For the first time in five years, the Atlanta Braves are off to the NLDS.
Atlanta beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series at Truist Park to claim the series and secure a date with the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the next round.
Chris Sale, Atlanta's Game 1 starter, secured the final four outs in relief to clinch the victory. Sale struck out three of the five batters he faced.
Chris Sale is the first MLB pitcher with 9+ strikeouts in a start & then 3+ strikeouts in a relief appearance within the next 2 days (reg or post) since Randy Johnson did it in the 1995 ALDS against the Yankees. pic.twitter.com/Ryv7Zj0QlS
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 2, 2026
The series win is the Braves' first since their 2021 World Series title. It's also the franchise's first victory in a winner-take-all playoff game since Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS, with Atlanta losing its last six sudden-death contests prior to Thursday.
Philadelphia forced Atlanta to a deciding Game 3 with a stunning extra-inning win in Wednesday's Game 2. However, the Braves ensured there would be no more Phillies magic early on. Phillies starter Aaron Nola walked two of the first three batters he faced, then surrendered a three-run homer to Michael Harris II, giving Atlanta a lead it never relinquished.
Nola lasted just 1 2/3 innings before the bullpen took over. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler pitched four innings of relief on short rest but couldn't stop the bleeding, allowing two runs on three hits.
Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson also homered for Atlanta.
Six Braves pitchers combined to hold Philadelphia to six hits in the win. Opener Ray Kerr, who made just nine regular-season appearances, ended up tossing 3 1/3 shutout innings before departing to a standing ovation. Grant Holmes, Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes, Dylan Dodd, and Sale followed to shut down the Phillies' lineup.
It's a disappointing end to a rocky season for the Phillies, who made the playoffs for a fifth straight year but have slowly regressed each October. Since winning the 2022 NL pennant, the Phils lost the NLCS in 2023, and then suffered two straight NLDS defeats before Thursday's elimination in the wild-card series. The Phillies haven't won a winner-take-all playoff game since Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS - the only such victory in their 143-year history.
Philadelphia opened its season in a 9-19 rut that led to manager Rob Thomson's firing. Interim skipper Don Mattingly helped right the ship, but the team slumped again in the final week and only clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the season. It took some extra-inning heroics in Game 2 just to force the wild-card series to a deciding third game.
As for the victorious Braves, they'll head to Hollywood to face the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS on Satuday at 4 p.m. ET. It's the fourth time since 2018 that they'll will meet in the playoffs; they last faced off in the 2021 NLCS, won by Atlanta.
The matchup will see Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman take on his former team in the playoffs for the first time. Freeman, a stalwart in Atlanta for the first 11 seasons of his career, led the Braves past L.A. five years ago before joining his hometown Dodgers in free agency the following offseason.
