The Atlanta Braves live to fight another day. After dropping Game 2 of their Wild Card series against the Philadelphia Phillies in heartbreaking fashion in extra innings, the Braves locked in for Game 3 back at home. Buoyed by a first-inning home run from Michael Harris II, the Braves did not look back en route to taking a 6-2 victory over the Phillies, sending their NL East rival back home and punching their ticket to the NLDS.
Harris had a rough Game 2, going just 1-5 from the plate while grounding into two double plays. But he made his mark, and at the most opportune time as well. Ozzie Albies then padded the Braves' lead with a two-run dinger in the bottom of the fourth, while Matt Olson well and truly put the game to bed with a solo shot in the seventh.
The Phillies threatened to rally in the eighth inning after Derek Hill hit a leadoff triple against Braves reliever Dylan Dodd. While Dodd did well to control the damage by limiting Trea Turner to a sacrifice fly and by inducing a flyout on Kyle Schwarber, Atlanta made the call to give the ball to Chris Sale to finish the game.
Article Continues BelowSale threw 95 pitches in his start in Game 1, allowing just three runs on four hits and one walk while striking out nine in the Braves win. Despite having just one day of rest, he was healthy enough to suit up off the bullpen to get the final four outs of the game — three via strikeout.
Now, it's not quite clear how the Braves will approach the start of their NLDS clash against the Los Angeles Dodgers from a pitching standpoint. Atlanta may have to rely on another bullpen game to get them through, and they at least have one full day of rest before their next series begins on Saturday.