Bryce Harper after Phillies' early playoff exit: 'You're here to win games, and we didn't'

ATLANTA (AP) — Bryce Harper doesn't play the shoulda, woulda, coulda game.

The bottom line for the Philadelphia Phillies is they came up short in the postseason again.

“You’re here to do business. You’re here to win games, and we didn’t do that,” Harper said in a subdued Phillies clubhouse Thursday night following their 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the deciding Game 3 of their National League Wild Card Series.

There would be no excuses coming from the All-Star slugger about a September swoon that prevented the Phillies from lining up their pitching against Atlanta because it took until Game 162 to clinch a playoff spot.

Philadelphia forced Game 3 against the Braves with three dramatic solo home runs late in Game 2. But in the end, the Phillies fell into an early hole Thursday and were eliminated from the postseason for the fifth consecutive year as they chase their first World Series title since 2008.

“You’d love to be able to set your pitching up and them be rested and all that kind of stuff,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “But that’s not the way it went. We had to fight to get ourselves in, and to do what we had to do to get in, we had to do what we had to do basically every game in the series.”

The Phillies' core of Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have made five straight playoff appearances and averaged 91 wins per year during that stretch. They have yet to win a championship and have been eliminated further and further from that goal each season since reaching the 2022 World Series.

The following season, Philadelphia exited in the National League Championship Series, and the next two years saw losses in the Division Series. A wild-card exit this season marks another step in the wrong direction.

“Obviously, we'd love to win a World Series with these guys. We’ve been together quite a while, and we've got a good clubhouse, and you know, good characters on this team,” Nola said. “We know what type of guys are in here. We know what type of players we have, and what we’re capable of. (We need to) kind of play good at the right time.”

The five-year run included two playoff series wins over the Braves. Philadelphia eliminated Atlanta in 2022 and 2023 despite the Braves winning the NL East in both seasons. That scenario was set up again this year, with the Braves earning home-field advantage in this series by virtue of another NL East title.

This time, however, Atlanta managed to get the big hits and the clutch pitching when it mattered most. Ray Kerr, in just his 10th appearance this year and first career postseason appearance, played the role of opener to perfection. He went 3 1/3 innings, giving up no runs, one walk and one hit to set up bulk reliever Grant Holmes.

Michael Harris II belted a three-run homer off Nola in the first, and the Phillies were looking up the rest of the night.

The Phillies were looking up at the rest of their division in April, but eventually righted the ship. Mattingly took over when Rob Thomson was fired on April 28 after a 9-18 start. The Phillies won eight of their next nine and reached .500 on May 16. A red-hot August put them in playoff position, but a postseason berth was not secured until the final game of the regular season.

Mattingly deflected questions about his future after the game.

“It’s not the time to talk about it. I’m comfortable with whatever they want to do,” he said. “Again, I want the best for the Phillies. I loved being in Philly this year. I actually like playing in that environment. I like the environment. It’s a rough environment, but it’s good. Again, I think you let the organization evaluate, talk about what they think moving forward, what they should do, and that dictates a lot of different things.”

As the clubhouse emptied out for the final time this season, Wheeler reflected on the journey the Phillies went on and the disappointing ending it delivered.

“It is tough. We spent a lot of time together. We see everybody’s ups and downs,” he said. “We see the good times and bad times people have throughout the season. We’re all brothers here, and we love to compete. So something like this happens, it’s tough.”

See AP’s full MLB coverage here