The Atlanta Braves are headed to the National League Division Series. They beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6–2 on Thursday, October 1, taking the decisive third game of their Wild Card Series at Truist Park. Michael Harris II supplied the swing that changed the night before Philadelphia could settle in, and Atlanta’s pitching staff protected the lead all the way to the final out.
The series had offered little breathing room until then. Austin Riley’s late three-run homer carried Atlanta to a 5–3 win in Game 1. Philadelphia answered with a 4–3 victory in 10 innings in Game 2, when Alec Bohm’s home run forced a winner-take-all finish. With each club having shown it could decide a game late, the Braves made sure Game 3 would begin on their terms.
Aaron Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson in the first inning, putting two runners aboard for Harris. Braves manager Walt Weiss had moved the left-handed hitter into the cleanup spot against Nola, and the choice paid off immediately. Harris reached down for a low sinker and drove it over the right-center-field wall. His three-run homer gave Atlanta an early cushion and left the Phillies chasing the game. Nola lasted only 1⅔ innings as his command troubles kept Philadelphia from finding a rhythm.
Atlanta kept pressing. Ozzie Albies hit a two-run homer off Zack Wheeler in the fourth to stretch the lead to 5–0. Olson added a solo shot in the seventh, giving the Braves three home runs from three different hitters. Harris’s blast was the defining moment, but the later swings mattered too: they kept Philadelphia from turning a modest rally into another tense finish.
The Braves approached the elimination game with their pitching staff ready to share the work. Ray Kerr opened, Grant Holmes took the next turn, and the bullpen carried the lead through the late innings. Philadelphia scored on a Bohm groundout in the sixth and a Trea Turner sacrifice fly in the eighth, but Atlanta never let those runs become a sustained comeback.
Then Chris Sale took the ball. Two days after starting Game 1, the veteran left-hander returned to record the final four outs of the series. He struck out Bryce Harper in the eighth and finished the game by striking out Otto Kemp. Sale’s return gave Atlanta a fitting close to an effort that demanded contributions from the entire staff.
The 2–1 series victory eliminates the Phillies and gives the Braves their first postseason series win since their 2021 World Series title. Harris delivered the decisive blow, Albies and Olson built on it, and Atlanta’s pitchers held firm when the season was on the line.
The reward is a trip to Los Angeles for a best-of-five Division Series against the Dodgers. Game 1 is set for Saturday, October 3, at 4 p.m. ET. Atlanta leaves the Wild Card round with a hard-earned series win and a chance to carry that momentum into its next test.
