ATLANTA — The first 15 innings of the NLDS couldn’t have gone any better for the Phillies.
After upsetting the Braves in Game 1, they held a 4-run lead until the 6th inning in Game 2.
They had their ace on the mound and a solid bullpen behind him. They will be shutting down the greatest offensive line in baseball history, one of the best lineups MLB has ever seen.
Then everything unraveled.
With one out in the seventh inning, Zach Wheeler allowed a two-run home run to Travis d’Arnaud, the last batter of the game.
Jose Alvarado entered the game and, after retiring for three straight games, was replaced by right-hander Jeff Hoffman, leaving the top right-hander in Atlanta’s lineup. Hoffman hit Ronald Acuña Jr. with a pitch, inducing Ozzie Albee to ground out and giving Austin Riley a 1-2 lead. Hoffman needed one more strike for the Phillies to end the eighth inning with a one-run lead, but Riley ran a full count and hit an 89 mph slider that caught too many plates over the left-field wall. It was the game-winning home run.
The game ended with Nick Castellanos flying the ball deep into right-center field, where Michael Harris II jumped and caught it against the wall. He hit the bullet back into the infield, and the Braves closed out the game with a double from first base by Bryce Harper.
They lost a 4-0 lead in Game 2 of the NLDS. Sounds familiar. The same thing happened to Cliff Lee and the Phillies in Game 2 of the 2011 National League against the Cardinals, resulting in a heartbreaking loss in the series.
Hoffman has been very good this season and was an important discovery for the Phillies’ front office when he signed him to a minor league contract in opening week. He appeared in 54 games and posted a 2.41 ERA, earning manager Rob Thomson’s trust as a reliable right-handed pitcher in the middle of innings. Almost half of his games were in “dirty innings,” with people on base. Time and time again, he cleared those clogs.
Since Aug. 25, the only run Hoffman has allowed has come in Atlanta. He was in a similar position against the Braves on September 20th, and the Phillies lost the lead in the eighth inning that night to Albies and Riley’s offense.
He held the Braves to a no-hitter until 5 2/3 innings, ruining Wheeler’s dominant start as he did not allow a single ball into the field until the fifth inning. He had a career-high 10 strikeouts in the playoffs.
It was a season full of déjà vu-like moments for the Phils. A slow start. Low point near Memorial Day. Back in June. The excitement in the second half. Wildcard round sweep. They beat a team with over 100 wins in Game 1 in Atlanta.
One detail the Phillies wished would have gone differently was Game 2. The Phillies lost a shutout at the same venue a year ago, and with Wheeler on the mound, they had a chance to push the Braves to the brink of elimination.
Just like they did in 2022 when they won the NLDS in four games, they will now head home with a 1-1 tie.
By the end of Monday’s first inning, they had given up more RBIs and hits to Wheeler than they did in Game 2 last year. Trea Turner doubled and scored on Alec Bohm’s single, then the Phillies loaded the bases with singles by JT Realmuto and Castellanos, and Atlanta left-hander Max Fried broke free.
Realmuto extended the lead and further quelled the crowd in the third inning with a two-run homer to the opposite field over the Braves’ bullpen.
For the fourth run, Castellanos singled, stole second, advanced to third base on an erroneous throw from d’Arnaud, and scored on Bryson Stott’s sacrifice fly. The Phillies are on a roll in the postseason. They had 9-of-10 steals in four playoff games, and 7-of-8 in the NLDS alone. He reacted immediately to pitches in the dirt and stole five more extra bases.
The combination of starting pitching, small ball, and timely home runs seemed to put them in a dominant position as the series moved to Philadelphia. Instead, they ended up boarding their flight home in just a split second, which may have sounded like a satisfying start to the series, but considering how close the plane was to landing on Monday night. And it’s not satisfying.