Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Bryce Harper, bullpen shine as Phillies win Game 1 over Braves

Bryce Harper led the Phillies offense tonight. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Phillies 3, Braves 0

Postseason baseball is where stars are supposed to shine the brightest. That’s exactly what Bryce Harper, who slugged six home runs, did for the Phillies last October.

Tonight, in Game 1 of the Division Series, the two-time NL MVP continued to shine and be his team’s best player, going 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of walks, a home run, and most importantly, two runs scored.

Harper’s first hit came on a first-inning infield single. He then walked in the fourth and advanced to second on a botched pickoff attempt by Atlanta starter Spencer Strider, setting the table for Bryson Stott.

Down in the count 0-2, Philadelphia’s second baseman poked a sinking liner out to left field, bringing Harper home to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, the left-handed slugger came to the dish with one out and did what he does best: aggressively swing at the first pitch of the at-bat to put the ball in the seats.

The homer was the seventh postseason long ball of Harper’s Phillies career.

Harper wasn’t the only who one shined for the Phillies, though. The club’s bullpen, which came into the game after Ranger Suárez was pulled in the middle of a two runners on, two-out jam in the fourth inning, combined to pitch 5 1/3 innings of shutout baseball.

Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Craig Kimbrel were all used to pickup the important Game 1 win.

Hoffman, who walked the first batter he faced, got out of the fourth inning by striking out Michael Harris II with the bases loaded in a one-run game. Domínguez followed Hoffman by getting in, and out, of a jam of his own in the fifth. The right-hander blew fastballs by Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley for back-to-back strikeouts to end Atlanta’s runners-on-the-corners threat.

Alvarado and Kerkering got through the sixth and seventh innings with ease, but Strahm eventually found himself in more trouble in the eighth.

Kerkering began the inning with a walk of Acuña and was pulled in favor of the left-hander. Strahm then gave up a single to Riley, but got Matt Olson, who led the big leagues with 54 regular-season home runs, to hit into a sacrifice fly, putting runners on the corners with one out.

Next up was Ozzie Albies. Atlanta’s second baseman proceeded to ground the second pitch of the at-bat out to Trea Turner, who dove to field the ball and started a clutch, 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Kimbrel then pitched an easy 1-2-3 ninth inning to pickup the save and secure the Phillies Game 1 win.

Not only was this win impressive, but so was the fact that Philadelphia shut Atlanta out at their home ballpark. It was the first time the Braves have been shut out at Truist Park in more than two years

Game 1 is always important. Most of the teams that win the first game of a playoff series eventually go on to win the series.

With the odds in their favor, the Phillies will send Zack Wheeler to the mound in Game 2 on Monday with the hopes of returning to Citizens Bank Park up two games to none in the series.

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