The Braves’ October started with a roar and ended with Chris Sale shutting the door.
Atlanta beat the Phillies 6-2 on Friday to eliminate Philadelphia and punch its ticket to the NLDS, getting a huge night from Ray Kerr, two crushing swings from the middle of the order, and a closing sequence that featured Sale finishing the job in the ninth. In a sold-out Truist Park soaked in the home red uniforms, the Braves answered a brink-of-elimination spot with exactly the kind of night they needed.
Kerr made his postseason debut and immediately looked comfortable under the lights. He opened with a scoreless first, stranding Kyle Schwarber after a single, and kept rolling from there. Aaron Nola, meanwhile, never found much comfort against Atlanta’s lineup.
The game flipped in a hurry in the first. Drake Baldwin lined out on the first pitch he saw, which had the feel of another one of those nights where the Braves would smoke balls right at people.
Then Ronald Acuña Jr. walked on five pitches, Matt Olson did the same, and Michael Harris II turned the whole inning on its head. Harris unloaded on a pitch well below the zone and sent a 100.5 mph shot to right center for a three-run homer that put Atlanta in front 3-0 and lit up Truist Park.
Kerr followed that with a clean second inning, and the Braves kept putting pressure on Nola. He got Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies to line out, but Dom Smith’s single was enough to end his night and bring on Tim Mayza, the first Phillies bullpen arm the Braves had seen in Games 1 and 2. Mayza retired Baldwin to finish the inning.
Atlanta kept adding on after that. In the bottom of the fourth, Riley worked a nine-pitch at-bat, fouling off everything in the zone before drawing a walk. That set the stage for another blast to right center, this one from Albies, a 419-foot homer that pushed the lead to 5-0.
Kerr’s night ended after a leadoff walk to Schwarber in the fourth and a Bryce Harper forceout. Walt Weiss went to Grant Holmes, and Kerr left to a deserved ovation after setting the tone for the whole game. Holmes got through the rest of the fourth and worked around traffic in the fifth, including a two-on, no-out situation that ended with a JT Realmuto flyout and a Justin Crawford double play.
Philadelphia finally got on the board in the sixth. Holmes gave way after one out and a Schwarber single, and Robert Suarez entered only to surrender a double to Harper. Alec Bohm drove in the Phillies’ first run with an RBI groundout, trimming the margin to 5-1.
The Braves answered immediately in the seventh. Matt Olson launched Atlanta’s third homer of the night, a solo shot to center that made it 6-1 and restored the cushion.
Didier Fuentes handled the seventh with a clean 1-2-3 inning after his rough previous two days, and Dylan Dodd took over in the eighth. The inning got a little messy when pinch-hitter Derek Hill tripled and scored on Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly, but the bigger moment came when the cameras panned to the bullpen and showed another left-hander throwing.
That left-hander was Christopher Allen Sale. Dodd finished the inning by getting Schwarber to fly out, and Sale took over from there.
He struck out Harper to end the eighth, then came back out for the ninth. Bohm opened with a single, but the rally never got off the ground.
Bryson Stott popped out, Bryan De La Cruz struck out, and pinch-hitter Otto Kemp swung through a slider for the final out.
The exorcism is complete. There will be no Red October this year for Philadelphia.
And now the Braves head to Los Angeles with champagne, beer, and goggles waiting in the clubhouse.
In Other News...
Braves Fans Had To Love How Fast This Phillies Jinx Backfired
The Braves did not need much help finding a spark in Game 3 of the National League wild-card series, but they did get a little extra fuel from the broadcast booth. During the inning, Joey Votto, working his first season as a broadcaster after a long playing career, predicted Atlanta would not score again. The line landed almost immediately as the Braves pushed across two runs later in the same frame, turning the comment into a quick punchline for fans watching along.
For Atlanta followers, it was the kind of accidental jinx that can make a postseason night even sweeter when it backfires so fast. Vottos run in the analyst chair is only temporary, though, since NBC does not have rights beyond the wild-card round, so this was one of his final games in the role. For a Braves crowd that has lived through plenty of October nerves, it was a small but satisfying reminder that the baseball gods can still have a sense of humor. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Just Got A Real Opening In Winner-Take-All Game 3
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Nolas 2026 season has been uneven, but Philadelphia is clearly leaning on his past postseason success against the Braves as the safer answer for this matchup. The move also leaves some intrigue hanging over the other side of the dugout, because Wheelers strong season made him the more obvious choice and left plenty of room to wonder why the Phillies went a different direction. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Just Added A Dangerous Game 3 Wrinkle For Phillies
With a decisive Game 3 looming in the National League Wild Card Series, the Braves appear willing to leave every option on the table. Manager Walt Weiss said left-handed ace Chris Sale could be available out of the bullpen, even on one day of rest, after he turned in a strong outing in Game 1.
That possibility alone adds another layer of pressure on the Phillies in an elimination game, because it gives Atlanta a way to shorten the night if the matchup turns tight late. For a series already hanging by a thread, the chance that Sale could surface in relief is the kind of wrinkle that can change how both dugouts manage every inning. [Read more 🡒]