The Atlanta Braves ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ season Thursday night at Truist Park, winning the decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series 6-2 behind three home runs and a patchwork pitching staff that held a late rally in check.
Michael Harris II supplied the decisive blow in the first inning. After Aaron Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson with one out, Harris lined a 2-0 sinker to right-center for a three-run homer—roughly 387 feet—that put Atlanta ahead 3-0.
We interviewed fans at a local sports bar, STATS downtown, who said the Braves are the team to beat. “The MLB better be ready,” said Brad Conley. “The Braves are bringing the pennant home.”
Braves Beat Phillies in Game 3 Wild Card, Advance in MLB Playoffs
The swing was immediate redemption: Harris had grounded into two double plays in Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss that forced the winner-take-all game.
Ozzie Albies added a two-run shot in the fourth, a 419-foot drive to right-center off Zack Wheeler after Austin Riley walked, stretching the lead to 5-0. Olson finished the power display with a solo home run in the seventh, measured at 416 feet to center off Jonathan Bowlan. Every Atlanta run came on a home run.
The Braves’ pitching plan was improvised and effective. Left-hander Ray Kerr, making his postseason debut and only his fourth career start, opened and threw 3⅓ scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. Grant Holmes followed with two innings and one run to earn the win.
Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd bridged to Chris Sale, who entered on one day of rest after throwing 6⅓ innings and striking out nine in Tuesday’s Game 1 victory. Sale retired the final four batters, striking out Bryce Harper to end the eighth and closing the ninth.
Philadelphia managed only six hits. Nola was pulled after 1⅔ innings and three runs. Wheeler, who had clinched the wild-card berth with a win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, worked four innings in relief and allowed two runs.
The Phillies scored once in the sixth on an Alec Bohm groundout that plated Kyle Schwarber, and once in the eighth when Derek Hill tripled and scored on a Trea Turner sacrifice fly. The final was 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 41,731.
The series victory is Atlanta’s first postseason series win since the 2021 World Series and the club’s first playoff series win against Philadelphia, which had eliminated the Braves in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS.
It also ended a six-game losing streak in elimination games that dated to the 2018 NLDS against the Dodgers, and marked the Braves’ first winner-take-all postseason win since Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS. Atlanta (94-68) advances to a best-of-five Division Series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning Saturday. Philadelphia (88-74) is finished for 2026.