Braves homer 3 times, turn to Sale to close out Phils in wild-card clincher - ESPN

ATLANTA — Michael Harris II hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Chris Sale came out of the bullpen on one day of rest to get the final four outs and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Thursday night in the decisive Game 3 of their National League Wild Card Series.

Surprise starter Ray Kerr threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings for Atlanta, and Ozzie Albies launched a two-run homer in the fourth. Matt Olson added a solo shot in the seventh as the Braves advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

«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 said.

The Braves won a postseason series for the first time since winning the 2021 World Series and earned their first playoff series win against the Phillies. Philadelphia beat Atlanta in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS.

After winning the NL East by six games over Philadelphia this year, the Braves came out on top in their postseason matchup, too.

«Those guys kind of went start to finish in this division,» Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. «Over the course of the 162 [games], they were the best team in our division.»

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola was pulled after allowing three runs in 1⅔ innings. Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Olson with one out in the first before giving up the homer to Harris, who hit into two double plays in Wednesday's 4-3 loss in 10 innings that forced Thursday night's game.

Kerr made his postseason debut in only his fourth career start. Braves manager Walt Weiss wanted a left-hander to