. If the Phillies can steal another Game 1 in Atlanta, someone has to do their best Ranger. A combination of Luzardo and Andrew Painter seems like the plan for the bulk of the outs.
Not the worst thing for the Phillies to hit the road
Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies will hit the road for Game 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Game 1 is important in any postseason series. In a best-of-three, it’s imperative.
Since the wild-card miniseries was instituted in 2022, 11 of the 16 series ended in sweeps. Only one team has overcome a Game 1 loss to win the series, and the 2025 Yankees were playing at home against the Red Sox.
Most teams prefer to open the playoffs at home. But after a week from hell, in which they lost four games in a row amid a chorus of boos and only narrowly avoided an epic collapse, maybe it’s best for the Phillies to get away.
“I mean, we’re not afraid,” Kyle Schwarber said following Sunday’s win. “That’s the biggest thing is that we’re not fazed by where we’re playing.”
In fact, the Phillies had a better record on the road (45-36) than at home (43-38). They’ve also lost five of their last six postseason games at home dating to Game 6 of the 2023 NL Championship Series.
John Kruk back in a suit to call Phillies-Braves series
John Kruk will be back in a suit to call Phillies-Braves on NBCNBC Sports
The Phillies’ wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, but that won’t stop John Kruk from calling the game.
Kruk will part of a crowded broadcast on NBC that will feature play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian, fellow analyst C.J. Nitkowski, and Joey Votto serving as a pitching analyst. Ashley ShahAhmadi will report from Truist Park.
Tuesday’s game will also feature Kruk squeezing back into a suit, a requirement for announcers calling MLB games on NBC.
“I think I probably object to the verb choice [forcing],” Jason Benetti, NBC’s top MLB announcer, during a conference call Monday.
John Kruk in a suit looks like someone who’s been advised by a judge to not represent themself in court. pic.twitter.com/hkNmcBqPSh
Kurk’s unusual attire (at least for him) have led to some funny broadcast moments, including the revelation he brought five ties with him when he called a Phillies game on NBC in July alongside former Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Four were clip-ons, which he struggled to put on during the broadcast.
“It’s pure entertainment sitting here next to John Kruk,” Girardi said.
While Benetti isn’t calling the Phillies-Braves series, he has shared the booth with Kruk a handful of times this season, and came away impressed with the former Phillies great’s baseball mind.
“John Kruk is a lethally great baseball analyst,” Benetti said. “He sees things in advance. He has fun… You never know if he’s just lightly pulling one over on your, you never fully know, and that is a joy to be around.”
The game can also be heard on 94.1 WIP, with longtime Phillies broadcaster Scott Franzke calling all the action alongside Larry Andersen.
Angel Castillo, and Bill Kulik will call Phillies-Braves in Spanish on La Unika 1680 AM.
Jesús Luzardo returned from the injured list to pitch out of the bullpen in the Phillies’ playoff-clinching win over the Rays on Sunday.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
In 2023, the Phillies came to Atlanta for a playoff series with their best two pitchers unavailable to start Game 1 against a record-setting offense.
So, they got creative.
It was difficult not to feel a twinge of déjà vu Monday, when Don Mattingly announced Jesús Luzardo will start — “I should say open,” he clarified — Game 1 of a best-of-three wild-card series against the Braves.
Luzardo should get down-ballot Cy Young votes for a 2.86 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 179⅔ innings. But he has thrown four pitches in a game over the last three weeks because of an inflamed left shoulder. And while catcher J.T. Realmuto said the Phillies “don’t think 10 days off is necessarily long enough to throw him out of whack,” the truth is … well, let’s let Mattingly tell it.
“I don’t think we really know what to expect,” he said.
The Phillies planned to have Zack Wheeler start Game 1 against Braves ace Chris Sale. But they needed him Sunday in a must-win regular-season finale. Cristopher Sánchez is lined up for Game 2 on regular rest. Aaron Nola? He’d have been an option, if not for a panicky gambit to start him on two days’ rest Saturday night.
Maybe Luzardo will tap into postseason adrenaline and last six innings. Maybe he’ll go once through the Braves’ order. He threw four fastballs to get three outs in the eighth inning of a four-run game in the rain Sunday against the Rays, who had nothing to play for.
Scott Franzke’s postseason pep talk to Phillies fans
Radio announcer Scott Franzke is in his 21st season calling Phillies games.NBC Sports Philadelphia
The vibes heading into the playoffs aren’t great, but longtime Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke managed to offer something of a postseason pep talk directed at cynical fans prior to Saturday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“You can pick whatever word you want for your feeling watching the Phillies baseball team these past few weeks. Maybe it’s frustrated. Maybe it’s angry. Maybe it’s exhausted,” Franzke said. “You feel that way because you’re a fan, and because you’re at your core a fan of this team. You still want them to win.”
Franzke has been through it all in his 21 season calling Phillies games, everything from a World Series win in 2008 to 99-loss season in 2015. Like fans across the Delaware Valley, he’s experienced the highs and lows of rooting for the Phillies.
“Now, I know all of you are not going to feel that way. I get it. You’re going to be like, ‘Hey, Scott, you’re such a homer, settle down,’” Franzke said. “But I’m doing to choose a different word for what’s ahead… excited, because we have witnessed one of the great runs in Phillies franchise history these last five years.”
“It might not work out the way we want it to,” Franzke added. “Nevertheless, as we like to say, I’ll try to keep the faith a little bit longer.”
Phillies should benefit as ABS system makes playoff debut
J.T. Realmuto has been very successful in his challenges to balls and strikes.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
This will be the first postseason to feature the automated ball‑strike (ABS) challenge system. That should benefit the Phillies, considering catcher J.T. Realmuto’s extreme success challenging balls and strikes.
As for other playoff rule changes, there will be no “ghost runners” during the postseason.
MLB’s designated runner rule puts a player on second base to begin each half-inning if a game is tied after nine innings. The rule was an attempt to preserve pitching staffs and avoid extra-long regular season games.
But during the playoffs, that rule is out the window. So if a postseason games enter extra innings, you won’t see anyone on second base.
The Phillies have won 88 or more games just 23 times in their 144-year history. And I can’t imagine any of those 23 seasons were more maddening than the last six months. Well, maybe that 1964 season was. But we don’t need to rehash that right now.
The Phils have given you enough reasons this month to doubt that they can win twice in Atlanta and keep this thing going. They still don’t have a cleanup hitter, the bullpen is thinner than the new-look Joel Embiid, they lost their second-to-last game of the season by 11 runs, and they’re carrying three catchers on their postseason roster. So it’s hard to be bullish on the Phils, who are countering Chris Sale with an opener in Game 1 on Tuesday (2 p.m., NBC).
But before you check out, remember that this Braves team actually seems beatable. Their bullpen is even stronger with the return of Robert Suarez but they lost two starters this month to injuries. The Phillies know what Ronald Acuna Jr. did in September but Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley each had an OPS in September less than .640. And the Braves have not won a playoff series since they won it all in 2021. Two of their last three October exits were at the hands of the Phils.
So here’s three ways to talk yourself back into the Phillies before the start of the wild-card series.
Jesús Luzardo will start for the Phillies in Game 1.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
They’ve been here before. Twice. The Phils weren’t able to line up their pitchers in the 2022 and 2023 NLDS after using Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to get through the wild-card round. They arrived in Atlanta both years with questions about their pitching. The Phils used Ranger Suárez, who gave the Phils three-plus innings in back-to-back years and proved his mettle while becoming one of this era’s beloved players. The Phils are in a similar pinch on Tuesday as Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez are unavailable after pitching in the final series of the season. Jesús Luzardo will start Game 1 but interim manager Don Mattingly called him an “opener” as the Phils don’t know how long Luzardo can pitch three days after returning from the injured list. If the Phillies can steal another Game 1 in Atlanta, someone has to do their best Ranger. A combination of Luzardo and Andrew Painter seems like the plan for the bulk of the outs.
Video: Three things to watch in Phillies’ wild-card series vs. Braves
Chris Sale is dominant but the Phils should have a pitching advantagein Game 2 and 3. Tyler Mahle was excellent after being acquired at the trade deadline from San Francisco and allowed just one run this season in three starts against the Phils. But he did get roughed up by the Reds last week in his final start of the regular season and had a 5.13 ERA with the Giants before coming to Atlanta. He’s human and Sánchez is the better pitcher who the Phils hope can do enough to force a Game 3. If so, the Phils will have all hands on deck (even Wheeler) against Grant Holmes. The Braves placed Bryce Elder and Martin Perez on the injured list in September, depleting even more of their options after Sale and Mahle. If the Phils win one of the first two games, they’ll take their chances in an elimination game against Holmes.
The Phillies could use Bryce Harper turning into “The Showman” again in the postseason.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper still has five years left on his contract after 2026 but the championship window of the Harper Era seems to be closing, especially with 2027’s labor uncertainty looming. “We’ve never finished the job. We’ve got to do that,” Harper said Sunday after the Phils clinched a postseason berth. Surely, he knows there’s only so many more chances left to get the job done. Harper was quiet last October against the Dodgers but this could be the week he returns to being The Showman, who seems to meet the moment better than most. After Sale, the Phillies will get their chances against right-handed starters in Game 2 and 3.
Harper talked Monday about how he loves to play in Atlanta as he has a .916 OPS at SunTrust Park and has homered 18 times there since it opened in 2017. The Phillies didn’t do much offensively in September, but Harper did have a good series in Atlanta while the Phils lost two of three. Oct. 1 isn’t until Thursday. So the Phils have some work to do to reach Red October. This is Harper’s chance to power them there.
I’m curious to see …
If Kyle Schwarber is batting leadoff again. Two moves reeked of panic to me over the weekend when the walls were closing in: starting Nola on two-days’ rest and moving Trea Turner to leadoff. No Phils batter has hit first more in the last five years since Schwarber, who had been batting leadoff again this season since August. You want to change it up? Do it two weeks ago and not in the final weekend when everyone is talking about 1964. The offense has been at its best over the last five years when Schwarber is batting leadoff. There’s no reason to go away from that now.
Getting to star closer Jhoan Duran will be a key question for the Phillies for their postseason run.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
I’m also curious about …
The Phillies’ plan to navigate the late innings if they have a lead. How do they get the ball to Johan Duran? Jonathan Bowlan is back but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 17. Does Mattingly trust him like he did before the groin injury? Jose Alvarado was rocked on Saturday by the Rays. Can you ask him to get important outs? Alex McFarlane’s velocity dipped in the final week and the results were concerning on Sunday. Brooks Raley was acquired to be that guy, but he’s almost unusable. This series could ultimately be decided by the bullpen and the lack of options.
Luzardo will start on Tuesday, but Painter may be tasked with getting more outs as it doesn’t seem like the Phils are counting on Luzardo for too much length. Painter threw his four-seam fastball this season for 32.8% of his pitches and only one team has a worse slugging-percentage than the Braves this season against four-seamers. The Braves slugged .391 this season against four seamers and hit .235. Painter’s best start this season (two hits in seven shutout innings against Arizona earlier this month) came thanks to a dominant fastball. If his fastball is on Tuesday, the Braves’ lineup seems like his perfect match.
ATLANTA — In 2023, the Phillies came here for a playoff series with their best two pitchers unavailable to start Game 1 against a record-setting offense.
So, they got creative.
It was difficult not to feel a twinge of déjà vu Monday, when Don Mattingly announced that Jesús Luzardowill start — “I should say open,” he clarified — Game 1 of a best-of-three wild-card series against the Braves.
Luzardo should get down-ballot Cy Young votes for a 2.86 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 179⅔ innings. But he has thrown four pitches in a game over the last three weeks because of an inflamed left shoulder. And while catcher J.T. Realmuto said the Phillies “don’t think 10 days off is necessarily long enough to throw him out of whack,” the truth is … well, let’s let Mattingly tell it.
Maybe Luzardo will tap into postseason adrenaline and last six innings. Maybe he’ll go once through the Braves’ order. He threw four fastballs to get three outs in the eighth inning of a four-run game in the rain Sunday against the Rays, who had nothing to play for.
It didn’t reveal much.
Jesus Luzardo (right) threw a 109-pitch complete game against the Braves on Sept. 7. He hasn’t started a game since because of an inflamed left shoulder.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
“Once the third hitter came up, I wanted to call an 0-0 sweeper just to get one in there and see how it looked,” Realmuto said. “But I was like, ‘There’s no way this guy gets out in one pitch, too, so we’ll get ahead with a sinker and go ahead with the sweeper.’ And we ended up not needing the sweeper, which was unfortunate that he didn’t get to throw that pitch.”
There’s always Tuesday against leadoff-hitting Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr.
Video: Three things to watch in Phillies’ wild-card series vs. Braves
Three years ago, the Phillies’ pitching conundrum was less about the options behind Wheeler and Nola than the matchup. The Braves tied the single-season major-league record with 307 homers, but were susceptible to high velocity, according to the Phillies’ scouting report.
The plan called for finesse lefty Ranger Suárez to go through the order 1½ times before attacking the Braves with a parade of hard-throwing relievers. It worked in a series-opening 3-0 victory.
Just as the Phillies came up with that Game 1 script, they will have one this time, too, although they surely will take as many outs as Luzardo can get. Andrew Painter is available out of the bullpen. If they could use only Luzardo, Painter, and rookie reliever Alex McFarlane to get to closer Jhoan Duran, they would be ecstatic.
But while the Phillies’ pitching plan begins with Luzardo and crossed fingers, there’s immense pressure on Sale to deliver for the Braves, especially with fellow Cy Young candidate Sánchez looming for the Phillies in Game 2.
Game 1 is important in any postseason series. In a best-of-three, it’s imperative. Since the wild-card miniseries was instituted in 2022, 11 of the 16 series ended in sweeps. Only one team has overcome a Game 1 loss to win the series, and the 2025 Yankees were playing at home against the Red Sox.
A few other thoughts heading into the series:
Righty-hitting outfielders Derek Hill (right) and Bryan De La Cruz will have a big role for the Phillies in the wild-card series against the Braves.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Getting it right vs. left
Mattingly is expected to stack the lineup with right-handed hitters, notably outfielders Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz. Maybe it won’t matter because Sale allowed only six runs on 15 hits in 26 innings in four starts against the Phillies.
But Hill and De La Cruz will be factors beyond Game 1.
Atlanta’s bullpen may feature as many as four lefties (Dylan Lee, Dylan Dodd, Ray Kerr, and Brent Suter), which could create opportunities for Hill and De La Cruz to stay in the game after Sale exits and come off the bench in Games 2 and 3.
Hill, acquired in an early June trade with the White Sox, batted .261 with seven homers and a .783 OPS and played stellar defense in a center-field platoon with rookie Justin Crawford. De La Cruz, a veteran who came up from triple A in August, hit .280 with two homers and a .762 OPS.
“D-Hill has been an incredible asset for us in the outfield and at the plate against lefties,” Bryce Harper said. “De La Cruz, same thing. These guys, making the moves that we have, can change a postseason for you. Big hit here, big hit there. It’s funny to look back on a lot of postseasons in baseball history. Not many of the superstar players play to their ability. It’s always that hush-hush guy down the lineup that just makes an impact and you win the game.”
Said Mattingly: “We struggled with lefties earlier in the year, and they at least give us some options to put a better crew out there.”
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner is seeking to rebound in the playoffs after the worst season of his career.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Turning the page
Nobody will be happier to see his stats wiped from the scoreboard than Trea Turner.
Turner endured the worst season of his career. One year after winning his second batting title and finishing fifth in the NL MVP race, the $300 million shortstop batted .242, reached base at a .297 clip, and had a .675 OPS, well below his career levels (.292, .343, .810).
“I feel like when you’re going through the season, you’re looking up at the scoreboard, you see your numbers all the time, and now they kind of reset,” Turner said. “From that mentality standpoint, it’s kind of refreshing a little bit. But it doesn’t matter what the numbers look like. Even now, it’s just whether you win or lose.”
Especially now. Turner returned to the leadoff spot over the weekend and had two hits in each of the last two games. He finished on a 10-for-33 (.303) roll with four walks and only seven strikeouts.
Keeping it going is the best way to make everyone forget about the last six months.
“In New York [two weeks ago], I feel like I swung the bat better a little bit,” Turner said. “I feel like I’m in a good position to see the ball better, make good decisions, and just feel good at the plate.”
Kyle Schwarber (middle) said the Phillies are confident being on the road.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Hit the road
Most teams prefer to open the playoffs at home. But after a week from hell, in which they lost four games in a row amid a chorus of boos and only narrowly avoided an epic collapse, maybe it’s best for the Phillies to get away.
“I mean, we’re not afraid,” Kyle Schwarber said. “That’s the biggest thing is that we’re not fazed by where we’re playing.”
In fact, the Phillies had a better record on the road (45-36) than at home (43-38). They’ve also lost five of their last six postseason games at home dating to Game 6 of the 2023 NL Championship Series.
ATLANTA — While celebrating with his team in the clubhouse postgame on Sunday, Luis Arraez was wearing a walking boot, protected by a plastic bag wrapped around it.
The Phillies second baseman continues to get positive updates on his sprained left ankle, according to interim manager Don Mattingly, but not positive enough to be included on the wild-card roster. The full list, which is expected be released ahead of Tuesday’s Game 1, will include Otto Kemp in Arraez’s place.
“We still get improvement every day,” Mattingly said of Arraez. “He was going to try to hit [Monday] and wasn’t able to do it, so we kind of crossed that bridge today.”
Kemp struggled with limited major league playing time early this year and has been with triple-A Lehigh Valley since getting optioned on May 28. In 108 games with the IronPigs this year, Kemp had a .227 batting average and .736 OPS.
The Phillies will also continue to carry three catchers — J.T. Realmuto, Garrett Stubbs, and Rafael Marchán — on the postseason roster, like they have for most of the year. Mattingly said due to a slew of injuries to the Phillies’ triple-A depth, there weren’t any other options for another position player on the roster.
As the IronPigs’ season wound down two weeks ago, they were forced to put pitcher Mitchell Neunborn at second base after running out of players.
Phillies reliever Jonathan Bowlan, who has not appeared in a game since suffering a groin strain on Sept. 17, will be on the wild-card roster.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“They’ve had a lot of health issues down below. That’s kind of where it’s taken us,” Mattingly said. “But actually the third catcher is not terrible for us, because [Stubbs] is pretty versatile. We use him as a pinch runner. We use him at first. We can play him at third. We can play him in the outfield. So he is a guy that gives us a lot of versatility, and not a true, true base stealer but a guy that you really trust on the bases, that can get a bag if you don’t pay attention.”
Right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan will also be on the Phillies’ wild-card roster. Bowlan has not appeared in a game since suffering a groin strain on Sept. 17. He was also available on Sunday, but Mattingly opted against using him, concerned that the wet, slippery mound could lead to Bowlan reinjuring himself.
Braves ace Chris Sale was 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts against the Phillies this season.Erik S. Lesser
Familiar foe
The Phillies will have a tough task on Tuesday with left-hander Chris Sale taking the mound for Atlanta. The left-hander is amid a career renaissance at 37 years old, and even figures to once again be a Cy Young Award finalist with a 2.16 ERA. He started four times against the Phillies this year, and the Phillies lost all four games.
The Phillies have a .167 batting average against Sale this season. For their fifth meeting of the year, they will also be without Arraez, who has a .318 career average against the veteran lefty.
But even for the hitters who have historically struggled against Sale’s velocity and unique arm slot, there’s some advantage to facing a pitcher so many times. The more looks one gets at Sale’s four-seam and slider, the easier they can be to pick up.
“I think the more you see a pitcher it’s always beneficial, but he’s so good, he’s probably going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” said Trea Turner, who is 7-for-25 in his career against Sale. “The year he’s had has been unbelievable. He’s had another great season, and he’s one of those guys that’s always going to be there and give you a hard time.
“We know it’s not going to be easy. We’re looking forward to it. He seems like a really good competitor. I think we’ve got a lot of those in our clubhouse as well. Just going to battle and find a way to beat them.”
The familiarity extends both ways, though. Just as Realmuto and the Phillies pitching staff will be trying to find ways to give Braves hitters different looks, Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin and Sale will do the same on Tuesday.
Video: Phillies celebrate clinching a fifth-consecutive postseason berth
“Their hitters have a lot of at-bats off of our arms, as do we against their guys,” Realmuto said. “It feels like there’s a little more of the cat-and-mouse game of we can’t do the same things we’ve done all season. Even if they’ve worked, there’s times you’ve got to go away from things.
“Obviously I’m not going to dive too much into that, but there’s definitely more of a cat-and-mouse game when you’ve played teams this much, and had this many at-bats against guys.”
