The Atlanta Braves’ 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the NLDS was memorable enough to have earned several designations.
For the Braves, this may be labeled as The Catch, The Double Play, or The Comeback.
For the Phillies, it may be called The Meltdown.
Regardless, the outcome gave the Braves new life by evening the best-of-five series. The prevailing descriptive title of Monday’s game is The Salvation.
The Catch
And The Double Play
As a high school player in nearby Stockbridge, centerfielder Michael Harris II grew up a Braves fan. The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year fulfilled a possible childhood dream by making a huge play to secure a victory for the home team.
THAT JUST HAPPENED.#AsOneATL pic.twitter.com/Ro4UHPvCOs
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 10, 2023
The Braves were clinging to a one-run lead after erasing a four-run deficit. With one out in the ninth, the Phillies’ Bryce Harper walked, and Nick Castellanos launched a drive into the right-center field gap. Harper was on the move, representing the potential tying run.
Harris tracked down the ball. His leaping catch against the center-field fence was the second out of the ninth inning.
He threw the ball back into the infield, which skipped past shortstop Orlando Arcia and wound up in the glove of third baseman Austin Riley. Harper had already rounded second base and was racing to return to first.
Riley, who was backing up the play, threw the ball to first baseman Matt Olson for a game-ending double play that beat Harper by a step.
Harris said after the game that he didn’t see Harper. He saw a bunch of white jerseys and fired the ball back into the infield. He saw the scene unfold and joined the record crowd 43,898 at Truist Park in jubilation.
The Comeback
A few innings earlier, the outlook was bleak. The Braves had been shut out through the first 15 innings of the NLDS, losing Game 1, 3-0. The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler had no-hit the Braves through 5 2/3 innings of Game 2.
- Ozzie Albies broke up the no-hitter in the sixth inning with a two-out single to right. Ronald Acuña Jr., who had walked, went from first to third and then raced home as the throw got away from Phillies shortstop Trea Turner.
- In the seventh, Olson singled, and Travis d’Arnaud delivered a two-run home run to left that cut the lead to 4-3.
- In the eighth, Acuña was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a ground out by Albies. Riley had worked a count full and then homered to give Atlanta its first lead of the series.
- The Braves’ bullpen kept them in the game in relief of starter Max Fried, who exited after just four innings. Fried did not have a blister problem but had given up three runs and struggled with control. Of Fried’s 95 pitches, only 51 were strikes.
- Kirby Yates allowed an unearned run in the fifth. Joe Jimenez and Pierce Johnson kept the Phillies off the board in the sixth and seventh centuries. A.J. Minter worked a scoreless eighth, walked Harper in the ninth, and gave way to closer Raisel Iglesias, who got J.T. Realmuto to fly out harmlessly to Harris in center for the first out before the game-ending fly/double play.
The Salvation
The result has turned this NLDS into a best-of-three series, with two games in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. In 2022, these two teams split in Atlanta, and when the series shifted to Philadelphia, the Phillies took over and won the next two games.
Game 3 is Wednesday.
Right-hander Bryce Elder is the Braves’ presumptive starter. During his first entire MLB season, Elder went 12-4 with a 3.81 ERA, 63 walks, and 128 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings.
The Phillies counter with right-hander Aaron Nola, who pitched seven scoreless innings against Miami in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series last week.
Main Photo Credits: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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