Braves beat Phillies 6-2 in Game 3 to win Wild Card Series
Atlanta advances to a Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, its first postseason series win since the 2021 World Series.
What we know
- The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Thursday night in Game 3 to win the National League Wild Card Series. [5]
- Michael Harris II hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Ozzie Albies hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and Matt Olson added a solo homer in the seventh. [5]
- Chris Sale got the final four outs in relief, two days after starting Game 1 on Tuesday. [5]
- The Braves open the best-of-five Division Series at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. [5]
The Atlanta Braves eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-2 win on Thursday night in the decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series, according to The Associated Press. MLB said in a post on X that the Braves are back in the NLDS for the first time since 2023. [1][5]
Michael Harris II hit a three-run homer off Phillies starter Aaron Nola in the first inning. Harris had hit into two double plays in Atlanta's 4-3, 10-inning loss on Wednesday. Ozzie Albies added a two-run homer in the fourth, and Matt Olson hit a solo shot in the seventh. [5]
Atlanta used a surprise starter, Ray Kerr, who threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his postseason debut and fourth career start. Grant Holmes allowed one run in two innings and got the win. Chris Sale, who started Tuesday's series opener, came out of the bullpen to strike out Bryan De La Cruz and pinch-hitter Otto Kemp to end the game. [5]
"I told our guys, `Man, all year long when the stakes have been the highest, when the challenges have been the toughest, we’ve been at our absolute best.' So it doesn’t surprise me that we played the way we did tonight," Braves manager Walt Weiss said. [5]
The Braves took a postseason series for the first time since winning the 2021 World Series. It was their first playoff series win against the Phillies, who beat them in the 1993 NL Championship Series and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS, according to the AP. Atlanta had won the NL East by six games over Philadelphia. [5]
"Those guys kind of went start to finish in this division," Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. [5]
The game drew a sellout of 41,731 at Truist Park. The Braves open the best-of-five Division Series against the Dodgers, the two-time defending World Series champions, on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. [5]