BRYCE HARPER DROPS A FLY BALL IN THE SEVENTH, HITS ONE 418 FEET IN THE EIGHTH, NOBODY BRINGS IT UP AGAIN

Philadelphia was six outs from the offseason, and Bryce Harper did most of the work getting them there. In the seventh at Truist Park he got to a fly ball in right a beat late and watched it glance off his glove for a run-scoring double. Atlanta went up 3-1. Cristopher Sánchez finished the inning at a career-high 116 pitches. The Phillies had spent seven innings doing almost nothing against Tyler Mahle, who allowed one run on six hits. Then the eighth. Kyle Schwarber hit one 447 feet off Dylan Lee, the pitcher who won Game 1 for Atlanta on Tuesday, and Harper followed with a 418-foot drive. Two swings, tie game, and suddenly nobody wanted to discuss the glove. Alec Bohm had helped wreck that same seventh inning, throwing late to second on a Ha-Seong Kim sacrifice bunt that never produced an out. He made it up with a 357-foot shot to right off Didier Fuentes with two outs in the 10th, and because the playoffs drop the free runner at second, he had to manufacture the run entirely by himself. Andrew Painter, 23, made his postseason debut out of the bullpen for three scoreless innings and ended it with a 99-mph fastball that ABS overturned into strike three. Game 3 is Thursday in Atlanta. Grant Holmes starts or eats the innings for the Braves against Aaron Nola, though Philadelphia has also floated Zack Wheeler for Thursday and at least one report says he isn't ready after pitching Sunday's finale.

Why you should give a shit: Harper cost his team the lead in the seventh and got it back in the eighth, and now an entire season comes down to one Thursday afternoon in Atlanta that the Phillies still haven't named a starter for.