Recap from Braves’ Game 3 win over the Phillies to win the NL Wild Card Series

The Braves had a power surge with three home runs to beat the Phillies 6-2 at in Game 3 and take the NL Wild Card Series at Truist Park on Thursday night. 

Atlanta advances to face the Dodgers in the NL Division Series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. 

Michael Harris II got the Braves going with a three-run home run in the first inning, and Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson added home runs to provide more than enough offense and dispatch the rival Phillies, who had eliminated the Braves in their previous two postseason series, in 2022 and '23. 

Chris Sale entered in the eighth inning to shut things down, with three strikeouts among his four outs to finish the game.

Braves at Dodgers

Game 1: Saturday at Dodger Stadium, 4 p.m.

Game 2: Sunday at Dodger Stadium, 8 p.m.

Game 3: Tuesday at Truist Park, 6 p.m.

Game 4*: Wednesday at Trust Park, 6 p.m.

Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9 at Dodger Stadium, 8 p.m.

* if necessary

After recording the last out of the eighth, Chris Sale is back out in the top of the ninth to attempt to close out the game and the series.

What a goosebump moment.

The Braves brought in Dylan Dodd for the eighth inning, and Derek Hill led off with a triple off the wall in right field. That put the Phillies in business to try to chip away at the Braves' 6-1 lead, with the heart of their order coming up. 

Hill scored on a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner and Dodd got Kyle Schwarber to fly out to right. 

That opened the door for Walt Weiss to bring in Chris Sale to face Bryce Harper, and Sale delivered, getting Harper on a strikeout. 

The Braves still lead, 6-2, and they need three more outs to get to the NLDS and face the Dodgers. 

That might be the exclamation point. 

Might be. 

Matt Olson hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to extend the Braves' lead to 6-1. It was Olson's fifth career postseason home run. It was a changeup from Phillies reliever Jonathan Bowlan and Olson didn't miss it. 

After Kyle Schwarber singled off Grant Holmes, Weiss brought in Robert Suarez, who gave up a double to Bryce Harper, putting runners on second and third with one out. 

Alec Bohm hit a grounder to score Schwarber, trimming the Braves' lead to 5-1, but Suarez got the second out. Bryson Stott hit a long fly ball to right, ending the threat, and limiting the Phillies to just one run for the most dangerous part of their lineup. 

Braves fans will take that. 

Walt Weiss is going back to the bullpen, calling on Robert Suarez with one on and one out in the fifth. 

Grant Holmes went two innings and gave up two hits with one strikeout and one walk. He had the big double-play ball that got him out of trouble, and he just got through the jam to keep the Phillies scoreless. 

The Phillies looked to be putting together a small threat, with runners on first and second and just one out. Braves pitcher Grant Holmes got Justin Crawford to ground into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play, and the Truist Park crowd got loud. 

The Braves look to have all the momentum, and the Phillies just haven't been able to put much together. But, Philadelphia showed in the late innings of Game 2 that it's too early to start looking ahead to anything. 

Braves were 19-45 when scoring three runs or fewer this season, 75-23 when scoring four runs or more and 61-13 when scoring five or more.

Obviously, not just because of the statistic, but Ozzie Albies' two-run home run was pivotal.

Ozzie Albies helped give the Braves some breathing room with a solo home run in the fourth off the Phillies' Zack Wheeler to make it a 5-0 lead. 

After Austin Riley walked, Albies got a four-seam fastball at 96.5 mph and put it in the stands in right field. 

It was also important to get to Wheeler, who was the Phillies' hope to try to hold down the Braves long enough for Philadelphia to get back in the game. 

A 3-0 lead is great for the Braves, but that's a lead that can be erased in one swing. We all saw how safe a 3-1 lead was yesterday. Let's see what happens in the bottom of the fourth.

You may be aware that the Braves have lost six consecutive winner-take-all postseason games. The larger the lead the Braves take, the less likely it is that a weird bounce can undo them.