Source Details

{
    "source_type": "extension",
    "content_hash": "b329611995fc8f4ae36975ff949cf039be0adfbad662815231ab86b79ae8fb06",
    "submitted_via": "chrome_extension",
    "extension_version": "1.0.18",
    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7644381\/2026\/09\/29\/phillies-bullpen-wild-card-loss-braves\/?emc=edit_na_20260930&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=227279",
    "parsed_content": "ATLANTA \u2014 Jhoan Duran was the last Philadelphia Phillies player to reach the dugout when the eighth inning ended. The hard-throwing closer took a slow walk because there was so much to process Tuesday afternoon after it all came crashing down \u2014 again. The Phillies were four outs from stealing a Game 1 at Truist Park that Chris Sale had started. They were seven outs from capturing Game 1 a year ago against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And they were six outs away in Game 1 two years ago against the New York Mets.Three years, three Game 1s, three blown leads in the seventh inning or later.The Phillies\u2019 season could end Wednesday afternoon at this ballpark nestled in a suburban office park, and everyone in their clubhouse would rather not consider that heavy reality.No one is numb to it by now. After a soul-crushing 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves to begin this postseason, the Phillies knew it was damning. \u201cThat\u2019s a dagger,\u201d Bryce Harper said. But no one could be overly stunned.\u201cEveryone walks away from that game and says, \u2018What if?'\u201d Kyle Schwarber said. \u201cBut the what-ifs go away when you leave here. Everyone\u2019s focused on the task at hand tomorrow.\u201dSince the intro of the best-of-three wild-card format in 2022, the Game 1 winner has won 15 of the 16 series. The Phillies have never won a postseason series when they\u2019ve lost the first game.They have Cristopher S\u00e1nchez to pitch Game 2 and maybe Zack Wheeler on short rest for Game 3, but neither will go nine innings. And given the Phillies entered this postseason with approximately two trustworthy relievers, both of whom surrendered runs in Game 1, the idea of scoring enough runs over the next two days to provide enough padding for the pitching feels daunting.The front office\u2019s persistent inability to build a functioning postseason bullpen might be the epitaph of this era whenever it\u2019s over. Some will focus on interim manager Don Mattingly\u2019s aggressive decision to tab Duran for the seventh inning without a clear idea of who could have pitched the ninth, but Mattingly wasn\u2019t going to lose Game 1 with someone on the mound he did not trust.\u201cAnytime you lose a game late, obviously it\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cBut in our minds, we had our best guy out there. You live with this one.\u201d\u201cIf we\u2019re going to lose the game that way,\u201d Schwarber said, \u201cwe had our guy out there, right?\u201dThere are others to blame, beyond Duran\u2019s failure to locate a first-pitch fastball up and away to Austin Riley with two outs in the eighth. The pitch was right down the middle. Riley hit a three-run homer. Duran looked ill on the mound once the ball sailed over the wall. He so badly wanted to repent for his last appearance in the 2025 postseason, when he entered in the seventh inning \u2014 just like Tuesday. Duran walked in the tying run that day, in an eventual Game 4 loss in extra innings at Dodger Stadium.\n Jhoan Duran reacts after snagging a line drive for the first out in the eighth.Rich von Biberstein \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThere was clear communication, Duran said. He was told by one of the pitching coaches before Tuesday\u2019s game that the Phillies could use him as early as the seventh inning if the team had the lead or the score was tied.Had J.T. Realmuto only driven in one run to tie it, Mattingly still intended to bring in Duran for the seventh. But Realmuto\u2019s dramatic two-run triple put the Phillies ahead. Rookie reliever Alex McFarlane had already allowed a run in the sixth. So the seventh belonged to Duran.He recorded his first five outs on 15 pitches. There was a path to this \u2014 a three-inning save \u2014 actually working.\u201cHe made it look easy the first inning,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cIf the second one would have went really quick, I would have just checked with him. If not, we would have went to somebody else.\u201dThat could have been Jonathan Bowlan, who had not pitched a game in 12 days as he nursed a strained groin. Or it could have been Andrew Painter, who had never pitched as a true reliever in his life.Those are not ideal choices for the manager.\n \n \n \n \n What You Should Read Next\n \n \n \n \n Phillies bullpen implodes again as Braves take Game 1. Can Philly recover?\n \n \n The Phillies, once again burned by their bullpen in the postseason, now face elimination in Game 2 on Wednesday. \n \n \n \n \n \n Since the 2024 postseason (nine games), the Phillies have been outscored 35-21 from the sixth inning on. They have allowed 41 runs in those nine postseason games. That means 85 percent of the runs scored against the Phillies have come in the final four innings of games, mostly against relievers. The agony goes farther back; the Phillies blew two leads in Games 3 and 4 of the 2023 National League Championship Series, which, with time, looks like the most painful setback of all.\u201cThere\u2019s no secret that we\u2019ve had our share of blown leads, not just in Game 1s, but throughout the postseason,\u201d Realmuto said. \u201cSixth, seventh, eighth inning. It\u2019s something we have to get better at. We have the guys in here to do it. We just have to lock it in and make pitches when we need to.\u201dThe manager has changed and the personnel has changed. The front office is one constant. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has acquired some helpful relievers, but the veteran executive has often had a blind spot for building successful bullpens. Both relievers he acquired at this summer\u2019s trade deadline, Brooks Raley (ineffective) and Caleb Kilian (injured), are not on the wild-card roster. In 2018, when Dombrowski\u2019s Boston Red Sox won the World Series, they did it by leaning on starting pitchers who were moved to the bullpen as relievers.That was the intention for Tuesday\u2019s Game 1, and it\u2019s easy to wonder what this would have looked like had the Phillies not prolonged clinching their postseason berth. They had to use Wheeler in Game 162 after losing four straight games that tempted a historic collapse.What if the Phillies had Wheeler for six innings, Jes\u00fas Luzardo for two innings, and Duran for the final three outs? Game 1 might have looked different.\n Bryson Stott, left, and Bryan De La Cruz celebrate after scoring on J.T. Realmuto\u2019s triple in the seventh inning as the Phillies took a 3-2 lead.Edward M. Pio Roda \/ Getty Images\u201cIt\u2019s the playoffs, though; it\u2019s such a roller coaster,\u201d Realmuto said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we love this game so much, the emotions that come with it. And today just didn\u2019t work out in our favor.\u201dHe loves it even on a day like today?\u201cI loved it for about eight innings,\u201d Realmuto said.Maybe the Phillies are at their best when no one is expecting anything from them. Right now, that is definitely the situation.\u201cYou just have to believe and keep going and keep competing,\u201d shortstop Trea Turner said. \u201cI think we got the squad to do it. So let\u2019s give it a roll.\u201d\nMatt Gelb is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Philadelphia Phillies. He has covered the team since 2010 while at The Philadelphia Inquirer, including a yearlong pause from baseball as a reporter on the city desk. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and Central Bucks High School West.Follow Sep 29, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports termsPlay today's puzzleWhat did you think of this story?MEHSOLIDAWESOME",
    "published_at": "2026-09-30T00:19:22+00:00",
    "author_name": "Matt Gelb",
    "site_name": "The Athletic",
    "section": null,
    "publisher": "The New York Times Company",
    "ai_headline": "Phillies bullpen implodes again as Braves take Game 1. Can Philly recover?",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Phillies Bullpen Implodes in Game 1 Loss to Braves",
    "ai_excerpt": "The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a soul-crushing 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the postseason, marked by a bullpen implosion. This marks the third consecutive year the Phillies have blown a late lead in a Game 1.",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "MLB",
        "Philadelphia Phillies",
        "Atlanta Braves",
        "Postseason",
        "Bullpen",
        "Baseball"
    ],
    "ai_context_type": "Analysis",
    "ai_context_details": {
        "tone": "analytical",
        "perspective": "neutral",
        "audience": "specialized",
        "credibility_indicators": [
            "expert_quotes"
        ]
    },
    "ai_source_vector": null,
    "ai_confidence_score": 0.9999999999999999,
    "ai_extraction_metadata": {
        "extracted_at": "2026-09-30T08:01:38.413173Z",
        "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
        "extraction_method": "automated",
        "content_length": 7407,
        "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7407,
        "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
        "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/athletic\/7644381\/2026\/09\/29\/phillies-bullpen-wild-card-loss-braves",
        "existing_metadata": {
            "author_name": null,
            "published_at": null,
            "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
            "site_name": null,
            "section": null,
            "publisher": null
        },
        "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
    }
}

{
    "extracted_at": "2026-09-30T08:01:38.413173Z",
    "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
    "extraction_method": "automated",
    "content_length": 7407,
    "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7407,
    "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
    "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/athletic\/7644381\/2026\/09\/29\/phillies-bullpen-wild-card-loss-braves",
    "existing_metadata": {
        "author_name": null,
        "published_at": null,
        "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
        "site_name": null,
        "section": null,
        "publisher": null
    },
    "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
}