ATLANTA — Austin Riley’s three-run homer capped a two-out rally in the eighth inning to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in a back-and-forth opening game of the best-of-three National League wild-card series Tuesday afternoon.
After Michael Harris II singled and Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch, Riley lifted the first pitch he saw from Jhoan Duran (0-1) 385 feet to right-center, putting the Braves ahead with his sixth career postseason homer.
Duran, who converted 33 of 35 save opportunities in the regular season, retired the first five batters he faced before yielding the Braves’ three-run uprising.
Braves closer Raisel Iglesias allowed a leadoff single in the ninth but erased him with a 6-4-3 double play and then ended the game on a flyout to record the save.
Braves left-hander Dylan Lee (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Harris was 3-for-3 and scored two runs for Atlanta, which has a chance to clinch its first postseason series win since the 2021 World Series Wednesday afternoon.
J.T. Realmuto delivered a two-out, two-run triple in the top of the seventh to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Alec Bohm contributed an RBI double for Philadelphia, which was held to six hits and was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Braves starter Chris Sale was in line for the loss when he surrendered two baserunners in the seventh before Didier Fuentes allowed Realmuto’s triple.
Making his first postseason start since 2021, Sale struck out a playoff-career-high nine, gave up three runs on four hits and walked one over 6 1/3 innings.
Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo — making his first start in three weeks after a late-season injured list stint due to shoulder inflammation — also delivered as the Game 1 starter. He allowed one run on three hits over five innings, striking out six and walking one.
Bohm gave the Phillies an early lead four batters into the game when he doubled into the left-center gap to bring home Kyle Schwarber, who had walked.
The Braves leveled the score in the second when Mike Yastrzemski rolled a seeing-eye single up the middle to plate Albies after Mauricio Dubon’s leadoff double to left ignited the rally.
Atlanta took a 2-1 lead in the sixth immediately after Luzardo’s exit, on Albies’ RBI triple to right-center off Alex McFarlane.
–Curt Weiler, Field Level Media
