The Philadelphia Phillies moved second baseman Bryson Stott into the cleanup spot Wednesday for Game 2 of their National League Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves.
First pitch is set for 2 p.m. EDT at Truist Park. Atlanta leads the best-of-three series 1-0 after a 5-3 win Tuesday.
A Braves victory would send Atlanta to the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. A Phillies win would force a deciding Game 3 on Thursday.
Stott batted seventh and played second base in Game 1. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts.
Philadelphia is slotting the left-handed hitter fourth on Wednesday while keeping him at second base. He hit cleanup in the regular season finale Sunday against Tampa Bay and went 3-for-3 with two doubles.
Stott finished the regular season hitting .256 with 10 home runs, 67 RBI, 71 runs and 27 stolen bases in 155 games. He posted a .334 on-base percentage, .401 slugging percentage and .735 OPS across 536 at-bats.
The Phillies’ Game 2 order lists Trea Turner at shortstop, Kyle Schwarber as the designated hitter, Bryce Harper in right field, Stott at second, Alec Bohm at first, Brandon Marsh in left, Edmundo Sosa at third, Justin Crawford in center and J.T. Realmuto behind the plate.
Luis Arraez is not on the Wild Card roster after spraining his left ankle late in the regular season.
Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will start for Philadelphia. He went 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA, 231 strikeouts and a 1.20 WHIP in 207 innings over 33 starts.
Atlanta will counter with right-hander Tyler Mahle. The Braves acquired him from the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 2. After the trade he posted a 1.99 ERA in 54 1/3 innings across nine starts, going 4-1.
Mahle’s full-season line was 7-10 with a 3.99 ERA in 149 innings.
Tuesday’s Game 1 turned in the eighth inning. Austin Riley hit a three-run homer off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran to give Atlanta the lead for good.
The Braves had taken a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Ozzie Albies’ triple. Philadelphia answered in the seventh when Realmuto tripled home two runs, including Stott.
Alec Bohm’s first-inning RBI double had given the Phillies an early 1-0 edge against Atlanta starter Chris Sale. Michael Harris II had three hits for the Braves.
Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-three Wild Card Series have gone on to take the set 21 of 24 times, an 88% clip. Sánchez and Mahle now take the mound with Philadelphia’s season on the line.
