Austin Riley’s three-run homer off Jhoan Duran lifts Braves to 5-3 victory over Phillies in Game 1
This time, it was the Phillies’ most reliable arm that faltered, as the bullpen blew yet another late postseason lead.
ATLANTA — The circle of trust in the Phillies’ bullpen couldn’t be smaller.
That’s why closer Jhoan Duran was even in the game at all in the eighth inning, when Braves third baseman Austin Riley drove a three-run homer over the right field wall to lift Atlanta over the Phillies, 5-3, in Game 1 on Tuesday.
The only way the Phillies were going to get by the Braves was by using as few pitchers as possible. They didn’t even include trade deadline acquisition Brooks Raley on the wild-card playoff roster. And with the Phillies clinging to a 3-2 lead, interim manager Don Mattingly decided to use his best weapon early, bringing in Duran for the seventh and eighth.
The radical pitching plan worked, until it didn’t. Duran was nearly out of the inning before Michael Harris singled on a soft grounder to shortstop and Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch. Then, Riley ambushed the first pitch he saw, a fastball over the middle of the plate.
This time, it was the Phillies’ most reliable arm that faltered, as the bullpen blew yet another late postseason lead.
Calling on his closer in the seventh inning wasn’t even the first risk Mattingly took on Tuesday.
It had been 22 days since Jesús Luzardo had started a game. He faced batters for the first time on Sunday, in a four-pitch outing that lasted mere minutes. Nobody — not Braves manager Walt Weiss and his club, not even Mattingly — knew what to expect from him when he took the ball to start Game 1. Mattingly hoped he would at least start the game “on a good foot.”
But Luzardo delivered much more than that. He held the Braves to one run and three hits over five innings, turning a 1-1 game over to Alex McFarlane. For 77 pitches, Luzardo went toe-to-toe with Atlanta ace Chris Sale.
The Phillies managed to squeeze out a first-inning run against the 37-year-old, who started the game a little erratic with his command. A walk to Kyle Schwarber and a double from Alec Bohm on an elevated fastball well above the zone got the Phillies on the board first.
The second time he walked out to the mound, though, Sale was back to looking more like himself, and he diced up the Phillies lineup. Sale continued his career dominance over Bryce Harper, who went 0-for-3 against him. It briefly appeared Harper’s fortunes might be changing when he came a few feet from a towering two-run shot that would have given the Phillies the lead in the sixth. But it landed just foul, and Harper badly whiffed on a slider well outside two pitches later to strike out.
The Braves briefly took a lead in the seventh on McFarlane before the Phillies snatched it right back. Derek Hill was inches from another highlight reel catch on a deep fly ball from Ozzie Albies at the wall, but he slightly mistimed it and the ball deflected off his wrist.
Hill couldn’t corral the ball immediately, and Albies advanced to third on an RBI triple.
But the Phillies jumped back in front in the seventh inning, after finally chasing Sale from the game. J.T. Realmuto pounced on a fastball from Didier Fuentes and sent it to the right field corner, where Ronald Acuña Jr. misplayed it. Two runs scored on the triple from Realmuto, temporarily putting the Phillies back in front.
