Atlanta’s October opener turned on a familiar bat and a late swing that changed the temperature at Truist Park. Austin Riley drilled a three-run homer to the opposite field with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting the Braves over the Phillies, 5-3, in Tuesday’s Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series.
Riley got Jhoan Duran, who had entered the game in the seventh, and erased the sting of Philadelphia’s seventh-inning rally. The Braves now carry a 1-0 advantage into Wednesday afternoon’s Game 2, scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Quick facts
- Atlanta beat Philadelphia 5-3 in Game 1 at Truist Park.
- Austin Riley’s eighth-inning, three-run homer came with two outs.
- Chris Sale struck out nine and worked into the seventh inning for the first time in his postseason career.
- J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple gave the Phillies a seventh-inning lead.
- Teams that have opened a best-of-three Wild Card Series with a win have taken 21 of 24 series.
Sale had given Atlanta the kind of start it needed. The left-hander held the Phillies to one run across the first six innings, piling up nine strikeouts while taking his pitch count to 95.
The seventh got away quickly. Sale hit Bryan De La Cruz, then Bryson Stott singled with one out to place runners at the corners. Manager Walt Weiss turned to rookie Didier Fuentes, who retired Justin Crawford before Realmuto drove a 99.4 mph fastball down the right-field line.
Ronald Acuña Jr. could not secure the ball in the corner, and Stott scored all the way from first as Realmuto’s triple pushed Philadelphia in front. For a few minutes, the Braves were looking at a Wednesday game with the series on the line.
Riley made sure that was not the case. His blast continued a personal habit of delivering late in October against Philadelphia, after he hit a two-run, eighth-inning go-ahead homer in Game 2 of the 2023 NL Division Series against the same club.
He also owns a ninth-inning go-ahead homer from Game 1 of the 2020 NL Championship Series. Riley now has three go-ahead postseason homers in the eighth inning or later, matching the rare company of Chipper Jones as the only Braves players with multiple such shots.
The latest was Atlanta’s 13th postseason go-ahead homer in the eighth or later. It also offered a sharp answer to a trying regular season for Riley, who finished at .219 with 19 home runs and a .654 OPS.
History is now sitting in Atlanta’s dugout. Clubs that grab the first game in the current best-of-three Wild Card format have advanced 21 times in 24 tries, an 88% rate, with 17 of those victories ending in two-game sweeps. Home teams are 9-for-9 after taking Game 1, including eight sweeps.
The Braves still need one more win. But Riley’s swing gave Sale’s strong afternoon its proper finish and put Atlanta in control of a series that had begun with familiar postseason tension against the Phillies.
