Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves

Austin Riley supported Chris Sale’s strong start, halted the Phillies’ postseason dominance of Atlanta and put six months of frustration behind him with a swing that could make October worth savoring for both him and the Braves.  Riley’s three-run homer off Jhoan Duran with two outs in the eighth inning gave the Braves a thrilling 5-3 win over the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park. In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 21 of 24 times (88%), including 17 two-game sweeps. Home teams have won all nine series in which they have gone ahead 1-0, including eight sweeps. Having blown a lead in the seventh, the Braves were staring at a possible elimination game on Wednesday. But Riley saved the day with the opposite-field homer he hit off Duran, the closer who was called upon in the seventh. Riley, who hit .219 with 19 homers and a .654 OPS in the regular season, became the first Braves player to hit a go-ahead home run with his team trailing in the eighth inning or later of a postseason game since ... Riley, who did so on Oct. 9, 2023. The slugging third baseman hit a go-ahead two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 2 of the 2023 NLDS, also against the Phillies.