Braves dominate Phillies with big home runs to set up huge NLDS against Los Angeles Dodgers
Braves beat Phillies in Wild Card Game 3, advance to NLDS against Dodgers
ATLANTA – In a dramatic winner‑take‑all showdown at Truist Park, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6‑2 to capture the National League Wild Card Series and set up a matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. The game, played Thursday night, was the third of a best‑of‑three series that had already seen two tightly contested victories.
A tense finish in the first two games
The series had opened with a low‑scoring 1‑0 win for the Braves, when Austin Riley launched a clutch home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to put Atlanta ahead. The Phillies answered in Game 2 with a 4‑3 victory that included a 10th‑inning homer from Alec Bohm. That rally was built on a mix of errors and timely hitting, highlighted by Bryce Harper’s misplayed fly ball that gave the Phillies a chance to score in the seventh and a later sacrifice fly that kept the game tied. The Phillies’ comeback was capped by a two‑run homer from Kyle Schwarber and Harper’s own home run in the eighth.
The Thursday contest
With the series tied 1‑1, the Phillies’ bullpen strategy and the Braves’ pitching depth became the focal points. Philadelphia had started Zack Wheeler in the first game but, due to the Arizona Diamondbacks remaining in the wild‑card race, the Phillies had to rely on veteran Aaron Nola in the Thursday game. Nola, who finished the regular season with his lowest career ERA, gave up a three‑run homer to Michael Harris II early in the first inning after back‑to‑back walks to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson. That blast set the tone, as the Braves took a 3‑0 lead after just one batter.
The Braves’ manager, Walt Weiss, turned to a relief pitcher with limited regular‑season experience, Ray Kerr. Kerr pitched 3.1 innings, allowing only one hit and one walk, striking out two, and keeping the Phillies from adding to the score. After Kerr’s outing, Grant Holmes and a string of relievers held the Phillies at bay through the middle innings.
A turning point came when Ozzie Albies hit a two‑run homer off Wheeler, who was pitching in relief. The blast extended Atlanta’s lead to 5‑0. In the sixth inning, the Phillies managed to place two runners on base with one out, but only managed a single run via an Alec Bohm groundout. Matt Olson followed with a solo homer in the seventh that pushed the score to 6‑1.
The Phillies narrowed the margin in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner, but the Braves’ offense held steady. Manager Weiss made an unusual decision in the ninth, opting to bring in pitcher Chris Sale instead of closer Raisel Iglesias. Sale, who had started Game 1 of the series, closed out the contest without giving up a run, preserving the 6‑2 victory.
What the win means
The Braves’ win forces a first‑round clash with the defending National League champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Atlanta will enter the National League Division Series with a streak of three consecutive postseason games, giving the team momentum and playoff experience that some critics say can offset the Dodgers’ rest advantage from their first‑round bye. The Dodgers, meanwhile, will benefit from a fully rested rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow, and will have additional recovery time for injured players such as Shohei Ohtani.
For the Phillies, the loss ends their postseason run. Their early‑season pitching struggles and the late‑season decision to use Wheeler in the first game left them with a depleted rotation and a veteran pitcher in Nola who was
