The questionable Phillies defense was on full display in Wednesday's Game 2, but the sluggers came through to force a Game 3

Sep 30, 2026 at 6:13 pm ET • 3 min read

The duality of Bryce Harper was on full display Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. 

In the span of six batters in the seventh inning, Harper badly misplayed a ball in right field that allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate and hit a game-tying home run as part of back-to-back homers with Kyle Schwarber. Harper also drove in the game's first run with a single in the first inning. He went 2 for 5 in the Phillies' Game 2 win (PHI 4, ATL 3 in 10 innings).

"Schwarb, Harp, after we give up those two, they got momentum," Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. "And to be able to get that back right away was huge."

Philadelphia rearranged its defense to accommodate Luis Arraez at the trade deadline, which pushed Alec Bohm from third base to first base and Harper from first base back to right field. The results were not always positive. On Wednesday, Bohm failed to get an out on a bunt in that seventh inning immediately prior to Harper's misplay. Drake Baldwin lifted a fly ball that Harper misplayed into a double, which gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

"Obviously a world of emotion there," Harper said of his misplay. "I didn't think he hit it very hard and I realized he only hit 89 (mph exit velocity), so I thought it was going to be a pop fly just right at me and then it kind of kept traveling. Obviously a ball I should have caught."

Based on the exit velocity and launch angle, Statcast registered Baldwin's double -- "double" -- with an .080 expected batting average. Stats aside, it's a ball that must be caught, much like Ha-Seong Kim's bunt was a ball that had to be turned into an out. Bohm hesitated just enough for Sean Murphy to beat the throw to second base. Little things that cost the Phillies.

"I think it's a ball Bryce probably thinks he should have caught," Mattingly said. "It looked like it kept carrying a little bit. But no, you don't need to say anything to guys like that in that spot, not in this moment."

Matt Olson followed Baldwin's double -- again, "double" -- with a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. The two misplays contributed directly to the two runs. Harper redeemed himself, though. He and Schwarber hit the back-to-back homers in the next half-inning to tie the game 3-3.

Those were the first two home runs Braves setup man Dylan Lee gave up to left-handed batters this season. 

"Lee is our high-leverage lefty," Braves manager Walt Weiss said. "Put down the same part of the order yesterday pretty easily. Threw the ball really well yesterday. That's his inning every time."   

Bohm redeemed himself as well. After botching the bunt, he hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the tenth inning, which stood up as the game-winning run thanks to Andrew Painter's heroic three-inning relief appearance. The Phillies have pulled even with the Braves in the Wild Card Series. The decisive Game 3 will be played Thursday afternoon.

"There's been a lot of ups and downs," Bohm said about his season. "Didn't start the best. I don't really know how to put it all into words quickly, but it's just been a long road with a lot of ups and downs. I've learned a lot, and I've made a lot of really close friends along the way and had a lot of people to lean on along the way. I really wouldn't have rather had it any other way."

To make the infield work with Arraez, the Phillies shifted Bryson Stott from second base to third, Bohm from third base to first, and Harper from first base to right. Prior to Arraez's arrival, Harper had not played the outfield since 2022. He moved to first base that summer to limit his throwing following his return from Tommy John surgery.

Arraez rolled his ankle at the end of the regular season and is not on the Wild Card Series roster. His status for the rest of the postseason, should the Phillies advance, is up in the air.