The Phillies and Braves have done just enough to make Thursday night feel like a coin flip, and now it all comes down to Game 3 at Truist Park. First pitch is set for 8:00 p.m. ET, with Aaron Nola lined up for Philadelphia and Raymond Kerr getting the ball for Atlanta as the opener, possibly in a multi-inning role.
This series has already delivered two very different pressure points. Atlanta grabbed Game 1 behind a late Austin Riley homer, then Philadelphia punched back in Game 2 on Wednesday with three clutch home runs in the late innings. Now the winner moves on to the NLDS to face the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers.
Our CBS Sports MLB experts split on how it will play out, and the predictions show just how thin the margin is.
Mike Axisa sees the Phillies finishing the job, 5-2. He wrote that neither pitching staff is in great shape, but he feels better about Philadelphia’s setup.
Axisa pointed to Nola as the right choice to start given there is “no real path to nine innings” without him, and said Zack Wheeler will be part of the equation because he would not be on the roster otherwise for a winner-take-all Game 3. He also noted that Atlanta’s offense has mostly been quiet outside of Riley’s big swing in Game 1, and said the Braves needed defensive miscues from Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper to score two of their runs in Game 2.
Axisa thinks the Phillies finish the comeback and become the only team besides last year’s Yankees to win the Wild Card Series after dropping Game 1.
Kate Feldman went the other way, picking the Braves 8-4. She said the Phillies are not as poor as they looked over the last week, but added that momentum matters, and argued they clearly have not been right. Feldman also said she does not trust Nola to save the season and believes Philadelphia’s Game 2 escape was a one-time break.
Dayn Perry also leaned Braves, 7-5. He said he does not have much faith in Nola at the moment, even though the right-hander’s second-half ERA was strong, and added that his underlying performance was worse than in the first half. Perry expects runs early because neither pitching staff is set up well, and gave Atlanta the edge because it is at home and has the better offense and team defense.
Matt Snyder completed the Braves side of the ledger with a 5-4 pick. He said Philadelphia’s pitching staff is running on fumes, though Atlanta is not in ideal shape either when it comes to setting up its starter.
Snyder settled on the home team, saying the Braves are the better club and should be able to ride one big inning. He added that nothing would be a surprise here, given how unreliable both teams have been offensively and on the mound, and said the Phillies’ defense is another concern.
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