Braves stung by long ball late, drop Game 2 in extras

ATLANTA -- The postseason began with concerns about Atlanta’s rotation depth and the Phillies’ bullpen. But two days later, the usually reliable Braves bullpen has been the problem.

Alec Bohm’s two-out homer off Didier Fuentes in the 10th inning gave the Phillies a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park. The Braves had a two-run lead in the eighth inning before fumbling the chance to sweep the best-of-three series.

Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper began the rally when they hit back-to-back homers off Dylan Lee to lead off the eighth. Lee was inconsistent during the second half. But Fuentes was Atlanta’s most consistent reliever throughout the season.

Fuentes also allowed J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple in Atlanta’s Game 1 win.

The start time of Thursday's Game 3 depends on which series are still active through play on Wednesday. Phillies-Braves will start at 2 p.m. ET unless it is the only remaining series, or if White Sox-Astros is the only other active series. In both of those cases, Phillies-Braves Game 3 would start at 8 p.m. ET and air on NBC and Peacock.

Matt Olson’s RBI single in the first accounted for the Braves’ only run until they added two more against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez in the seventh. Sean Murphy drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Ha-Seong Kim’s sacrifice bunt, which didn’t result in an out because first baseman Bohm threw to second base late.

The Phillies’ defensive woes continued when right fielder Harper misplayed Drake Baldwin’s routine fly ball into an RBI double. After Ozzie Albies was intentionally walked to create another left-versus-left matchup, Olson hit a sacrifice fly.

Atlanta’s two-run lead quickly evaporated when Schwarber and Harper began the eighth with back-to-back homers off Lee.

Lee’s rough outing prevented Tyler Mahle from earning the win in what was an impressive first career postseason appearance. The Braves starter allowed one run and six hits over seven innings. He became the first Atlanta pitcher to allow no more than one run over seven-plus innings in a postseason game since Max Fried against the Reds in Game 1 of the 2020 NL Wild Card Series.

"Any game sucks that you lose," Mahle said. "We were in it. It was a close game, good game. It's just playoff baseball, I guess. Come back tomorrow and get back in the fight."