ATLANTA -- What started as a Game 1 pitchers' duel devolved into a back-and-forth battle of clutch hits and wild moments on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park.
Austin Riley ultimately got the last -- and biggest -- knock of the day to lead the Braves to a 5-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series.
With the focus now shifting to Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon, here are four factors to keep an eye on.
1. Struggling bats come alive … for both teams
A great regular season is meaningless if it doesn’t carry over into the postseason, while a dreadful season is quickly forgotten with a few big moments on the biggest stage.
It was the latter that was the story of Game 1.
Riley, who slashed .219/.290/.364 during the regular season, hit an improbable go-ahead three-run homer off Phillies shutdown closer Jhoan Duran to help the Braves steal the pivotal Game 1 victory.
But Riley wasn’t alone.
Teammate Ozzie Albies, who hit just .194 with a .575 OPS in the season's second half, delivered a go-ahead triple in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was his first extra-base hit since Sept. 15.
“We had some big hits today: Ozzie [and], obviously, Austin Riley,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “So happy for Austin Riley. Had a rough year, but when the playoffs start, everything starts at zero. Nothing that happened in the regular season really matters.”
The same can be said for Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who answered Albies’ clutch knock with a go-ahead, two-run triple of his own in the very next inning. Realmuto entered the postseason having gone just 1-for-37 (.027) over his final 11 games, including an 0-for-34 stretch that he snapped with a clutch single in Sunday's postseason-clinching win.
In a series loaded with starpower -- from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson -- it was the unsung heroes that made the biggest impact in the series opener.
2. What is the Phillies’ path to 27 outs?
The most surprising moment in Game 1, though, wasn’t Riley’s home run or either of the go-ahead triples.
No, it was when Duran trotted in from the bullpen in the seventh inning.
It was the earliest Duran had entered a game since April 20 last season, when he was still a member of the Twins. Not only did he have just one multi-inning performance this season (Aug. 29 against the Angels), but Duran had never recorded more than six outs in a single outing.
The questions immediately began to swirl.
Were the Phillies really about to ask Duran to lock down a three-inning save? Or did they just want him to face the top of the order over the next two innings before having someone else from their beleaguered bullpen handle the ninth? And, if so, who?
Thanks to Riley, that will forever remain a mystery.
Phillies manager Don Mattingly stopped short of fully divulging his plan postgame, but he was certainly open to the idea of letting Duran go the rest of the way. The Phillies’ best option otherwise likely would have been Jonathan Bowlan, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 17 due to a right groin injury.
“[Duran] made it look easy the first inning. If the second one would have went really quick, I would have just checked with him [for the ninth],” Mattingly said. “If not, we would have went to somebody else. … We had Bowlan, we had different guys. We'd probably combo the inning a little bit.”
Needless to say, the Phillies’ plan to get the ball from Cristopher Sánchez to Duran will once again be worth monitoring in Game 2.
3. A game of inches
Albies’ triple was nearly nothing more than a long out. As the ball sailed toward the wall in right-center field, Phillies center fielder Derek Hill -- who has made his share of miraculous catches this season -- tracked it before timing his jump at the wall.
But as he leaped directly in front of the Braves’ bullpen, the ball clanked off the heel of his glove and fell to the warning track. Making it even worse for the Phillies was the fact that Hill’s near-catch came just moments after Harper narrowly missed out on a potential game-altering swing of his own.
In the top of the sixth inning, Harper jumped all over a 2-0 slider from Chris Sale and sent a towering fly ball down the right-field line. Harper leaned and tried to will the ball to stay fair for a go-ahead two-run homer, but to no avail as it landed harmlessly in the seats just to the right of the foul pole.
Did Harper think it would stay fair?
“I did, yeah,” Harper said. “It was close. Not close enough.”
Instead, he struck out two pitches later.
4. Braves steal all-important Game 1
Put it all together and it resulted in the Braves getting the pivotal victory to open the best-of-three series. In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams that win the opener have gone on to win the set 21 of 24 times (88%).
Even more impactful: Home teams that win Game 1 have gone on to win the series all nine times.