Andrew Painter delivers a ‘career-altering performance’ in playoff debut and keeps Phillies’ hopes alive
After being demoted in June, Painter had to earn a return to the Phillies. He did. And almost exactly two months later, he saved their season. For one more day, at least.
ATLANTA — The first six pitches from Andrew Painter missed the zone.
They weren’t particularly close, either. The Braves hitters left their bats on their shoulders. The home fans at Truist Park could smell blood in the water.
Painter was nervous. He said as much afterward. Game 2 of the wild-card series Wednesday was deadlocked at 3 in the eighth inning, and one pitch could mean the difference between their season extending another day or the Phillies packing their bags that night. And it was entirely on the rookie’s shoulders, in his postseason debut, in his first career late-inning relief appearance.
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After the sixth straight ball — a 99.5 mph fastball inside to Michael Harris II — J.T. Realmuto stood from his crouch. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham started toward the mound. They told Painter to trust himself. To attack.
“Just me and you,” Realmuto told him. “Let’s go get him.”
And that’s what Painter did, in the Phillies’ 4-3 win over Atlanta that forced a deciding Game 3 on Thursday. He attacked Harris with a fastball in the zone, and then got him to ground into a double play with a changeup.
From there, the 23-year-old pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to force extra innings, and returned to close it out after the Phillies at last took the lead in the 10th on a go-ahead home run from Alec Bohm.
“I was trying to be super aggressive and go down with my best stuff,” Painter said. “Knowing the situation we were in there and backs against the wall a little bit, just stepping on the gas there and just giving it everything I had in that moment.”
Painter’s gutsy performance was one of several in the Phillies’ chaotic victory to stave off elimination. Cristopher Sánchez threw a career-high 116 pitches. The Braves made him work, drawing five walks (two intentional). But he limited the damage to one run over the first six innings, as he remained locked in a duel with Atlanta starter Tyler Mahle.
“A lot of adrenaline going out there,” Sánchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “No tomorrow for us, today. ... Just tried to give the best of myself out there on the mound, and a lot of energy.”
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But it seemed like it wouldn’t be enough. After Sánchez returned for the seventh, he allowed a leadoff walk to Sean Murphy, and Bohm failed to get an out on a sacrifice bunt from nine-hole hitter Ha-Seong Kim.
Sánchez fought off one threat by striking out Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. And then disaster struck in the outfield.
Bryce Harper had moved back to right field at the trade deadline in a switch he and the Phillies thought might give them the best chance to win in October. He did it to open a spot at second for new acquisition Luis Arraez, who is not even on the wild-card roster due to an ankle sprain. But Harper has remained out there anyway.
When he misread a fly ball from Drake Baldwin in the seventh, it appeared the Phillies’ season might end for the second straight year because of a defensive miscue. But instead of a young reliever who cratered under pressure on a soft grounder back to the mound, it was the Phillies’ biggest star.
Harper broke in at first, then drifted back, then tried to jump at the last moment. But the ball was over his head, and went toward the wall for a double. The inning suddenly spiraled into a 3-1 Atlanta lead. Sánchez was lifted with two outs for rookie Alex McFarlane, who came through to stop the bleeding with runners on the corners.
In the dugout afterward, Sánchez approached Harper.
“I told him he was bound to have a great moment,” Sánchez said.
As both Phillies and Braves fans jeered at him for the mistake, Harper said he thought about what he might say to his 7-year-old son, Krew, if this had happened to him. Harper was due up in the top of the next inning after Kyle Schwarber, and from the on-deck circle, watched as Schwarber sent a slider from lefty Dylan Lee 447 feet.
And then Harper did the same.
“I wasn’t not trying to hit a homer, I can tell you that,” Harper said.
The Braves outfielders didn’t move a muscle either time; they didn’t even turn around to watch them go. Silence settled over the stadium, which had been raucous just moments before, as the Phillies’ biggest bats tied it 3-3 and resuscitated the season.
In the visitors’ clubhouse, Sánchez watched the homers on television and started slamming his hands on everything within reach in excitement.
“It’s easy to beat yourself up,” Schwarber said. “I’ve been there plenty of times. So to not beat yourself up, look forward to that next pitch on defense, and then get right back into the box and be in tune to your bat. That’s what it’s all about. He was able to do that.”
From there, it was all Painter’s game. Closer Jhoan Duran was unavailable. The Phillies were going to live or die with the rookie.
“I didn’t think I was going to be closing a game in the playoffs,” Painter said, “but I think I’m capable of a lot.”
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In the ninth, Edmundo Sosa hit a leadoff single but was removed with a leg injury after running to first. Sosa said afterward he tweaked a muscle in his upper thigh, and that he was hopeful he would be available Thursday.
After Bohm’s go-ahead homer off Didier Fuentes in the 10th, the Braves advanced the winning run to first on a pair of singles in the 10th. But Painter took a breath. He went back to the rosin bag. And then he attacked again.
He went right after pinch-hitter Dominic Smith, getting two swings on his changeup. Smith watched the third pitch, a four-seam, go by for a ball, but Realmuto successfully challenged the call for a game-ending strikeout.
“That’s a career-altering performance, in my opinion,” said Realmuto.
Jesús Luzardo agrees. He entered in the 10th inning of Game 4 last season on short rest to try and extend the Phillies’ season another day against the Dodgers. But he wasn’t a rookie. He wasn’t making his postseason debut. And he didn’t have the year that Painter had.
“I always knew he had it in him,” Luzardo said. “But it was nice to see him flourish, and show everyone that he has that dog inside him.”
Luzardo said he reminded Painter to stay calm, not to get too worked up. But he didn’t want to overwhelm him with advice. He knew he didn’t really need it.
The two pitchers are both from South Florida and have been friends for years, even before the trade that brought Luzardo to the Phillies organization. They were in touch last season, as Painter languished in triple A, still searching for his command after Tommy John surgery.
With both starting the season in the Phillies’ starting rotation, Luzardo had a front-row seat to Painter’s early struggles and how he worked his way back. As the Phillies’ top prospect, Painter entered the year with sky-high expectations that he had trouble meeting at first. Painter was sent back to triple A for over a month to address his fastball command, and returned in July, armed with better stuff and more confidence.
“Just to see the development that he’s had over the year, it’s been awesome,” Luzardo said.
When he was demoted, the Phillies told Painter it was not a situation where he would go down for a start or two, take a breather, and come back. Returning to the majors at all wasn’t a guarantee.
He had to earn it. He did. And almost exactly two months later, he saved the Phillies’ season. For one more day, at least.
“I think it does speak to him and who he is,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “Went down, went to work, came back. He’s been a different guy.”
