They were one out away from completing a four-game sweep of the Braves, one out away from erasing the scars of that Queens nightmare and padding their lead in the East.
And then, baseball being baseball, a 24-year-old rookie named Drake Baldwin stepped in and wrecked the script.
On the very first pitch he saw from José Alvarado in the ninth, Baldwin launched a two-run homer into the South Philly night, flipping Citizens Bank Park from anticipation to silence. Just like that, the Braves stole a 3–1 win on Sunday, and the Phillies’ chance at a sweep dissolved into one swing.
That one moment overshadowed what should have been remembered as Jesús Luzardo’s night. The Phillies lefty retired the first 13 hitters he faced, flirted with perfection into the fifth, and piled up seven strikeouts while looking every bit the ace the Phillies dreamed of. He was pulled with two outs in the seventh after Michael Harris II’s second single of the game. David Robertson came on, immediately gave up a hit, fell behind 3-0 to Nacho Alvarez Jr., and teetered on the brink of disaster — before battling back and coaxing a groundout to preserve the shutout.
The offense didn’t give Luzardo much breathing room, but Brandon Marsh briefly cracked through in the fourth with a solo homer — his eighth of the year, his first since August 8 — that clanged into the right-field seats. That slim 1–0 edge lasted until the eighth, when Orion Kerkering unraveled. Three straight Braves reached base before Tanner Banks took over. He surrendered the tying run on a Matt Olson fielder’s choice, but escaped the inning with two more outs to keep things level.
The stage was set for the walk-off chance. Instead, it was Baldwin who delivered the decisive blow.
Atlanta’s rookie starter Hurston Waldrep — armed with a splitter that seemed to vanish mid-flight — kept the Phillies in check across 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine while yielding just four hits and a single walk. Jake Fraley, summoned off the bench in the seventh, chipped in two hits, including the infield single that sparked the winning rally. Iglesias polished it off with a clean ninth for his 23rd save.
So instead of a sweep, the Phillies leave August with a sting. Their division lead over the Mets is six games, not seven, and their next stop is Milwaukee — the team with baseball’s best record — for a Labor Day showdown that starts Monday afternoon.
So instead of a sweep, the Phillies leave August with a sting. Their division lead over the Mets is six games, not seven, and their next stop is Milwaukee — the team with baseball’s best record — for a Labor Day showdown that starts Monday afternoon.
"You always want to play ‘the best’ and you want to beat the best,” Marsh told MLB.com. “They're having a really, really good year. We’ll just focus on the first game tomorrow, try to take care of business in the first game in Milwaukee.”
Pitching Depth Additions
Only baseball could draw a line like this: from throwing the final pitch of the 2024 World Series to clearing waivers eight months later … and now, landing in the Phillies’ plans for September. That’s the arc of Walker Buehler, the two-time All-Star the Phillies signed Sunday to a minor-league deal. He’ll debut for Triple-A Lehigh Valley next weekend, then — if all goes as sketched — take the ball for Philadelphia on September 12 against the Royals. The idea: finally move to a six-man rotation, a plan abandoned when Zack Wheeler’s season collapsed.
It’s low-risk, high-reward. The price tag is under $1 million. The upside? A postseason arm with a 3.04 ERA in 19 playoff games. And eligibility for October — because the signing came before September 1.
Buehler isn’t coming alone. The Phillies also claimed lefty Tim Mayza, an Allentown native and Millersville product, off waivers from Pittsburgh. He hasn’t pitched in the bigs since April but owns a 3.85 career ERA and could give the Phillies three southpaws in the bullpen.
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