Braves come back to tie series
They rally, then end it on an epic double play
After being held hitless into the sixth inning, the Braves rallied for an improbable 5-4 victory over the Phillies on tworun homers by Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley and a game-ending double play for the ages to even the NL Division Series at one win apiece Monday.
D’Arnaud, who started at catcher over slumping Sean Murphy, gave the Braves hope with his shot into the left-field seats in the seventh, cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 4-3.
It was Atlanta’s first extra-base hit of the series.
Riley provided the second, driving a 3-2 pitch from Jeff Hoffman (0-1) into the Phillies bullpen with two outs in the eighth to put the Braves ahead for the first time in the best-of-five series. Ronald Acuña Jr. scored ahead of Riley after being plunked on the left arm by Hoffman’s first pitch coming in from the bullpen.
“I just have faith in those guys,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You know what? They give you a hard 27 [outs].”
It ended in equally stunning fashion. With Bryce Harper aboard, Nick Castellanos drove one to the fence in deep rightcenter, only to be robbed on a great leaping catch by Michael Harris II.
Harper had rounded second base when Harris made the catch. He backtracked desperately, and the throw back to the infield skidded past second baseman Ozzie Albies. But Riley alertly backed up the play and zipped a throw to first that completed the double play.
Just like that, the series was all tied up. Game 3 is Wednesday at Philadelphia.
“Usually you don’t pass the base,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Harper’s baserunning blunder. “You stay in front of it, make sure it’s not caught. But he thought the ball was clearly over his head, didn’t think he was going to catch it. And Harris made a heck of a play. Unbelievable.”
A.J. Minter (1-0) earned the win and Raisel Iglesias claimed his first save of this postseason.
With Zack Wheeler dominating a lineup that led the majors in runs and tied an MLB record with 307 homers, the Phillies built a 4-0 lead. J.T. Realmuto hit a tworun drive in the third off Max Fried, sandwiched between Alec Bohm’s run-scoring single and Bryson Stott’s sacrifice fly.
Heavy heart for Kremer
Dean Kremer will take the mound in Game 3 for top-seeded Baltimore, which won 101 games and was never swept in a series during the regular season.
The righthander is making his first postseason start but was the Orioles starter in both of their clinching games this season. He allowed one run in five-plus innings of an 11-inning win over Tampa Bay that secured a playoff spot and tossed 5‚ scoreless innings Sept. 28 against the Red Sox in the team’s 100th win that clinched the AL East title.
Kremer will make his first career playoff start while thinking about family members in Israel, where war has been declared following a deadly incursion by militant group Hamas.
“I still want to pitch, but, I mean, it’s going to be in the back of my head,” Kremer said.
The 27-year-old has dual citizenship, and much of his extended family lives in Israel. While not going into any details, Kremer said they were OK right now.
Though he was born and raised in Stockton, Calif., Kremer is the son of Israeli parents and identifies strongly as Israeli himself. He spends time each year in the Jewish state and is fluent in Hebrew.
Opposing him from the Rangers will be Nathan Eovaldi.
The Houston native, in his first season with Texas after leaving the Red Sox in free agency, won the clinching game of the Wild Card Series, striking out eight in 6„ innings Wednesday at Tampa. That was the longest and best of the All-Star’s seven starts since returning in early September after seven weeks on the injured list because of a right forearm strain.
Cash won’t follow Francona
Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash tried to end speculation about replacing his friend Terry Francona as the manager of the Cleveland Guardians. “I’m very happy here,” Cash said Monday . . . The Nationals are shaking up manager Dave Martinez’s staff after another last-place finish, deciding not to renew the contracts of bench coach Tim Bogar, thirdbase coach Gary DiSarcina (a Billerica native), first base coach Eric Young Jr., and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler.