The Philadelphia Phillies aren’t going home just yet.
Facing elimination Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park, Philadelphia erased a late two-run deficit behind back-to-back home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper before Alec Bohm delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, launching a go-ahead homer in the 10th inning to lift the Phillies to a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of their National League Wild Card Series.
The win evened the best-of-three series at one game apiece and forced a winner-take-all Game 3 Thursday in Atlanta.
And Philadelphia needed just about everything it had to get there.
The Phillies struck first against Braves starter Tyler Mahle in the opening inning. Trea Turner led off with a double before Harper singled him home, giving Philadelphia a quick 1-0 advantage.
Atlanta answered immediately.
Ronald Acuña Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the bottom half, stole both second and third and scored when Matt Olson dropped a two-out RBI single into right field.
From there, the game turned into a pitchers’ duel.
Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez and Mahle traded zeroes as the game remained tied 1-1 through six innings. Mahle, who reportedly suffered an abdominal issue while warming up before the game, battled through it to give Atlanta seven innings of one-run baseball, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out six.
Sánchez was equally impressive, but the game turned against Philadelphia in the seventh.
With Sean Murphy on base, Drake Baldwin lifted a fly ball toward right field. Harper got a poor read on the ball before it glanced off his glove and fell for an RBI double, allowing Murphy to score and putting Atlanta ahead 2-1.
Harper wasn’t charged with an error, but afterward acknowledged it was a ball he should have caught.
Olson followed with a sacrifice fly, stretching Atlanta’s advantage to 3-1 and leaving the Phillies six outs away from elimination.
Then Philadelphia’s biggest bats showed up.
Schwarber led off the eighth against Braves reliever Dylan Lee and absolutely crushed a solo home run 447 feet, cutting Atlanta’s lead to 3-2.
Three pitches later, Harper stepped into the box with a chance at redemption.
He got it.
Harper launched Lee’s slider 418 feet to right-center field for a game-tying solo homer, immediately erasing some of the sting from his defensive miscue and bringing the Phillies all the way back at 3-3.
The back-to-back shots were Philadelphia’s first consecutive postseason home runs since Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell accomplished the feat against the Colorado Rockies in 2007.
With the season hanging in the balance, Philadelphia then turned to one of its youngest arms.
Andrew Painter entered in the eighth for his postseason debut and gave the Phillies exactly what they needed, throwing three scoreless innings out of the bullpen while the offense searched for one more run.
That run finally arrived with two outs in the 10th.
Bohm stepped to the plate against Braves right-hander Didier Fuentes and jumped on a 1-1 fastball, sending it 357 feet over the right-field wall.
Gone.
Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 3.
It was Bohm’s third career postseason home run and his first in the playoffs since 2023.
But the Phillies still had to survive the bottom half.
Atlanta put two runners aboard against Painter with two outs, bringing pinch hitter Dominic Smith to the plate with both the tying and winning runs on base.
Painter got Smith to two strikes before throwing a 99-mph fastball that was initially ruled a ball.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto immediately challenged the call through MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike challenge system.
The call was overturned.
Strike three.
Ballgame.
The successful challenge produced a historic ending, marking the first MLB postseason game decided on a game-ending ABS challenge.
Painter earned the victory after three scoreless innings in his postseason debut, an enormous performance from the 23-year-old right-hander with Philadelphia’s season on the line.
Sánchez finished his afternoon after a career-high 116 pitches, allowing three runs on six hits and five walks while striking out six across 6 2/3 innings.
Atlanta will undoubtedly look back at its missed opportunities.
The Braves left 11 runners on base, including failing to score after loading the bases with one out in the sixth. Bohm helped Philadelphia escape that threat by starting a 5-2-3 double play, firing home for the force before Realmuto completed the twin killing at first.
But the story of Game 2 ultimately came down to three swings.
Schwarber gave Philadelphia life.
Harper erased a mistake and tied the game.
And Bohm made sure the Phillies would play another day.
After Atlanta stunned Philadelphia with Austin Riley’s three-run eighth-inning homer to win Game 1, 5-3, the Phillies returned the favor Wednesday with some late-inning power of their own.
Now there is only one game left.
Phillies versus Braves.
Game 3.
Winner moves on. Loser goes home.