The duality of Bryce Harper was on full display Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta.
In the span of six batters in the seventh inning, Harper badly misplayed a ball in right field that allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate and hit a game-tying home run as part of back-to-back homers with Kyle Schwarber. Harper also drove in the game's first run with a single in the first inning. He went 2 for 5 in the Phillies' Game 2 win (PHI 4, ATL 3 in 10 innings).
Philadelphia rearranged its defense to accommodate Luis Arraez at the trade deadline, which pushed Alec Bohm from third base to first base and Harper from first base back to right field. The results were not always positive. On Wednesday, Bohm failed to get an out on a bunt in that seventh inning immediately prior to Harper's misplay. Drake Baldwin lifted a fly ball that Harper misplayed into a double, which gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Based on the exit velocity and launch angle, Statcast registered Baldwin's double -- "double" -- with an .080 expected batting average. Stats aside, it's a ball that must be caught, much like Ha-Seong Kim's bunt was a ball that had to be turned into an out. Bohm hesitated just enough for Sean Murphy to beat the throw to second base. Little things that cost the Phillies.
Matt Olson followed Baldwin's double -- again, "double" -- with a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. The two misplays contributed directly to the two runs. Harper redeemed himself, though. He and Schwarber hit the back-to-back homers in the next half-inning to tie the game 3-3.
Those were the first two home runs Braves setup man Dylan Lee gave up to left-handed batters this season.
Bohm redeemed himself as well. After botching the bunt, he hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the tenth inning, which stood up as the game-winning run thanks to Andrew Painter's heroic three-inning relief appearance. The Phillies have pulled even with the Braves in the Wild Card Series. The decisive Game 3 will be played Thursday afternoon.
To make the infield work with Arraez, the Phillies shifted Bryson Stott from second base to third, Bohm from third base to first, and Harper from first base to right. Prior to Arraez's arrival, Harper had not played the outfield since 2022. He moved to first base that summer to limit his throwing following his return from Tommy John surgery.
Arraez rolled his ankle at the end of the regular season and is not on the Wild Card Series roster. His status for the rest of the postseason, should the Phillies advance, is up in the air.
