Bohm’s 10th-inning homer lifts Phillies past Braves after eighth-inning rally

Atlanta had the game in its hands

Philadelphia struck first in the opening inning when Bryce Harper singled to left and brought home Trea Turner. Atlanta answered immediately. Matt Olson lined a single to right later in the first to score Ronald Acuña Jr., and the game then settled into a pitchers’ duel for much of the night.

Tyler Mahle gave the Braves the steadiness they needed. He worked seven innings, allowed six hits and one run, walked one and struck out six. That line mattered because Philadelphia kept putting the ball in play without breaking through again while Mahle was on the mound.

Cristopher Sánchez was less tidy but still kept the Phillies close. The left-hander lasted 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits while walking five and striking out six. Atlanta finally turned that traffic into a lead in the seventh, when Drake Baldwin doubled to right to score Sean Murphy and send Ha-Seong Kim to third. Olson then added a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Braves a 3-1 advantage.

Three swings overturned the night

That two-run cushion vanished quickly in the eighth. Kyle Schwarber opened the Phillies’ response with a 447-foot drive to right-centre, trimming the deficit to one. Harper followed later in the inning with a 418-foot homer to right-centre, and a game Atlanta had controlled for most of the evening was suddenly level at 3-3.

The deciding blow arrived in the 10th. Bohm drove a 357-foot homer to right, Philadelphia’s third solo shot of the game, and that proved to be the winning run. Bohm finished 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, Harper went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, and Schwarber’s home run gave him one of the three runs Philadelphia needed from its middle of the order.

The Phillies still needed clean relief work to make the comeback stand, and they got it. Alex McFarlane recorded the final out of the seventh after Sánchez departed, and Andrew Painter covered the final three innings without allowing a run. Painter gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three, which was enough to keep Atlanta from answering in the ninth or 10th.

Our take: Atlanta created traffic, Philadelphia created damage

This game turned on the difference between baserunners and impact contact. Atlanta actually created plenty of opportunity, finishing with nine hits, six walks and two stolen bases. But the Braves did not hit a home run, managed only two extra-base hits and grounded into two double plays. With that profile, they needed longer scoring chains, and Philadelphia’s bullpen cut those off once Sánchez exited.

Philadelphia was hardly flawless at the plate. The Phillies collected 12 hits but drew only one walk and needed extra innings to score four times. Even so, their lineup found the swings that mattered most. Three home runs accounted for three of the four runs, and each one changed the game state immediately.

For Atlanta, the frustration is clear enough from the numbers. Mahle delivered seven strong innings, and the Braves led by two entering the eighth, but the bullpen surrendered three home runs over the final three innings. For Philadelphia, the encouraging part is just as obvious: when a game tightened, the club’s most dangerous bats supplied the power and the relief corps finished the job. In a 10-inning game that stayed close almost all night, that was the cleanest dividing line between the teams.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Harper singled to left, Turner scored.

2. 1st Inning

   Olson singled to right, Acuña Jr. scored.

3. 7th Inning

   Baldwin doubled to right, Murphy scored, Kim to third.

4. 7th Inning

   Olson hit sacrifice fly to center, Kim scored, Baldwin to third.

5. 8th Inning

   Schwarber homered to right center (447 feet).

6. 8th Inning

   Harper homered to right center (418 feet).

7. 10th Inning

   Bohm homered to right (357 feet).