The Philadelphia Phillies took a punch to the gut in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series. Then, it unraveled in the 8th inning as the Atlanta Braves came from behind to win.
“I loved it for about eight innings,” starting catcher J.T. Realmuto said.
The Phillies jumped out to a 1-0 lead, which the Braves tied before going up 2-1 in the 6th inning. Realmuto had a pair of RBIs in the 7th inning, though, which gave the Phillies that lead.
Looking to shut down the top of the lineup, Phillies manager Don Mattingly brought in closer Jhoan Duran in the bottom of the 7th. In the end, he’d be asked to get six outs, which was too big of an ask. Austin Riley hit a decisive three-run home run in the bottom of the 8th.
“Everyone walks away from that game and says, ‘What if?’” DH Kyle Schwarber said. “But the what-ifs go away when you leave here. Everyone’s focused on the task at hand tomorrow.”
The Philadelphia Phillies Have a Bullpen Issue
It was no secret coming into the playoffs that the bullpen was a major issue for the Philadelphia Phillies. Duran was the exception to that, but he was on the mound and took the loss on Tuesday.
“If we’re going to lose the game that way,” Schwarber said, “we had our guy out there, right?”
Regardless of who was on the mound, the bullpen has been a disaster for the Phillies. That isn’t a new issue either. It’s the third straight postseason where the Phillies blew a Game 1 lead in the 7th inning or later. They have, notably, allowed 41 runs in nine postseason games since 2024. 35 of those are in the 6th inning or later.
“There’s no secret that we’ve had our share of blown leads, not just in Game 1s, but throughout the postseason,” Realmuto said. “Sixth, seventh, eighth inning. It’s something we have to get better at. We have the guys in here to do it. We just have to lock it in and make pitches when we need to.”
Perhaps worse than all of that, Cole Weintraub shared that since the start of the 2024 postseason, Phillies relievers have a 12.19 ERA when pitching with the lead. That’s in postseason games.
“It’s the playoffs, though; it’s such a roller coaster,” Realmuto said. “And that’s why we love this game so much, the emotions that come with it. And today just didn’t work out in our favor.”
Phillies Manager Don Mattingly on Bullpen Usage
After the game, Phillies manager Don Mattingly shared that things were going according to plan. Duran was set to come in for this situation. So, there were no surprises.
“We talked about it before the game. If we were at the top, go seventh, eighth,” Mattingly said. “He made it look easy the first inning, if the second went really quick I would’ve just checked with him, if not we would’ve just went with somebody else.”
The second-guessing is going to come for Mattingly. After all, with the benefit of hindsight, he left Duran in the game for too long. That, of course, was a decision he likely made due to a simple lack of trustworthy options.
“Anytime you lose a game late, obviously it’s frustrating,” Mattingly added. “But in our minds, we had our best guy out there, you live with this one.”
The Phillies and Braves are going to be back at it on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. EST.
Phillies Stars Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto React to Playoff Loss to Braves