Braves Advance To NLDS With Wild Card Series Win Over Phillies

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves are moving on in the postseason after using the long ball to eliminate their National League East rivals Thursday night.

With reliever Ray Kerr getting the start on the mound and allowing only one hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings, Atlanta defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 in the deciding Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park.

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The Braves will now advance to the Division Series for the first time since 2023.

Michael Harris II gave Atlanta an early advantage with a three-run homer off Phillies starter Aaron Nola in the bottom of the first inning.

The Braves then added to the lead in the fourth when Ozzie Albies hit a two-run homer off Zack Wheeler, making it 5-0.

Matt Olson provided Atlanta's third home run of the night with a solo shot in the seventh.

"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," Atlanta manager Walt Weiss told the Associated Press.

Philadelphia managed just six hits, with Alec Bohm driving in the Phillies' first run with a groundout in the sixth before Trea Turner's sacrifice fly scored Derek Hill in the eighth.

Atlanta used a bullpen game to close out the series, with Grant Holmes earning the win after allowing one run over two innings. Nola took the loss after surrendering three earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Chris Sale, who started Atlanta's Game 1 victory, returned from the bullpen and recorded the final outs of the clincher.

Sale became the first pitcher since himself with Boston in the 2018 World Series to start Game 1 of a postseason series and finish his team's series-clinching victory.

The Braves will now advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series, with the series set to begin Saturday at Dodger Stadium.