One swing erased a miserable regular season. Austin Riley’s three-run homer off All-Star closer Jhoan Duran in the eighth inning capped a stunning two-out rally and lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday afternoon in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park, per Reuters.
The Braves are now one win away from their first postseason series victory since the 2021 World Series — and from a National League Division Series date with the two-time reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. For the Phillies, who had the game in their hands with two outs in the eighth, the loss stings in the way only October baseball can.
Riley’s Redemption Moment
It is hard to overstate how lost Austin Riley looked at the plate for most of 2026. The two-time All-Star spent the regular season in the bottom half of the order, hitting .219 with a career-high 201 strikeouts, per theScore. He was, as USA Today put it, the Braves’ biggest question.
On Tuesday, he answered it with one swing. After Michael Harris II singled and Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch, Riley lifted the first pitch he saw from Duran 385 feet to right-center. It was his sixth career postseason homer, and the Truist Park crowd — which had been quiet since the seventh inning — erupted. Braves fans chanted Riley’s name as he crossed home plate, a gesture that felt as much about forgiveness as celebration.
Manager Walt Weiss spoke about the moment after the game. “So happy for Austin Riley. Been a tough year for him. But it just goes to show you when the playoffs start everything starts at zero,” Weiss said, via MLB Network. “Nothing that happened in the regular season really matters. It’s a clean slate and Austin Riley has been a great player in postseason play.”
Sale Dominates, Phillies Snatch the Lead
For six and a third innings, this looked like the Chris Sale game. Making his first postseason start since 2021, the Braves’ ace struck out a playoff-career-high nine batters, giving up three runs on four hits and one walk over 6 1/3 innings. It was the longest postseason start of his career.
Sale was in line for the win when he surrendered two baserunners in the seventh before Didier Fuentes allowed J.T. Realmuto’s two-out, two-run triple into the right field corner, flipping a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Philadelphia lead. Realmuto, who had been stuck in an 0-for-32 skid less than a week earlier according to the Liberty Line, delivered the biggest hit of the Phillies’ season to that point.
The Phillies had jumped ahead early when Alec Bohm doubled into the left-center gap four batters into the game, driving home Kyle Schwarber, who had walked. Atlanta answered with runs in the second (a Mike Yastrzemski RBI single) and the sixth (an Ozzie Albies RBI triple) before Realmuto’s triple seemed to swing the game Philadelphia’s way.
The Phillies’ Pitching Gamble
Jesus Luzardo gave Philadelphia everything it could have asked for and more. Making his first start in three weeks after a late-season injured list stint due to shoulder inflammation, the left-hander allowed just one run on three hits over five innings, striking out six and walking one. The expectation, per Bleacher Report, was two or three innings; Luzardo delivered five and handed a lead to the bullpen.
That is what makes the ending so painful for Philadelphia. Manager Don Mattingly went to Duran to start the seventh, and the closer — who converted 33 of 35 save opportunities in the regular season and allowed just two home runs in 61 appearances — retired the first five batters he faced before the Braves’ three-run uprising. He was working his second inning on a night when the Phillies’ thin bullpen left few alternatives.
What Happens Next in the NL Wild Card Series
The Braves have a chance to clinch the sweep Wednesday afternoon. Atlanta sends right-hander Tyler Mahle to the mound, while the Phillies counter with NL Cy Young contender Cristopher Sanchez, their season on the line. The series winner advances to face the Dodgers in the NLDS.
The star-power mismatch in Game 1 was striking: Atlanta’s top three of Drake Baldwin, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson went a combined 0-for-11, while Philadelphia’s Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper went 1-for-10. It took the bottom of the order — Harris went 3-for-3 with two runs — to decide the first home run of the 2026 MLB postseason, Riley’s blast.
The Phillies’ path was already the more precarious one. They squeaked into the playoffs as the final NL wild card thanks to Zack Wheeler’s gem in the regular-season finale, edging out the hard-charging Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves, meanwhile, cruised in as NL East champions, six games ahead of the Phils. October has a way of flattening those distinctions, but Game 1 played out exactly like the season suggested it might.
For more postseason coverage, see our recap of Yankees vs. Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
FAQs
Who won Braves vs. Phillies Game 1?
The Atlanta Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 on September 29, 2026, at Truist Park, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series.
What did Austin Riley do in Game 1?
Austin Riley hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 Braves lead. It was his sixth career postseason homer.
Who starts Game 2 for the Braves and Phillies?
Tyler Mahle is scheduled to start Game 2 for Atlanta, while the Phillies will counter with NL Cy Young contender Cristopher Sanchez on September 30, with their season on the line.
Who does the winner face in the NLDS?
The winner of the Braves-Phillies wild-card series advances to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning World Series champions, in the National League Division Series.
