Phillies drop home finale to Braves in 11 innings
The Phillies couldn’t hold a late one-run lead following a lengthy rain delay and fell to the Braves 8-7 in the last home game of the 2022 season.
Braves (95-58) Beat Phillies (83-69)
- Winning Pitcher: Jackson Stephens (3-2, 3.42)
- Losing Pitcher: Andrew Bellatti (4-4, 3.27)
- Save:
The Phillies had a great opportunity to finish off the season at CBP with a series clinching win over the Braves but couldn’t capitalize. David Robertson coughed up a one-run lead in the 8th inning on a wild-pitch with the bases loaded in what was a back-and-forth affair that featured 5 total lead changes.
The Braves jumped out to an early lead on Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, tagging him for 3 earned runs in the first two innings. The Phillies promptly answered with Kyle Schwarber, who hit his National League-leading 41st and 42nd home runs of the season, both solo-shots that came in the 1st and 3rd innings.
The enthusiastic Phillies crowd, who did their city a service by coming to the baseball game while the Eagles were crushing the Commanders 24-8, was forced to seek shelter from an afternoon downpour in the 5th inning. Following the near two hour rain delay, the crowd was sparse and the energy in the stadium resembled something closer to a pandemic atmosphere than that of a team chasing a playoff spot.
Jose Alvarado continued his dominance in the second half of the season. Since August 1st, Alvarado has pitched 18.2 innings to the tune of a 0.48 ERA and a 30:4 K/BB ratio. I know he has burned this team in the past but at this moment Alvarado should be the Phillies go-to option to close out a ballgame.
Because the Milwaukee Brewers lost this afternoon, the Phillies magic number to clinch a playoff spot now sits at 8 games. San Diego won on Sunday and is currently +1.5 games ahead of Philadelphia for the 2nd wild card spot.
Whats next? Well…only the biggest Phillies roadtrip in the last decade plus!
3 @ Chicago
4 @Washington
3 @ Houston
Is 5-5 enough to get it done?
RING IT.
Travis D’Arnaud hits a deep fly ball that Brandon Marsh cant find in the early afternoon sun. Not a good start!
1-0 Braves
Matt Olson doubles the Braves lead with an RBI single in the opening frame.
2-0 Braves
Kyle Schwarber takes Charlie Morton deep for a solo shot in the 1st inning.
2-1 Braves
Dansby Swanson ties the game back up with an RBI ground ball to beat the shift in the 2nd inning.
3-3 Phils
Kyle Schwarber hits his second solo home run of the game to give the Phils back the lead. Boom!
4-3 Phils
Just one play after Rhys Hoskins fails to turn the double play, Dansby Swanson re takes the lead for the Braves with a two run shot off Kyle Gibson in the 4th inning.
5-4 Braves
The Braves tie the game up following the lengthy rain delay on a David Robertson wild pitch with the bases loaded. Pain.
6-6 Phils
Garrett Stubbs guns down a stealing Michael Harris II to get a huge second out in the 9th inning.
Zack Eflin shuts down the Braves in the 10th inning.
Ronald Acuña Jr puts the Braves back on top in the 11th inning with an RBI single.
7-6 Braves
Michael Harris II makes it a two-run lead for the Braves.
8-6 Braves
Up Next for the Phillies
The Phillies have a schedule off day on Monday before traveling to Chicago to begin a three-game series against the Cubs; The first of their 9 straight road games to end the 2022 regular season.
Zack Wheeler (11-7, 2.98) will toe the rubber facing off against Marcus Stroman (4-7, 3.80) with the first pitch scheduled for 1:05 pm.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will carry the broadcast of the game.
Mandatory Photo Credit: Tim Nwachukwu
