ATLANTA (AP) — Alec Bohm hit a tie-breaking, two-run double in a seven-run eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Sunday to avoid being swept in the key NL East series.
J.T. Realmuto drove in three runs on three hits, including a two-run homer.
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Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper catches a sacrifice fly hit by Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes delivers to a Philadelphia Phillies batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto, left, reacts while rounding the bases after hitting a two-run home run off Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes, back right, during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Bohm's double to center field off Dylan Lee (6-1) drove in Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, who reached on his second double of the game. Bryson Stott and Realmuto had run-scoring singles and Kyle Schwarber's single off Victor Mederos drove in two more runs in the big inning.
Matt Olson hit a two-run homer off Tanner Banks, who was activated off the 60-day injured list before the game, in the ninth.
Despite avoiding the sweep, the Phillies lost ground to the first-place Braves in the series. After trailing by four games at the start of the series, the Phillies left Atlanta five games out of first place. The Braves won the opener 6-5 in 11 innings on Friday night before rolling to a 12-2 win on Saturday night.
Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter gave up one run six hits and four walks. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. After walking Austin Riley and Ha-Seong Kim and giving up a single to Michael Harris II, Painter coaxed a popup from Ronald Acuña Jr. and ended the inning on Olson's grounder to first base.
Harris, who had three hits, led off the seventh with a single off left-hander José Alvarado (4-3) and moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring on Olson's single to left field for a 2-2 tie.
Phillies: Following an off day on Monday, LHP Cristopher Sánchez (17-5, 2.79 ERA) is scheduled to start in Tuesday night's opener of a series at Washington.
Braves: RHP Reynaldo López (4-4, 4.13) is scheduled to start on Monday night at the Chicago Cubs.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper catches a sacrifice fly hit by Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes delivers to a Philadelphia Phillies batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto, left, reacts while rounding the bases after hitting a two-run home run off Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes, back right, during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
MADISON, Ill. (AP) — Kyle Larson ended a 51-race winless streak Sunday, edging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in overtime of a crash-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway that shook up the playoff standings.
Larson, the defending series champion, took his No. 5 Chevrolet to Victory Lane for the first time since May 2025 at Kansas Speedway after defending the lead on three restarts in in the final two laps of regulation and seven laps of overtime.
The second race in NASCAR's new postseason Chase format gave significant boosts to the championship hopes for Larson and Joey Logano, a three-time Cup Series champion who finished third and added 19 stage points.
What was supposed to be a 240-lap race in suburban St. Louis featured a season-high and track-record 18 cautions. It was marked by dramatic brake failures and several spinouts without any contact between cars.
After several Chase contenders were involved in late crashes, the race was red-flagged with 11 laps to go, just after Larson swiped the lead from Logano, and again with two left in regulation.
Larson benefited from his crew's decision on lap 202 to put four tires on while Logano took two to maintain track position.
Hendrick's William Byron, who was last in the 16-driver Chase field, finished fourth and was followed by Ross Chastain.
Denny Hamlin, the defending race champion, placed ninth to maintain his points lead.
A series of final-stage crashes had significant Chase implications.
On Lap 141, Bubba Wallace dove under Chase Briscoe's No. 19 Toyota going into Turn 1, creating four-wide traffic on Gateway's tighter series of turns. Briscoe had no room to move up the track, and Wallace spun around after he was forced onto the curb. Briscoe also went sideways, and Byron slammed into Wallace's spinning No. 23 Toyota.
The three — each of them in the 16-driver Chase field — dropped into positions 29-31 on the restart, and the impacts could have reached even further. Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Ty Gibbs were also racing in the same pack, and Chase Elliott was able to squeeze under Wallace as he whirled around entering the backstretch.
On Lap 213, Elliott had an apparent brake issue and collected Briscoe as both crashed into the wall in Turn 1. Both were knocked out of the race.
Then, the contenders who escaped danger earlier got caught up in another collision on Lap 222. Wallace and Josh Berry made contact in Turn 1, and Tyler Reddick slammed into Berry as Christopher Bell got slammed into the wall.
On the ensuing restart, Chase contenders Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez sustained damage in a wreck on the backstretch that also involved AJ Allmendinger.
Blaney, who was third in the Chase entering the race, had a catastrophic brake failure at the finish line on Lap 155 while he was running in sixth place.
Blaney's brakes exploded on the frontstretch, and he rode his No. 12 Ford into the wall heading into Turn 1.
Blaney finished 35th but earned 14 points from ending each of the first two stages in fourth place.
“It’s a shame,” Blaney said. “I thought we did a great job today running up towards the front and doing really good in the stages and was looking forward to seeing how that last run played out.”
Chris Buescher, who was 11th in the standings, had his brakes fail on Lap 237.
Despite failing to qualify for the postseason, Keselowski found himself in the spotlight after indicating he’d seek out retribution against Chase contender Carson Hocevar, who spun him out in last week’s Southern 500.
The two played nice while running in second and third place in the final stage of the race, and Keselowski ended up in the lead when he decided not to pit with 38 laps to go before finishing 12th. Hocevar was eighth.
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Brad Keselowski, front, drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
Tyler Reddick, front, drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
Joey Logano leads during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
Carson Hocevar, front, drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
Christopher Bell (20) and Joey Logano (22) compete during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
