Phillies salvage series in Atlanta, win 9-4 on Sunday
After a brutal weekend that saw the Phillies drop the first two in Atlanta and watch the division slip away, they desperately needed to avoid the sweep and leave town with something. On Sunday, they finally got it, grinding out a 9-4 win over the Braves at Truist Park. It wasn’t the cleanest game, and it took a big eighth inning to break it open, but a win is a win, and this team badly needed one.
Andrew Painter didn’t have his best stuff, coming off a rough five-run outing and once again battling his command all afternoon. He allowed six hits through four innings and walked four overall. On paper, not pretty but what he did have was damage control, and that’s the whole ballgame with a young pitcher.
The biggest test came in the fourth. Andrew Painter walked Riley, walked Kim, and gave up a sharp single to Harris to load the bases with Ronald Acuna Jr. coming up. This is exactly the kind of spot that used to blow up on Painter during his first stint in the majors.
This time around, he got ahead of Acuna and went to a changeup, and Acuna lifted it to right but not deep enough for a sac fly. Then Matt Olson, who’s had success against him, hit another changeup sharply on the ground, but Luis Arraez went down to make a slick play and end the inning.
Bases loaded, Acuna and Olson up, and Painter escaped with just one run scoring.
The development is real and measurable. During Painter’s first stint in the majors, opponents hit a scorching .348/.386/.591 with six homers against him with men on base. He’d have a shaky inning, lose the feel for a pitch, and suddenly be out of a game before he ever settled in.
Since his return, it’s been completely different. His strikeout rate with runners on has jumped nearly eight percentage points, and opponents’ OPS in those spots has dropped a whopping 197 points. His improved four-seamer has helped, but so has simply learning how to navigate major-league innings when he doesn’t have his A-stuff.
Sunday was the perfect example: Atlanta put 10 baserunners on against him and managed exactly one run. That’s a pitcher figuring it out in real time, and for a win-now team, watching this rookie mature every fifth day has been one of the genuine bright spots of 2026.
Phillies Bullpen Stumbled Again, but the Offense Answered
Of course, this wouldn’t be the 2026 Phillies without a little bullpen heartburn. Alex McFarlane gave them a clean sixth, but then Jose Alvarado, who’d been rolling, finally faltered in the seventh. A single, a wild pitch, and another single brought home the tying run. After blowing three separate leads on Friday night, here the Phillies were, tied up again. The late-inning relief struggles are a real concern heading into October, no way around it.
This time, the offense answered immediately, and that was the difference. Schwarber singled to start the eighth, and after one out, Bryce Harper ripped his second double of the day to put runners on second and third.
Bohm drove a two-run double into the gap to put the Phillies back in front, and it’s exactly the kind of situation where he’s been one of their best hitters all season long.
Alec Bohm RISP
Bohm is now hitting .339 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the best mark on the entire team and 13th best in all of baseball. The guy who took so much heat earlier this year has quietly become one of the most clutch hitters in the sport.
The Phillies didn’t stop there. They piled on five more runs in that eighth to blow it open, turning a tie into a seven-run cushion and finally giving the beleaguered bullpen some breathing room. They finished 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position, which was a hugely welcome sight.
After ranking at or near the top of baseball offensively in August, the Phillies had entered Sunday with the lowest OPS in the majors in September. So finally cashing in with runners on base was exactly the medicine this lineup needed.
JT Realmuto RING IT
Look, let’s keep it in perspective. This was one win in a series they lost, against a Braves team that has owned them all year. The division is realistically gone, and the bullpen and offensive concerns are still very real. But context matters, and after getting steamrolled two straight nights, the Phillies had to leave Atlanta with something positive.
Painter kept them in a game without his best stuff, proving again how far he’s come. The offense finally broke through when the pen coughed up the lead. And Bohm delivered in the clutch like he’s done all season. With an off day Monday before six games against the Nationals and Mets, the Phillies at least head out of Atlanta with momentum instead of a gut-punch sweep.
Twelve games left to keep fighting, and a win to build on. It’s not everything, but after this weekend, it’s exactly what they needed. Now go take care of business against the Nationals and Mets and lock down that Wild Card spot.
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The slipping has begun, just you wait. I love the Phillies, but this team is going rip the hearts out of the city and crash out. Heard it here first, no playoffs this season.