As the clock neared midnight, a champagne-soaked Ray Kerr stood in right field and gladly took pictures with family members of some of his Braves teammates. Some of them might not have known much about him at the start of the day. But by the time the Braves had eliminated the Phillies with a 6-2 win in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday night, Kerr’s days of obscurity were over. “Hopefully Ray Kerr became a bit of a household name tonight,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “He deserves it. He's got an amazing story of perseverance.” An overwhelming sense of joy filled Truist Park as a sold-out crowd got to see the Braves finally beat the Phillies in the postseason. They also finally won a winner-take-all postseason game for the first time since Game 7 of the 1996 NL Championship Series. They had lost six straight, the third-longest streak of all time. Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II were all part of the Atlanta teams eliminated by Philadelphia in both the 2022 and ‘23 NL Division Series. So, each of them might have felt a little extra joy as they all homered in this win that sent the Braves to the NLDS, where they will face the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers. That series opens at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
