After rejecting the job in late April, Alex Cora could very well be the next manager of the Phillies.

Cora will likely get everything he is looking for from the Phillies: a big contract, the chance to work again with his mentor Dave Dombrowski and potentially another chance to manage a playoff-caliber team.

Money talks, but Cora, if he hasn’t made up his mind yet, should also take something else into consideration.

Cora, who led Dombrowski’s 2018 Boston Red Sox to a World Series title, is viewed as one of the best managers in the sport. His own players in Boston thought highly of him, judging by the visceral reactions that came out of the Boston clubhouse when he was let go by the Red Sox in April.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland,” Dombrowski said after Rob Thomson’s dismissal in April. “I’ve been very fortunate in my career. I think if Alex Cora decides to keep managing, he has a chance to be in that same category, that’s how good he is.”

The Philadelphia market, however, is insular. Cora’s sterling reputation means nothing here. To prove your worth, you have to do it in Philadelphia. What you did in Boston or New York doesn’t really matter.

Just ask Dombrowski, a future Hall of Fame executive who is a deeply unpopular figure in the city. Equally responsible for the Phillies’ ascent and stagnation, Dombrowski will likely be rewarded by ownership with another extension that will draw the ire of Phillies fans.

There is a massive gap between how ownership led by John Middleton evaluates Dombrowski’s job performance versus fans.

“To be in the postseason five years in a row, that’s remarkable consistency,” Middleton said after the Phillies clinched a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season. “It’s consistency throughout a season, from season-to-season. It’s a sign of a really, really good organization. Not (surprising) when Dave Dombrowski runs it.”

Cora, fair or not, will be the target of fan outrage because he and Dombrowski are attached to the hip. He is essentially an extension of Dombrowski’s carte blanche authority over baseball operations. Fan outrage over Dombrowski’s seemingly endless amount of job security will be felt by Cora, who will be tasked with relaying front office talking points to the disgruntled consumers twice a day for six months out of the year.

That’s just one of the many challenges that come with being the manager of the 2027 Phillies. The biggest of them all may be motivating and holding accountable a group of highly-paid veterans who run the show behind the scenes. Cora’s prior relationship with Kyle Schwarber, who spent the second half of 2021 with the Red Sox, might make it all a lot easier.

Is that enough for Cora to say no again? Probably not, but he shouldn’t be blindsided by the backlash that comes with being Dombrowski’s handpicked manager.

ATLANTA — Four days before Zack Wheeler trotted out of the left-field bullpen at Truist Park, he toed the rubber on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies, struggling late, had lost four straight. Somehow, they had not yet sealed a postseason berth. On the final day of the regular reason, with their magic number down to one, they needed their ace to throw.

The veteran right-hander pitched six innings of one-run ball, grabbing a victory to send the Phillies to the playoffs. But the fact that he needed to go ruled him out for the first two games of the National League Wild Card Series against the Braves. By the time Wheeler made his first appearance of the postseason, Philadelphia was already trailing by three runs in a do-or-die Game 3 on Thursday night.

Heading into the playoffs, the Phillies could not afford to take their foot off the gas. That meant top starters — core members of the rotation, the strength of the team — had to keep pitching into the last weekend of the regular season. The poor showing had an effect on the Phillies’ seeding and chances in the postseason.

“I think that’s pretty obvious,” Wheeler said. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted down the stretch, especially right there at the end. We kind of had to piece it together this series. Not ideal, but we’re all pros here, and when we get the ball, it’s time to compete. It’s up to us at the end of the day.”

Wheeler allowed two runs in four relief innings in a 6-2 Game 3 loss that eliminated Philadelphia from the postseason. With only three days of rest beforehand, he was not named the starting pitcher for the matchup. That nod belonged to Aaron Nola, who was fully rested following a one-inning disaster on Saturday; the Phillies had him start just three days after his previous outing in an attempt to shore up a bullpen game — and avoid using Wheeler to finish the regular season. Obviously, that was not successful.

Nola gave up a three-run home run to Michael Harris II on Thursday and did not get out of the second inning. The pitching plans were not exactly how the Phillies would have liked to draw them up. The team’s performance near the end of the regular season made everything more difficult in the playoffs.

“No question,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “You’d love to be able to set your pitching up and them be rested and all that kind of stuff. But that’s not the way it went. We had to fight to get ourselves in, and to do what we had to do to get in, we had to do what we had to do basically every game in the series. You never know how that goes.”

The Phillies went 10-14 in September and 2-4 in their last homestand of the year versus the Rays and Brewers. They let it play out until the last second, but they managed to hold on and get the No. 6 seed in the NL after entering the month in the league’s top Wild Card spot. But in the clubhouse celebration on Sunday and leading up to the start of the Wild Card Series, Phillies players expressed hope that they’d capitalize on a clean slate. However, their regular-season issues continued to hurt them.

“We got in, and the regular season, you kind of forget about it, as much as we can,” Nola said. “Once you get into the postseason, everybody starts fresh. It’s the same baseball, but it’s a different type of baseball once you get into the postseason. We battled out there. It was a good team over there, the Braves, and they just played better than us.”

It wasn’t as if the Phillies were hopeless. They still had the ability to use left-hander Jesús Luzardo in Game 1. He threw five solid innings in his first start since Sept. 7, coming only two days after he tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen in his return from the injured list. The Phillies had a lead in the eighth inning with their best reliever on the mound. Then Jhoan Duran gave up a three-run go-ahead homer to Austin Riley.

Lefty Cristopher Sánchez started Game 2, the Phillies’ lone win in the Wild Card Series. Both Nola, who authored a second-half turnaround, and Wheeler were available for the winner-take-all Game 3.

“Obviously, it’s unfortunate we weren’t able to line it up exactly how you want,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said, “but that’s baseball. That’s how the playoffs works. A lot of times, you don’t get to throw your best three out there in a row. So that’s not an excuse. We still have to just come out here and execute, and we still had opportunities in the series.”

At the same time, it’s easy to wonder what could’ve happened if Wheeler had been able to pitch Game 1, or on regular rest at all in Atlanta. Maybe that wouldn’t have saved the Phillies, whose offensive limitations and bullpen deficiencies were on display. However, it only would have taken another win or two in the regular season to have seen how it would’ve played out.

“Looking back, having your pitching set up is really important this time of year,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “We didn’t do a good job playing down the stretch to kind of have that happen. So we battled as much as we could in this series, but having our three guys go would’ve been a better situation for us. We didn’t play well enough to do it.”

ATLANTA – Zack Wheeler emerged from a back door in the visiting bullpen at Truist Park with his full uniform on, getting ready to throw. It was already too late. Aaron Nola could not find the strike zone. With two runners on and Nola down in the count 2-0 to Michael Harris II in the first inning, J.T. Realmuto walked to the mound to give his pitcher a breather.

Needing a strike, Nola threw a low changeup. Harris put the barrel on it for a three-run home run. What should have been ball three became a three-run home run and an early deficit. The Atlanta crowd, angsty at the thought of losing another postseason series to the Phillies, exploded.

The 6-2 final score of Game 3 suggests the Phillies had a chance until the very end. It was a slow burn, with hope slowly dissipating instead of evaporating all at once in a devastating blow. A change of pace, but the same result.

As Otto Kemp swung through a Chris Sale slider to end the season, a few Phillies lingered in the dugout to take in the final moments of a trying season. Justin Crawford, Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner stood together, leaning on the railing as the Braves celebrated the series-clinching win. Marsh hugged the rookie Crawford. Derek Hill stood at the top step with his helmet still on and bat in hand.

Inside the locker room, players packed to catch a midnight bus to the airport. Soon-to-be free agents went around the room and said their goodbyes. Bryce Harper, dressed and his belongings ready to go, sat tucked into his empty locker. He surveyed the room.

The Phillies were getting on a plane after the game no matter what, final destination to be determined. They did not play well enough to fly west for another shot at the Dodgers in the NLDS. They will head back to Philadelphia, pack up and head their separate ways for an undetermined amount of time. The lockout following the expiration of the CBA will almost certainly delay the start of spring training, and potentially the beginning of the regular season.

There’s never a good time to shut down an entire sport over money. But maybe now is the time to get away from the Phillies, and not come back for a long while.

The season will end in October for a fourth straight year with no championship. The 2022 team, the one that caught fire, stayed hot until November and ignited a period of memorable baseball, left the visiting locker room in Houston on the last night proud of all they had accomplished. What could have been a somber moment, losing a World Series, felt uplifting.

The Phillies have fallen further and further away from the ultimate goal since that magical run. Same ending, different story.

Needing just one more win to clinch a second pennant in as many years, the Phillies failed to put the Diamondbacks away at home in 2023. The pain felt in the home clubhouse that night still lingers.

The 2024 team steamrolled through their schedule early, but stumbled through the summer. They were outclassed by their biggest rivals in the National League Division Series.

The 96-win 2025 Phillies entered the postseason with a lot of mojo, but couldn’t keep up in a heavyweight fight against the eventual World Series champion Dodgers. The ending, a walk-off error on a ground ball to Orion Kerkering, was nearly as stunning and painful as the Game 7 defeat in the 2023 NLCS.

The 2026 Phillies had their moments, but they were maddening. They dug an early hole, got out of it on the backs of incredible starting pitching and never quite reached their potential. The lineup, top five or ten in most categories since 2022, struggled in every month except one. They entered the playoffs with three – maybe four – trustworthy relievers. Almost nothing about this season made sense. They died on the first day of October.

Don Mattingly, who won 24 more games than he lost as interim manager, will likely leave his post to make room for Dave Dombrowski’s hand-picked manager: Alex Cora. Change is coming, but the man most responsible for every dollar and every big decision the franchise makes isn’t going anywhere.

A transformative offseason for the sport and the Phillies is looming. Maybe it’s best that everyone takes a long break. The Phillies – and those who choose to live and breathe with every pitch – need one. You’ll eventually miss them, but not now. Maybe not for a long time.

ATLANTA — Don Mattingly entered the interview room on the floor level at Truist Park and sat down in front of a microphone. He placed a water bottle — with the label of his brand of choice taped over — on the table. Then, he began to answer questions, with the “interim” part of his managerial title still in place at the end of the Phillies’ season, just as it was 156 days ago.

After a disappointing 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series that saw Atlanta take control from the first inning, Mattingly’s role in the organization is in question. He was named interim manager in April, helping lead the team to its fifth postseason appearance in a row. But following another early exit, Philadelphia could be looking for another manager for 2027.

Only eighteen minutes removed from the start of the Braves’ celebration, Mattingly was not ready to address his future.

“It’s not the time to talk about anything like that,” Mattingly said. “I’m not concerned about myself in this situation. I want the Phillies to do what they need to do to set themselves up for success. My stuff doesn’t really matter.”

The Phillies went 79-55 in the regular season under Mattingly before falling in two of three playoff games. The 65-year-old took over for Rob Thomson after a 9-19 start to the year. They wanted a new voice in charge of the underperforming club. The move improved their fortunes.

No, Mattingly was not their first choice to become the 57th manager in franchise history, which president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski admitted openly at the time; he contacted Alex Cora shortly after he was dismissed by the Red Sox. Dombrowski and Cora won the 2018 World Series together in Boston, and the veteran executive reached out about a reunion. Cora, however, felt it was not the right time.

So with the Phillies in need of a manager for at least the rest of the season, they looked to their first-year bench coach, the 1984 American League MVP and a baseball icon with the New York Yankees. Mattingly had cachet and 12 previous years of managerial experience; he also happened to be the father of general manager Preston Mattingly. He became the man for the job.

Philadelphia quickly turned around its season. With Zack Wheeler back in the mix as well, the team rallied under Mattingly. With 88 wins, the Phillies earned a postseason spot for the fifth year in a row.

“We love Don,” right-hander Aaron Nola, who took the Game 3 loss, said. “We played good, and he’s a good manager. We know the type of player he used to be. He knows the game really well. So that’s not my call, but Don was great.”

But it was hardly perfect with Mattingly at the helm. Although the Phillies cleaned up their play in the immediate aftermath of the switch, their mistakes and flaws were apparent at many times. The bullpen often looked taxed, a clear consequence of both Mattingly’s aggressive managerial style and the thin relief corps Dombrowski assembled. And near the end of the regular season, when the Phillies hoped to line up their biggest strength — their starting pitching — for the playoffs, they stumbled into a four-game losing streak, forcing them to use Nola on short rest and Wheeler for a full start just to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NL on the final day.

Perhaps that came to bite them in Game 3, as Nola and Wheeler both gave up huge home runs. It certainly made the Wild Card Series more difficult to navigate.

“No question,” Mattingly said. “You’d love to be able to set your pitching up and them be rested and all that kind of stuff. But that’s not the way it went. We had to fight to get ourselves in. And to do what we had to do to get in, we had to do what we had to do basically every game in the series.”

In the end, they could not go on the road and win two games over a division rival. It will soon be time for decisions, likely starting with Mattingly.

“I liked him a lot,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “He’s just calm, man. He was easy to talk to. You can talk to him about anything hitting. He just seemed like a cool guy that wanted to be here. If he needed to let you know something was wrong, he’d let you know. So I appreciate the honesty, and I feel like he was super easy to talk to. I enjoyed him, and I thought he did a good job for us.”

“I have the utmost respect for Donnie,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said, “and we’d love to have him back.”

Mattingly said he hadn’t yet worried about his status for next season or talked to Dombrowski about it. He has been more focused on the team and trying to win. Now that it’s over, he knows he still wants to work in baseball. He’s just not in a rush for an answer from the Phillies.

“I’m comfortable with whatever they want to do,” Mattingly said. “Again, I want the best for the Phillies. I loved being in Philly this year. I actually like playing in that environment. I like the environment. It’s a rough environment, but it’s good. Again, I think you let the organization evaluate, talk about what they think moving forward, what they should do, and that dictates a lot of different things.”

Aside from Mattingly, the Phillies probably need changes. The roster felt more top-heavy than ever in this turbulent season. Only two regulars, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, were above-average hitters, according to OPS+. The team went into the Wild Card Series with only two relievers it really trusted. The lack of rotation depth was glaring down the stretch.

Longtime pieces like infielders Alec Bohm and Edmundo Sosa and reliever José Alvarado are set to hit free agency. So are players like Luis Arraez, the trade-deadline acquisition who struggled and missed the playoffs with a sprained ankle, and left-hander Tim Mayza, who had a solid year after re-signing on a minor-league deal. There will be opportunities to mix up the fringes of the core — or maybe do more, if the Phillies can swing something they deem favorable.

“I’d imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year,” Harper said.

Maybe that’s true. But the Phillies also have quite a bit of expensive, veteran players locked in. It could be hard to find too many places to make changes. But if Dombrowski has interest in Cora — or his first real, external search since he was hired by the Phillies — the first place to look could be the manager’s office.

For about 27 hours, the Phillies’ magical Game 2 win over the Braves in the National League Wild Card Series, forcing a decisive Game 3, seemed like a spark.

And then that decisive game got under way. The Phillies, who tabbed Aaron Nola as the starter instead of Zack Wheeler on short rest, saw their decision backfire immediately. 3-0 Braves after one; 6-2 Braves after nine.

The Phillies’ season is over.

It was not expected to be a particularly long outing for Nola, if only because they had Wheeler waiting in the bullpen, but it was much shorter even than they planned. From the jump, the Phillies’ longest-tenured player, who has been here for the entire five-year postseason run and the seven years preceding it, didn’t have it. He got an out on one pitch, and by the time he got the next, the Phillies were down three.

Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson on a total of 10 pitches. He started Michael Harris II with two balls. He almost threw a third. The Phillies would’ve preferred that to the 387-foot three-run homer Harris hit instead.

Nola lasted an inning and two-thirds.

The Phillies were behind the eight ball right away, and if it felt like more than a three-run deficit, there is reasoning. The Phillies’ offense, which ranked in MLB’s bottom 10 in every slash category this year, then posted the second-worst OPS in September, fell back to those norms after a 12-hit Game 2.

They had two on with no outs in the fifth, and two in scoring position with one out in the sixth. They scored one run in those frames.

By that point, it was 5-0. Wheeler entered in the third and threw four innings of two-run ball, the damage done on a two-run homer by Ozzie Albies in the fourth.

It was not quite mop-up duty. But it was hard not to watch Wheeler, one of the best postseason pitchers in the history of the franchise and the sport, and lament that he did not get the ball before the Phillies had their backs squarely against the wall.

The Braves summoned their ace from the bullpen, too, with two outs in the eighth inning. The score was 6-2 after Matt Olson had homered off Jonathan Bowlan in the seventh and Derek Hill’s leadoff triple set up a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Bryce Harper swung through three of Chris Sale’s first four pitches, all sliders out of the zone. Harper started to remove his shin guard before he saw the dropped third strike at the backstop. He jogged a few feet before being thrown out. It was not the end, but it would’ve been a fitting one for a Phillies team that had nothing.

Alec Bohm singled to lead off the ninth in quite possibly his last at bat as a Phillie. He might be a footnote in the changes coming to the Phillies, who have not won a postseason series since 2023, this winter. Otto Kemp struck out at 11:01 p.m. ET. It marked the official end – and, with it, the beginning of an offseason that will be, in both the literal and figurative senses, long.

ATLANTA – In a winner-take-all Game 3 of the National League wild card series against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies have announced Aaron Nola as their starting pitcher. After that, it’s “all hands on deck,” per interim manager Don Mattingly.

You can count out Cristopher Sánchez after throwing 116 pitches in Game 2. Everyone else will have a seat at some point inside the visiting bullpen.

“You can kind of count on everybody that’s able to throw today to be available to throw today,” Mattingly said.

The Phillies have their circle of trust. The best case scenario is for the Phillies to get off to a big lead early and throw Nola out there for as long as he can pitch. That would save some pitching for a potential Game 1 of the National League Division Series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon.

But it rarely works that way in the postseason. The Phillies will see left-hander Ray Kerr at the start of the game. He could face the top of the order, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, twice. Right-hander Grant Holmes is expected to follow him.

The Braves, like the Phillies, also have a narrow circle of trust. Closer Raisel Iglesias, after throwing a combined 15 pitches in the first two games, should be available. Didier Fuentes (21 pitches) could also throw again, although he hasn’t looked sharp in either of his outings.

The Braves may be hesitant to go to Dylan Lee again after giving up back-to-back home runs to Schwarber and Harper. Robert Suárez, who has thrown only two innings since going down with an elbow injury in later June, might be a factor. Maybe Chris Sale can give the Braves an inning, although Atlanta has been careful all year about giving him extra rest between starts.

With both teams facing elimination, the Phillies might have better options available to them. Alex McFarlane is the only Phillie working on back-to-back days. Zack Wheeler is the best option to come in and throw multiple innings after Nola.

If Nola struggles early, it could be Wheeler’s game. Jesús Luzardo could also be available after pitching in Game 1. If he’s not used and the Phillies win, he could be a candidate to make a short start on three-days’ rest in Game 1 of the NLDS. He would be on regular rest for Game 2.

Jhoan Duran, who was unavailable Wednesday after pitching two innings and giving up the lead late on Tuesday, is the biggest question mark. The Phillies feel better about his availability now.

“He feels better today than yesterday, that’s a good sign,” Mattingly said. “But he still hadn’t played catch at that point. We’ll let him play catch. All our guys, the same way. We’ll let them go through, then we decide.”

ATLANTA — Phillies infielder Edmundo Sosa will be back in the lineup for a must-win Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday night at Truist Park following an injury scare in Game 2. The right-handed hitter, who tweaked his thigh in the final series of the regular season, aggravated the issue as he beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of the club’s eventual extra-inning victory over the Braves on Wednesday afternoon.

“Obviously, Sosa wants to play,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been kind of going through this. And I think with that last step, we’ve talked to him a lot about that long stride he does at the end trying to get to first, that lunge at the bag. It seems like it always kind of grabs him. I think it grabbed him, and I think it scared him.”

The 30-year-old Sosa was removed from the eventual 4-3 Phillies win and replaced by pinch-runner Derek Hill. His status for Game 3, the finale of this first-round postseason matchup between NL East rivals, seemed to be in question. But Sosa will give it a go, playing third base and batting seventh versus Braves opener Ray Kerr, a left-handed pitcher.

“Afterwards, the strength was good,” Mattingly said. “Woke up probably a little more sore today than yesterday. But we felt like he’s good enough. He gave us confidence defensively that he was fine. Swinging the bat doesn’t bother him. The biggest thing, it’s going to be one of those if he hits a ground ball to short with a guy on first and he jogs, it’s what we want today. So it’s not going to be him not hustling; it’s going to be more like that’s the one area he has to protect. Then we’ll make decisions later in the game if he has to run or something like that.”

In left field, Bryan De La Cruz will play over the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh, while rookie Justin Crawford will start in center field over Hill, the team’s usual choice against lefties. Philadelphia is not sure how long Kerr, who had a 1.47 ERA in nine appearances, will stay in the game; he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Phillies on Sept. 5, tying his longest outing of the season. Right-hander Grant Holmes will likely play a factor for Atlanta at some point.

“We really don’t know where they’re going,” Mattingly said. “But we felt like this kind of gives us the most flexibility to go different directions, where we pinch-hit, things like that. De La is probably our best of the righties that we kind of platooned, handling both sides, the righties and the lefties. We’re more comfortable with that. So that’s kind of where we start. And then you guys have seen us enough to know that we platoon enough or pinch-hit enough and move guys around. Felt like it gave us the most flexibility to do multiple things.”

The Phillies are already short in the lineup with cleanup hitter and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez off the Wild Card Series roster with a sprained left ankle. He’s gotten in the weight room, Mattingly said, and the team is “hopeful” that he could participate in the NL Division Series “in some form or fashion” if the Phillies advance. But for now, Sosa — 2-for-6 with a double so far in this series — will try to continue to produce in Arraez’s absence. His teammates appreciated the impending free agent’s willingness to get out there while still somewhat compromised.

“I feel like it means a lot to us, right?” All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber said. “He brings a lot of different intangibles for us. He brings energy. He brings passion. Obviously, his play on the field is great as well, and he’s going to do everything he can to get back in the lineup. He found his way in here, found his way back in the lineup, and we’re excited about that.”

ATLANTA – Cristopher Sánchez and Bryce Harper met after the seventh inning.

The television cameras showed an incensed Sánchez moments after he was lifted from the game, screaming and throwing his glove into the tunnel.

In the face of immense pressure, Sánchez was stretched to the limit in an elimination game, throwing 116 pitches in 6 2/3 innings in yet another masterpiece without a win next to his name to show for it.

The Phillies have scored just five runs with Sánchez on the mound in five postseason starts dating back to 2023.

His frustration was justified. Sánchez was one strike away from leaving the mound with the game still tied.

Drake Baldwin, with two strikeouts against Sánchez on the day, lined a ball to right. Harper camped under it. The crowd hushed, expecting a routine play to end the inning. Then, Harper, realizing he’s too far in, rushed back. The ball over his head bounced off his outstretched glove. A run came into score, and the Braves took the lead.

“I didn’t think he hit it very hard and I realized he only hit 89 (mph), so I thought it was going to be a pop fly just right at me and then it kind of kept traveling,” Harper said.” Obviously a ball I should have caught.”

Harper, sitting in a crouch as Don Mattingly went to the mound to get Sánchez after Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly, felt the weight of the moment.

“I’ll tell you what, I was thinking about Krew, my son, what I would say to him in that situation,” Harper said.

Who knows what the backlash would have looked like had the Phillies not erased a two-run deficit to win Game 2 in 10 innings against the Atlanta Braves 4-3. The Phillies will live to see another day, with a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday night in primetime. The winner will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

That play, that image of Harper helplessly racing back towards the ball would have been the last image of the series, and a defining moment in Harper’s Phillies career if not for his response.

“Obviously a world of emotion there,” Harper said.

All Harper knows is pressure. He felt it when he was heckled as a child prodigy. Anything less than being the No. 1 pick was a failure in his eyes.

He feels it a little differently now that he is a superstar who has seen it all and thrived with the burden of expectations.

“I’ve been through a lot of situations to get me to this point,” Harper said. “You make a play like that, and I’m hearing it out there, obviously. But how quickly can I turn the page and just get past that moment, knowing that I’m still coming up to the plate to hit and knowing that in the postseason, it doesn’t matter what you did the at-bat before, the inning before. It’s what you do in that moment.”

Sánchez, after Alex McFarlane recorded the final out of the seventh inning, regained his composure. He found Harper on the bench and told him that he was “bound” for a big moment. It was a brief conversation. Harper nodded.

Sánchez was right. Harper followed Kyle Schwarber with a tank of his own to the Chop House in right field for a game-tying solo home run in the top of the eighth inning. It was the first time the Phillies had hit back-to-back home runs in the postseason since the 2007 NLDS.

“It’s amazing,” Sanchez said via a team interpreter. “I was inside here. I just slammed everything I had close to me.”

There was intent behind his swing. Somebody was going to pay. Dylan Lee, the Braves’ best left-handed weapon against Harper and Schwarber, left the mound to the chorus of boos.

“I wasn’t not trying to hit a homer, I can tell you that,” Harper said.

Schwarber felt relief for Harper.

“It’s not like the guy has been in right field the whole year,” Schwarber said. “He did a really great thing for us where he changes his position for us, for the club and we bring in (Luis Arraez). Goes back out to right field, it’s been how long now? He’s been doing a really great job out there for us, kind of just one of those weird line drives that kind of knuckle and things like that.

“For him to come right back and turn the page, that’s huge, right? It’s easy to beat yourself up. I’ve been there plenty of times. To not beat yourself up, to look forward to that next pitch on defense and get back into the box and to be in tune to your at-bat, that’s what it’s all about.”

Eight years in, Harper has held his end of the bargain in Philadelphia, but what a ride it’s been. He went on an all-time heater in October 2022, but hasn’t had an iconic postseason moment since 2023. His eighth-inning swing was perhaps his biggest since “the swing of his life.”

That’s because it came with a swing of emotions.

“For me, it’s how can you learn from each situation that you’re in to come out great in the next one,” Harper said.

ATLANTA — Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series between the Phillies and Braves will take place under the lights at Truist Park.

The do-or-die matchup, which had been tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m., will be flexed to 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. It will be the lone playoff game of the day, as the three other best-of-three Wild Card Series sets ended in two-game sweeps. The White Sox beat the Astros and the Yankees defeated the Red Sox on the American League side, while the Padres downed the Cubs in the other NL series.

After two day games, the Phillies and Braves will settle their series with a primetime game that will air on NBC and Peacock. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher. Atlanta will likely use right-hander Grant Holmes at some point, but the club could use an opener. The Phillies have Aaron Nola available on regular rest, and ace Zack Wheeler could throw on three days’ rest. It would not be a surprise if they both played a part.

“We’ll talk about it,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Obviously it’s another elimination game. I think three out of the last four have been elimination games, so I’m assuming it’ll be pretty much all hands on deck. We’ll talk about where we’re going to go with it.”

The winner will move on to face the Dodgers, the two-time defending World Series champions and the No. 2 seed in the NL. It could be a rematch of last year’s NL Division Series, in which the Phillies fell in a devastating Game 4 in Los Angeles. But before they can worry about that, they will need to take care of Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and keep their place in the postseason.

So far, Philadelphia and Atlanta have each taken a dramatic, late-game victory. Braves manager Walt Weiss expects another back-and-forth game on Thursday night.

“This is usually what it looks like when these two teams play,” Weiss said. “So yeah, that’s what’ll happen tomorrow. We’ll come out and we’ll be ready.”

ATLANTA — Bryce Harper watched from first base as the rookie starting pitcher, suddenly thrust into the biggest appearance of his fledgling career, took a step back and tossed a baseball toward the third-base dugout. After a flare into left field by Michael Harris II put a second runner on base in the bottom of the 10th inning, right-hander Andrew Painter needed to bear down and retire one more batter, pinch-hitter Dominic Smith, to hang on and finish off an unlikely Game 2 win. So he took a second and asked home-plate umpire Adam Beck for a new baseball.

Painter, Harper thought, had the situation in his hands, going at his pace. Never mind the runners, or the home crowd at Truist Park or the fact that the Phillies would be sent packing with a loss. The 23-year-old had control.

“I saw him kind of take a moment after that hit against Harris,” the two-time National League MVP Harper said, “and step back on the mound, grab the rosin bag, throw the ball out. He was trying to slow down the game.”

Three and a half months ago, Painter could not slow anything down. He struggled to keep his outings from spiraling and Philadelphia in games. With a 7.06 ERA, he was sent down to Triple-A. He returned a little over a month later with a chance to show he grew from the reset.

Not only did Painter flash improvement in stuff; he showed leaps in poise. It wasn’t all perfect, but the former top prospect demonstrated what made him such an exciting minor leaguer. Along the way, he established himself as one of only a handful of pitchers the Phillies seem to trust this postseason. With the season on the line and closer Jhoan Duran unavailable on Wednesday afternoon, the club handed Painter the ball in the eighth inning and rode him all the way to a 4-3, extra-inning victory over the Braves. He dealt with the traffic and struck out Smith on a walk-off ABS challenge to force a do-or-die Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series.

“It kind of fired me up,” Harper said, “because he was able to slow down the moment and slow down the opportunity to be right there.”

Painter had never made a real, high-leverage relief appearance in his life before Wednesday. Sure, he’d followed an opener a couple times this year, and he had some piggyback outings dating back to high school. But a legitimate, back-end reliever? That was new territory.

But as the Phillies found themselves with only about a pair of regular relievers they could trust heading into the Wild Card Series, the team had to get creative for the best-of-three set. In Game 1, Painter sat in the bullpen, where he “was probably making some people nervous” due to “all the pacing I was doing.” During Game 2, he was calmer, ready to go when Kyle Schwarber and Harper made up for the latter’s costly right-field misplay with back-to-back home runs to tie the game in the eighth.

Painter took over in the bottom of the inning. However, it was not immediately smooth sailing. He walked Austin Riley on four pitches. He fired two more balls to Harris, prompting pitching coach Caleb Cotham to visit the mound.

“I just told him, ‘You got this,” catcher J.T. Reamuto said. “‘Like, you gotta trust your stuff here. You’re plenty good enough to get this guy out.’ Just told him to attack the hitter, really. Just me and him, let’s go get him. Just kinda gave him a little pump-up speech. Not that he needed that. But tried to calm him a little bit and get back in the zone.”

He fired a fastball right down the middle. One pitch later, Painter got Harris to ground into a 3-6-3 double play before putting away Sean Murphy on the first pitch to end the eighth. After six balls to start it, he settled in.

“I think once I got that first strike in there,” Painter said, “I was able to kind of ease in and it gave me a little bit of peace of mind.”

Atlanta had pinch-hitter Mike Yastrzemski begin their end of the ninth, and he flied out to left field. Painter got Ronald Acuña Jr. out on a grounder to second. Following a single by Drake Baldwin, he retired Ozzie Albies on a ball to right to send the game to extras.

Painter was in the tunnel underneath the dugout in the top of the 10th when Alec Bohm sent a go-ahead home run the other way, giving the Phillies the lead. He heard the reaction and rushed up to celebrate. It was his game to close.

“Knowing that three outs was going to get that job done and letting everything loose,” Painter said. “Everything I had in the tank, just emptying it.”

Cleanup batter Matt Olson stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 10th, and Painter struck him out looking. Mauricio Dubón singled to center field, then Painter responded by striking out Riley swinging. That’s when Harris, with the Braves down to their last strike, reached out and blooped an opposite-field base hit to put runners on first and second.

Painter could have folded. He remained composed. He perfectly placed a 99 mph heater on the inside edge to the left-handed-hitting Smith, tapped his head in unison with Realmuto when it was called a ball and walked into no-man’s land between the mound and the third-base foul line while waiting for the result.

It was a strike, Beck announced, one that ended a gutsy three-inning performance for Painter. It was a showing that no one — not Painter, not the Phillies — could have envisioned when he was demoted in June.

“I wish I could say I pictured that then,” interim manager Don Mattingly said, “because obviously it looked bad then. But I think it speaks to Paint of who he is and who he’s going to be, the way he’s came back. He went down there, he didn’t complain, he went to work, kept pitching. We talked about it then, that it was not something that we were going to send him down for a start, try to fix something and get him back up.

“No, he had to go down and earn his way back. If he wouldn’t have been pitching good, he wouldn’t have found his way back. But I think it does speak to him and who he is. Went down, went to work, came back. He’s been a different guy.”

Because Painter has been talked about for so long — he was in consideration for a rotation spot as a 19-year-old in 2023 before injuring his elbow — it’s easy to forget how young he is. For a while, it looked shaky. He did not look the same in his return from Tommy John surgery. But lately, he’s given another glimpse of that ace-level potential. His Game 2 appearances looked like a signal that he’s started to figure it out.

“That’s a career-altering performance, in my opinion,” Realmuto said. “Just the amount of confidence that you can gain from that. And we’ve seen it from him as we’ve gone this year. He’s just gotten more and more confident. So I think if you can come in in that spot and be pitching that well, there’s no telling what that does for him.”

That can all still wait for now. In the meantime, the Phillies have another game to win, and it would be a lot easier if Duran is available. They “hope” he is, Mattingly said. The club has not yet announced a starting pitcher. Aaron Nola could pitch on regular rest, and Zack Wheeler could throw on three days’. It would not be surprising to see both of them in Thursday’s Game 3. “I’m assuming it’ll be pretty much all hands on deck,” Mattingly said. “We’ll talk about where we’re going to go with it.”

Painter will probably not be a factor after throwing 37 pitches, but he said he’d be able to pitch if needed. Painter said his close friend Jesús Luzardo “would’ve made fun of” him if he didn’t volunteer. It’s unlikely, but crazier things have happened. “Everything on the line,” Painter said.

Whether he pitches again in this Wild Card Series or not, if the Phillies can piece together one more win with some combination of 27 (or more) outs, Painter’s efforts will not be forgotten in Philadelphia.

“I was trying to be super aggressive and go down with my best stuff,” Painter said. “Knowing the situation we were in there and backs against the wall a little bit, just stepping on the gas there and just giving it everything I had in that moment.”

It was a two-out swing where a ball floated out to right field and just over the wall that sucked plenty of energy out of the Phillies on Tuesday. It was a two-out swing where a ball floated out to right field and just over the wall that put a jolt into the Phillies on Wednesday.

Alec Bohm’s home run in the top of the 10th inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card Series helped save the Phillies’ season in a 4-3 win over the Braves.

Bohm stepped to the plate against hard-throwing right-hander Didier Fuentes with two outs in the 10th. He worked a 1-1 count before inside-outing a 99.4 mph fastball from Fuentes over the head of Ronald Acuña Jr. and just over the right-field wall for a go-ahead homer.

It wasn’t just Bohm’s bat that helped the Phillies. He started a pair of key double plays earlier in the game. The first helped starter Cristopher Sánchez get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. The second helped Andrew Painter, on in relief, in the eighth inning after he walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches.

Painter, pitching in the postseason for the first time, got out of the eighth one batter later to keep the game tied at three. He pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. With Jhoan Duran, who gave up the energy-sucking ball to right field on Tuesday, seemingly unavailable, it was Painter on the mound in the bottom of the 10th to try to secure the win in a one-run game.

The 23-year-old dealt with traffic on the bases. Mauricio Dubón and Michael Harris II both singled. But Painter stepped up and did not let a run score to keep the Phillies alive.

Pinch-hitter Dominic Smith was the Braves’ last hope with two outs and two runners on. Painter got ahead quick, and on the third pitch of the at-bat, appeared to hit the outer edge of the strike zone with a fastball. The pitch was called a ball. And as if there wasn’t enough drama throughout the game, the pitch was challenged by J.T. Realmuto. Everyone waited and stared at the jumbotron until it showed the pitch was in fact a strike that ended the game — a first in postseason history.

All in all, Painter fired three huge innings to keep the game tied and then to ensure the win. He struck out three batters and walked one on his way to the first postseason win of his career. It was quite the showing for the rookie.

Now, the series comes down to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday.

ATLANTA — Phillies closer Jhoan Duran did not give a firm answer regarding his status for Game 2 after he “paid the price” on a mislocated fastball and surrendered a three-run, go-ahead home run to Austin Riley on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park. The club pushed him for two innings and 27 pitches in Game 1, an aggressive move that was logical but still did not work out. Duran said he’d “maybe” be available for a must-win matchup in the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday, depending on how he felt playing catch beforehand.

Asked the morning of Game 2 about Duran’s availability, interim manager Don Mattingly did not have much more of an update.

“It’s like every other day,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see how he throws the ball. He’s been honest with us all year long. If he feels good or not or he’s good to go, then we go with that.”

The Phillies, following a devastating 5-3 loss, are on the ropes in this best-of-three playoff series. They could use as many of their top arms available behind left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who has a tall task in Game 2 as the stopper for Philadelphia. The club does not have many relievers it trusts, making any postseason game more complicated to manage.

Rookie Alex McFarlane, who earned a ton of confidence down the stretch but allowed a huge RBI triple in Game 1, could be in a similar boat to Duran, although Mattingly sounded a bit more sure about his chances of being available. The 25-year-old McFarlane spent most of this season at Double-A Reading before establishing himself as the Phillies’ best setup man in late August and September. The team could use a rebound from his rough playoff debut.

“You can’t buy him experience,” Mattingly said, “and that can only happen if he’s out there. He’s bounced back pretty good this year. He’s really good about taking care of himself and not overthrowing in between. But he’s just like Jo; if he goes and throws the ball today and he can’t lift his arm for some reason and he can’t go, then he won’t go. We’ll hear after catch, but I’d kind of expect him to be able to go.”

Right-hander Andrew Painter, a fellow rookie and a starter, sat in the bullpen during Game 1 and could have been an option for the ninth inning had the Phillies kept the lead. He’ll “for sure” head out to the bullpen again for Game 2, Mattingly said.

However, Mattingly does not expect veteran ace Zack Wheeler, who threw six impressive innings in Sunday’s regular-season finale to help the Phillies clinch their Wild Card spot, to join the bullpen on Wednesday. Mattingly said he “would think” Wheeler would be in play to contribute in some role during a potential Game 3.

Right-hander Aaron Nola will be available in case of “a total emergency” in Game 2, but the Phillies are lining him up to start Thursday’s Game 3, if they can force it.

“We expect him to take the ball tomorrow,” Mattingly said.

ATLANTA — The Phillies’ bullpen is the Phillies’ bullpen, which means the club has to make some decisions and sacrifices in the postseason. So with a one-run lead in the seventh in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series, interim manager Don Mattingly didn’t wait around for a ninth inning to summon his closer.

Duran cruised through the bottom of the seventh. He retired the first pair of Atlanta hitters he faced in the eighth. But after Michael Harris II beat out an infielder chopper, it spiraled for Duran. He hit Ozzie Albies with a full-count curveball. Then Austin Riley, who had a .654 OPS this regular season, connected on a fastball over the plate for a three-run, opposite-field home run.

With a shaky bullpen and little depth, the Phillies wanted the ball in the hand of their flamethrower. He couldn’t deliver in the most crucial moment. After a devastating 5-3 defeat on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park, the team is one loss away from elimination.

“Anytime you lose a game late,” Mattingly said, “obviously it’s frustrating. But in our minds we had our best guy out there. You live with this one.”

Blown games have become a playoff regularity for the Phillies over the past few years. They tried to address that issue last trade deadline when they went out and acquired Duran. Still, the club coughed up leads before it could even get him the ball in Games 1 and 2 of the 2025 NL Division Series versus the Dodgers. He finally entered with a lead in Game 4, coming into a jam in the seventh at Dodger Stadium. The right-hander walked in a run, and the Phillies eventually lost in extra innings.

In this year’s postseason opener, they made sure Duran had his chance with the team ahead, an understandable decision. The Phillies do not have many great bullpen options. Jonathan Bowlan, a top setup man for much of the season, was available, but he has not pitched since Sept. 17 after hurting his groin. Deadline acquisition Brooks Raley was left off the Wild Card Series roster. Only Duran and rookie Alex McFarlane proved to be trustworthy down the stretch.

After Jesús Luzardo got through five impressive innings of one-run ball in his first start since Sept. 7, the Phillies put McFarlane in for the biggest outing of his life in a 1-1 game in the sixth. He allowed a go-ahead triple to Albies that center fielder Derek Hill nearly tracked down at the wall. But Philadelphia punched back in the top of the seventh as catcher J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run triple into the right-field corner.

Up one, Mattingly went right to Duran in the bottom of the frame.

“I just looked up and I saw him,” Bryce Harper said. “I didn’t know any any plan or anything like that. So when you have someone down there and it’s must-win games, I think obviously you’re going to do everything you can to win a game. So bringing in … one of the best closers in baseball, why not?”

Harper thought Duran could have potentially been in there to pitch three innings to finish off the game, and he might have, Mattingly said, had he continued his early groove. He recorded five quick outs — even if a line drive back to the box by Matt Olson had his heart pumping.

But it all unraveled so quickly.

“I thought,” Realmuto said, “after the infield single, the at-bat to Albies was a little uncharacteristic of him. Just not being able to find the zone there. The curveball, that wild, in a 3-2 count, I thought maybe he looked a little tired toward the end of that inning. But his stuff was good before that, for sure.”

Following a replay review and a mound visit, Duran wanted to throw a fastball up and away to Riley. The pitch went over the heart of the plate, and Riley punished it for a game-winner.

“It’s hard to see something like that,” Duran said. “I tried to keep the game like that, a one-run lead. I missed the pitch in the zone, and I paid the price.”

The approach to Duran’s usage might have been a bit ambitious, but it was a sound strategy. The Phillies didn’t have anyone else nearly as reliable, so it was worth it to see if Duran could take them all the way, or at least to the ninth. However, the 27-pitch appearance did not work out and may have even put the closer’s status for Wednesday’s win-or-go-home Game 2 in question.

“Maybe,” Duran said of his availability. “Maybe yes, maybe not. I don’t know. I need to do my [catch play] first.”

The Phillies have now surrendered a late lead in their past three playoff openers. In 2024 against the Mets, Jeff Hoffman blew an NLDS Game 1 lead. In Game 1 of the 2025 NLDS versus the Dodgers, David Robertson and Matt Strahm combined for a seventh-inning collapse. This time, the Phillies got the ball to a certified, All-Star, 100-mph closer. The result was the same nonetheless.

Everything will be on the line for Philadelphia on Wednesday. Unless lefty Cristopher Sánchez manages to throw a complete game, the bullpen will need to figure out how to come through.

“It’s tough,” Realmuto said. “I mean, there’s no secret that we’ve had our share of blown leads — not just in Game 1s but throughout the postseason — sixth, seventh, eighth inning. It’s something we have to get better at. We have the guys in here to do it. We just got to lock it in and make pitches when we need to.”

ATLANTA – The Phillies could not capitalize on yet another heroic effort from Jesús Luzardo. 

He came out firing out of the bullpen in extra innings in his last playoff appearance in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, only for the Phillies to lose the series in the most devastating way possible. No need to go into detail. 

Another year, more heartbreaking late playoff defeat. This time, Luzardo’s contributions came much earlier in the game. This time, the Phillies are still alive, but a game in, they are facing elimination. 

Since the six-team playoff format was implemented in 2022, only one team, the 2025 New York Yankees, has come back to win a best-of-three wild card series after losing Game 1. 

“This is a confident group,” J.T. Realmuto said. “We have a lot of faith in ourselves. We just know we gotta go out and play good baseball tomorrow. Faced a really good pitcher today, faced all their good arms. And they faced all our good arms. 

“So it’s gonna be an evenly-matched series. We knew we had to win two out of three, we knew it wasn’t gonna be easy. So losing Game 1 isn’t gonna deter us at all, we’re still confident going into tomorrow.”

Maybe it’s better to remind yourself that the Phillies were expected to lose the Chris Sale game. They went 0-4 against him in the regular season, but they put up quality at-bats against him on Tuesday, forcing him out in the seventh with one out. They took the lead on a Realmuto triple in the seventh against 21-year-old star reliever Didier Fuentes, who struggled with command in his playoff debut. They were four outs away from stealing Game 1. They could taste it. 

It’s how they lost. With very little bullpen depth, Don Mattingly called on Jhoan Duran in the seventh to get them to his usual spot in the ninth – or maybe even a little further. The seventh inning was a breeze. 

If they were going to lose, it was going to be with their best chip.

“Anytime you lose a game late, obviously it’s frustrating, but in our minds we had our best guy out there,” Mattingly said. “You live with this one.”

Duran in the eighth left a fastball in the middle of the plate against Riley, who hit a three-run home run that just got over the fence in right field.

“Heartbreaker, especially knowing all the fight that went into the game,” Luzardo said. “But I mean, he’s the best closer in the game. I’ll take that guy on the mound any day of the week. So, just unfortunate, but there’s a reason why this is a three-game set. And we come back tomorrow and scratch and claw and find our way to play another day.”

Luzardo gave the Phillies all he had. 

In his first full start since his complete-game shutout against Atlanta on Sept. 7, the left-hander fired off five innings and allowed only one run. The Phillies were tight-lipped on the plan for Luzardo. 

“The plan was to see how we’re feeling and keep going,” Luzardo said.

Mattingly called him an “opener.” The Braves weren’t buying it. 

“It’s hard to say: That’s exactly what I expected out of him, which was a lot,” Realmuto said. “That’s just who he has been for us all year long. He’s a competitor. He wants the ball. He’s tough. I had confidence in him going in, and he exceeded my expectations a little bit. He threw the ball great, kept us in the game.” 

Luzardo hit 98 mph in a comfortable 1-2-3 frame in the first inning. Trouble ensued in the second, when cleanup hitter Mauricio Dubón poked a low changeup into the left-field corner for a leadoff double. 

After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Luzardo bounced a ball off the knob of Austin Riley’s bat. Those usually go foul, but the ball came straight to Luzardo on the mound.

The Phillies did pitching fielding practice on Monday, but there’s no way to simulate a moment like that. Realmuto pointed to second, but Luzardo instead initiated a rundown to get Dubón between third and home. Edmundo Sosa, sore groin and all, chased the runner out of the baseline. 

Luzardo had a chance at two. A bad throw to second, however, would have derailed the inning. He went the safe route and got the out in front of him.

“Just a lot going on,” Luzardo said. “Lefty on deck. Didn’t want to make a bang-bang play. Riley is an incredible athlete. Didn’t want to risk a bang-bang play with Dubón going home with a lefty on deck. More kicking myself on the pitch to (Yastrzemski) than the play.” 

Luzardo grabbed the dirt and yelled as the ball skipped past the narrow gap between Bryson Stott and Trea Turner. He allowed only three baserunners with two reaching base safely on hit-by-pitches after that inning.

Bleeding velocity by the inning, Luzardo fought. 

“I mean, adrenaline, playoffs, just feeling good,” Luzardo said. “I feel like our bodies are pretty well-conditioned even though (I) was down for three weeks. I feel like the long season kinda helped condition us, me for that situation.” 

“I heard him say something about running out of gas, but you know, when he’s on the mound, I don’t care if you’re selling 94 or 98, it’s tough to hit,” Turner said. “He went out there and battled for us, did a great job, kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”

The Phillies will fight again for their playoff lives. Cristopher Sánchez will follow Luzardo in Game 2 with the season on the line. As the Braves walked off the field, Sanchez lingered in the dugout, staring at the mound. 

“Might just be a little foreshadowing, right?” Kyle Schwarber said.

Ty Daubert contributed to this report.

Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly got aggressive. He turned to his All-Star closer in the bottom of the seventh inning with a one-run lead. The decision worked, until it didn’t.

Jhoan Duran allowed a two-out go-ahead home run to Austin Riley in the bottom of the eighth inning in the Phillies’ 5-3 Game 1 loss to the Braves.

Duran pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. He got two quick outs to begin the eighth. Then, his command left. Michael Harris II singled on a 2-0 splitter. Duran hit Ozzie Albies with a 3-2 knuckle curve. The big right-hander then challenged Riley with a center-cut first-pitch fastball. The Braves third baseman didn’t miss it.

Riley sent the 99.9 mph four-seamer the other way. It landed just beyond the right-field wall for a three-run homer. That was it. Braves 5, Phillies 3.

Bryan De La Cruz grounded into a double play for the first two outs in the top of the ninth. Bryson Stott flew out to left field against Raisel Iglesias to end the game. Just two innings earlier, it was De La Cruz and Stott in the middle of a Phillies rally.

The pair scored on a go-ahead two-run triple by J.T. Realmuto with two outs to put the Phillies ahead 3-2, giving Mattingly his pathway to get aggressive with Duran.

Alec Bohm got the scoring started in the top of the first with a double against Chris Sale. Usually, when the Phillies score first, they win. Usually, when a team scores first in a postseason game, it wins. Only usually, though.

Now, the Phillies, who were 68-5 after leading after seven innings in the regular season, are on the brink of elimination just one game into their playoff run. The numbers suggest that run is probably over. Under the current playoff format, teams that lose Game 1 of the Wild Card Series have won just one of 16 series.

If there’s one silver lining, the 2026 Phillies have always made things difficult. They tended to eventually come through. Winning the next two games to advance will surely be difficult. Time will tell if they come through again.