In another up-and-down affair between two divisional rivals, this time the Atlanta Braves found themselves on the short end of the stick. A late dinger from Trea Turner ended up making the difference as the Braves dropped a close one, 4-3.

As you could’ve probably predicted based on last night’s predicted pitchers’ duel turning into a battle of the bats, tonight’s game started off slow in terms of offense as both pitchers kept their opposition off of the scoreboard in the early goings. Grant Holmes was very sharp to start off and Taijuan Walker was off to a good start, himself, before the third inning rolled around.

That’s when the Braves got something going with two outs. Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna hit back-to-back singles before Matt Olson coaxed a walk out of Walker to get him to load the bases. It was up to Austin Riley to make something happen but unfortunately for us Braves fans, Riley popped out in foul territory on a 2-0 count on a cutter (that both Ozuna and Olson laid off of in their at-bats), ending the scoring threat with the bases loaded.

With that scoring threat gone by the wayside, the Braves had no choice but to get on with the rest of the game with the obvious hope being that the baseball gods didn’t deliver their usual punishment for letting a bases-loaded chance go to waste. The baseball gods ended up being merciful. While Nick Castellanos continued his personal run of success against Grant Holmes with a single and then Bryson Stott made it multiple ducks on the pond with a single of his own — with a great catch by Austin Riley on a laser from J.T. Realmuto sandwiched in between there. Holmes then struck out Brandon Marsh to end the scoring threat right there.

Holmes was on 94 pitches following the fourth inning and he ended up going back out there for the fifth. It sure looked like he had struck out Kyle Schwarber to get the first out of the fifth but what looked like a swinging strike ended up getting called a foul tip. THe count eventually ran full, Schwarber walked to first and then Grant Holmes night was done after that.

It was up to Aaron Bummer to make sure that the game remained scoreless and that Grant Holmes’ line remained scoreless for the night. As it turned out, Bummer was up for it tonight as he struck out Trea Turner and then got Bryce Harper to ground into an inning-ending double play — much to the delight of the crowd in at the ballpark Cobb County.

While this was going on, Taijuan Walker continued to make his way through the first five innings of the game without giving up a run. The Braves certainly came close to putting a blemish on that record as they loaded up the bases on Walker with two outs once again. Walker exited the game after that and it was up to Austin Riley to cash in their second bases-loaded opportunity of the night. Once again, Riley was unable to come up with that big knock in tonight’s contest, as he hit a pop fly into shallow right field that the Phillies caught to end the second golden chance of the night for Atlanta.

After Aaron Bummer struck out the first batter he saw in the sixth and then gave up a single as his nightly sacrifice to the BABIP Gods, we got an appearance from Pierce Johnson for the first time in a week. Johnson was close to escaping a two-out jam with two runners on as Bryson Stott hit a grounder into the shallow outfield. Ozzie Albies corralled it but bobbled the ball on the transfer and since Max Kepler was already running on the full count, he came around from second to score on the play in order to put the Phillies ahead in the sixth inning.

The good news is that the Braves responded immediately to the Phillies pushing that run past the plate in frustrating fashion. Sean Murphy got things going with a walk and then Jarred Kelenic joined him on the basepaths with a one-out double. This time, the Braves didn’t let this scoring chance pass them by as Orlando Arcia hit a grounder that somehow got through both Trea Turner and Alec Bohm and found the outfield for a game-tying single. Michael Harris II then hit one deep and while it wasn’t a homer, it was productive enough to bring home the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. While Atlanta was unable to add on in that frame, the quick response was certainly nice to see.

Then the seventh inning rolled around and Bryce Harper remembered that he was playing the Braves — which meant that it was time for another dose of torment. This time it came with a man on base, as Dylan Lee served up a 95-mph fastball right in the middle of the zone. That is exactly the worst place to give Bryce Harper a pitch and he hit it into the home bullpen to put the Phillies back into the lead with one swing of the bat. While it’s certainly fun to boo Bryce Harper, I’d imagine that y’all would rather not do it out of anger after he just hit one halfway to East Point.

The onus was once again placed squarely upon the Braves to respond and sure enough, they were once again up for the challenge. This time, it was none other than Austin Riley who went to the plate and delivered. In a shot that seemed like he was attempting to make up for those two big missed chances from early on, Riley absolutely mashed one from Joe Ross and sent it bouncing of the scoreboard in the road bullpen for a game-tying solo shot.

Daysbel Hernández came on for the eighth inning looking to keep it a tied game at that point following a successful outing on Tuesday night. While J.T. Realmuto got into scoring position with a walk and a stolen base, Daysbel stranded him there with a strikeout on the stolen base and a groundout from Brandon Marsh to, in fact, keep the game tied.

The game stayed tied heading into the ninth, which meant that it was time for Raisel Iglesias to do his part to at least ensure that the game went to extras. With the top of the Phillies order coming up, that meant that he was due for another showdown with Bryce Harper. Unfortunately, the big shot for the Phillies came before Harper even came to the plate — Trea Turner ambushed Iglesias and hit a laser beam that cleared the wall and eluded the grasp of defensive substitute Eli White’s glove for a go-ahead solo homer. Blah. In an example of tragic comedy, Iglesias ended up striking out Harper for only the third time in their career matchup but that was barely a consolation.

So once again, it was on the Braves to figure out a way to respond in their half of the ninth inning and they had the heart of the order coming up as well. The Braves refused to go quietly though, as Sean Murphy had an opportunity with runners on the corners and two outs to potentially push the game into extras — or even more. Instead, Jose Alvarado was able to strike out Murphy and the game ended in fitting fashion for the Braves — with runners stranded in scoring position.

The wait for a series win continues. The Braves certainly had their chances in this one but in the end, the Phillies were just able to get more big hits on the night. While Austin Riley did smash a homer, those two missed chances with the bases loaded were just painful to watch and the Braves definitely could’ve done with even one of those chances being cashed in. Instead, the Braves will have to focus on picking up the series win with Spencer Schwellenbach starting Thursday night’s game at 7:15 p.m. ET.