Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Though the weekend did not go as planned for the Philadelphia Phillies, they did end their weekend series in Atlanta on a high note as they defeated the Braves 9-4. J.T. Realmuto was a triple short of the cycle and played a crucial role in a seven-run eighth inning for the Phillies.
The win improves the Phillies’ record to 83-67 on the year and prevents the team from slipping further back in the National League Wild Card race. With a dozen games to go, the Phillies currently own the second Wild Card slot.
The Braves struck first against Andrew Painter in the bottom of the first. Michael Harris II led off the game with a single into right field. After Painter struck out Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson singled into center field, moving Harris to third. Drake Baldwin then batted Harris in a sacrifice fly into right field.
Painter battled through five innings, keeping the Braves to one run. Though he allowed traffic on base in the second and third innings as well, his next spot of trouble came in the bottom of the fourth.
A lead-off walk began what would eventually become a bases loaded situation for Painter. With one out, Painter worked Acuña into a fly out, keeping the Braves’ best player from causing more damage to the Phillies in this series.
Matt Olson then hit a slow roller destined for right field, but it did not make it through the gap. Luis Arraez made a diving stop at second base, preventing the ground ball from getting through and completing the putout at first to end the inning with no damage.
When Painter wrapped up a 1-2-3 fifth inning, his day concluded as the Phillies went to Alex McFarlane for the sixth. While not a strong outing, having allowed six hits and four walks, Painter prevented the Braves from scoring more than one run, keeping the Phillies in the game in the process.
Both of the Phillies’ runs scored on Saturday came on the long ball. The same can be said for the first two runs to cross the plate Sunday for the Phillies.
With one out in the top of the second, Bryson Stott reached base on a single. Brandon Marsh then grounded into a fielder’s choice to second, replacing Stott on the base path. Now with two outs, Realmuto caught a 3-1 fastball above the strike zone and drove it into left center field for his 11th home run of the season.
Three innings later, Realmuto led off the top of the fifth with a double into left field. Justin Crawford followed up with a line drive single, moving Realmuto up to third and forcing the Braves to go into the bullpen.
Realmuto would be stranded at third, however, as Kyle Schwarber grounded into a 3-6 double play where Crawford was tagged out sliding into second, and Trea Turner struck out on a full-count curveball.
After McFarlane pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning in relief of Painter, José Alvarado took over for the bottom of the seventh. Harris led off the inning with a single into center field. With Acuña up, Alvarado sailed a fastball over the heads of Realmuto and home plate umpire Charlie Ramos, allowing Harris to advance to second. Acuña then moved Harris to third on a fly-out to center field.
Matt Olson then tied the game up on a first-pitch cutter from Alvarado, sending it the opposite way into left field, scoring Harris. The run marks the fourth blown save of the series for the Phillies’ bullpen. A single from Mauricio Dubòn attempted to extend the rally, but the Braves were unable to score the go-ahead run on the inning.
Depending on the game, the Phillies’ offense has fit one of two drastically different profiles. Sometimes, the team has been home run heavy, focusing on driving the ball with power and hitting home runs. Other times, they have focused on making contact, getting on base and passing the baton to the next man up. The latter showed up in the top of the eighth.
Leading off, Schwarber drove a single into right field before swapping out with Turner on a fielder’s choice. With Turner on first and one out, Bryce Harper slapped a double into right field, advancing Turner to third and putting two runners in scoring position for the Phillies.
The inning felt like it was beginning to slip away, however, as Luis Arraez got under a first-pitch slider, popping out into foul territory for the second out.
With two outs, Alec Bohm took advantage of a 2-0 fastball right over the plate, lining it into center field, scoring Turner and Harper to regain the lead for the Phillies. Stott then followed up with a two-out base hit of his own, a single, to score Bohm.
Now with a three-run lead, the Phillies did not ease up. Bryan De La Cruz and Realmuto continued the singles train, with Realmuto scoring Stott. Crawford then worked a walk, turning the lineup card over as Schwarber stepped to the plate for the second time on the inning.
Schwarber hit his second single of the inning, scoring De La Cruz and Realmuto. Crawford then scored on a single from Turner.
Former Phillies pitcher Bailey Falter finally stopped the bleeding for the Braves, striking out Harper to end the inning.
Overall, the Phillies scored seven runs on the inning, bringing 12 batters up to the plate and recording eight base hits.
Tanner Banks returned from his trip on the 60-day Injured List and had a nice opportunity to ease back into the Major Leagues on Sunday. Banks entered in the bottom of the eighth to pitch the final two frames, putting the Braves down in order in the eighth.
The ninth inning proved more difficult for the southpaw. With the top of the order due up, Banks allowed Acuña to reach on a one-out single. Olson then hit his 39th home run of the season on a first-pitch slider, scoring two for the Braves.
Though Dubón hit a two-out single to try to extend the rally, Banks kept the Braves to two runs, getting Ozzie Albies to pop out in foul territory to end the ballgame. Alvarado recorded the blown save but also became the pitcher of record, recording his fourth win of the season as the Phillies stopped their three-game skid.
The seven-run eighth inning spurred the Phillies on as the offense scored nine runs on 16 hits on the day. Realmuto and Stott each recorded three base hits on the day with Realmuto ending up a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Meanwhile, Schwarber, Turner, Harper, Bohm, and Stott each tallied two hits on the day.
Though the Phillies close the books on their season series with a lousy 4-9 record against the Braves, ending the weekend series on a high note will hopefully give the team momentum going into the last six games of their final road trip of the regular season.
After an off day on Monday, the Phillies will pick things up on Tuesday as they face the Washington Nationals for an odd two-game mid-week series. Cristopher Sánchez is scheduled to face Jackson Kent in the 6:45 p.m. affair.
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