What we learned as Phillies fight back, finish Atlanta trip strong originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTA — Thirteen games remained, and the Phillies’ slow start to September was beginning to hang over them.
The division had gotten away from them for the moment. Their spot in the Wild Card picture hadn’t. But after dropping the first two games of the weekend in Atlanta, they needed to right the ship.
So did Andrew Painter.
The 23-year-old entered Sunday coming off a start in which he allowed five runs on 10 hits across five innings. He didn’t have his best stuff in the Phillies’ 9-4 win over the Braves at Truist Park, either.
What he did have was enough.
Painter worked through traffic, escaped his biggest jam and gave the Phillies a chance to win. There were moments throughout the start that might have gotten away from him during his first stint in the majors.
Not anymore.
For a team in win-now mode, it can be difficult to fully appreciate the development of a rookie taking the ball every five days. But Painter’s in-season growth has become one of the brighter parts of the Phillies’ 2026 season.
What did we learn?
SETTLED IN
Painter allowed six hits through his first four innings and walked four overall. His command wasn’t particularly sharp.
His damage control was.
J.T. Realmuto gave him some room in the second, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Phillies lead with a two-run homer.
By the fourth, Painter was in trouble.
He walked Austin Riley on seven pitches. After a groundout, Painter walked Ha-Seong Kim to put two aboard. Michael Harris II followed with a sharp single, hit too hard to score Riley from second.
Bases loaded.
Ronald Acuña Jr. up.
Painter had already struck Acuña out with a fastball and later allowed him a hit on one. This time, after getting ahead, he went to a changeup. Acuña lifted it into right field, but not deep enough for a sacrifice fly.
That brought up Matt Olson, who has had some success against Painter this season.
Olson hit another changeup sharply on the ground, but Luis Arraez went down to make a slick play and end the inning.
Three runners stranded.
Painter left after five innings having allowed six hits and four walks. Only one run crossed the plate.
“Paint was a little rough today, honestly, command and stuff,” Don Mattingly said. “But the one thing you gotta like is him kind of fighting through traffic, getting big outs, getting out of the innings, not letting anything kind of get rolling.”
That wasn’t always happening earlier in the year.
Painter could have a shaky inning or lose the feel for a pitch and suddenly find himself out of a game before settling into it. Mattingly has seen that change.
“It kind of shows his character from the standpoint of just keep turning the page, keep going, keep fighting,” he said. “Today was a perfect example of that.”
Kyle Schwarber sees something similar.
“There’s gonna be a lot of days where it can be a battle, a grind, and then there’s maybe days that you just gotta go out there and compete and figure it out as you go,” Schwarber said. “That’s the maturation of becoming a big leaguer and finding yourself.”
Painter knew why Sunday became such a grind.
“I think I was getting pretty tilted over my shoulders, and it kind of causes me to overcorrect,” he said. “You see some of those pulling fastballs and changeups consistently missing arm-side up.”
It wasn’t his cleanest start.
It might have been one of the better examples of how far he’s come.
BETTER WITH TRAFFIC
The numbers with runners on base back it up.
During Painter’s first stint in the majors, opponents hit .348/.386/.591 with six home runs against him with men aboard.
The biggest change since his return has been his ability to finish hitters in those situations.
Painter’s strikeout rate with runners on has jumped nearly eight percentage points during his second stint. Opponents’ OPS has dropped 197 points.
That’s where the poise has shown itself most.
“I feel like he’s doing a really good job of holding his head, even if he feels like he might not have it early,” Schwarber said. “It feels like he gets into that rhythm and he keeps fighting as the game keeps going on.”
His improved four-seam fastball has helped. So has simply learning how to navigate major-league innings when everything isn’t working.
Sunday wasn’t necessarily the cleanest example statistically. There were plenty of runners and too many walks for Painter’s liking.
“The four walks just can’t happen,” he said.
But Atlanta had 10 baserunners against him and managed one run.
“If you can get outs without your best stuff, definitely,” Painter said. “Obviously, you gotta get there.”
He did.
And the Phillies eventually rewarded him for it.
BULLPEN FALTERS, BOHM RESPONDS
Alex McFarlane gave the Phillies a clean sixth before José Alvarado took over in the seventh.
Alvarado had been rolling.
That ended Sunday.
A single, a wild pitch and another single brought home the tying run, another late-inning blow for a Phillies bullpen that has struggled to silence opponents lately.
After blowing three separate leads Friday night, the Phillies were tied again.
This time, the offense answered immediately.
Kyle Schwarber singled to begin the eighth. One out later, Bryce Harper ripped his second double of the afternoon, putting runners on second and third for Luis Arraez.
Arraez swung at the first pitch and popped out.
His production in those situations has been one of the more surprising parts of his Phillies tenure. Arraez entered Sunday batting .262 with runners in scoring position for Philadelphia after hitting .382 in those spots with San Francisco before the trade.
Alec Bohm picked him up.
Bohm drove a two-run double into the gap, putting the Phillies back in front in a situation where he’s been one of their best hitters all season.
He’s now batting .339 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the best mark on the Phillies and 13th best in baseball.
“Bohmer comes up, and it’s a big two-out RBI double, and then it just kind of kept going,” Schwarber said. “Guys just kind of piling on the hits, piling on the good at-bats.”
They piled on five more runs before the inning ended, turning a tie game into a seven-run advantage and finally giving the bullpen some breathing room.
Philadelphia finished 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
That was a welcome change.
After a red-hot August in which the offense ranked at or near the top of baseball in essentially every major category, the Phillies entered Sunday with MLB’s lowest OPS in September.
There had been opportunities earlier Sunday that went nowhere, too.
“We had some chances early and weren’t able to tack on,” Mattingly said. “But finally, you get to break through and put some runs up. It was huge.”
Mattingly wasn’t interested in turning one inning into something bigger than it was.
“You hope that,” he said when asked whether it could carry over. “But it’s just day to day. At this point, you gotta try to win a game every day. Just keep fighting. Get yourself to the finish line.”
The Phillies needed something positive before leaving Atlanta.
Painter kept them in the game without his best stuff. The offense finally broke through when the bullpen gave the lead back.
With an off day Monday before six games against the Nationals and Mets, they at least gave themselves something to take with them.
A victory.
And 12 games left to keep fighting.
