The Atlanta Braves secured a massive 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday afternoon in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Truist Park.
It came on the back of a three-run home run from Austin Riley in the bottom of the eighth inning, with Atlanta trailing 3-2 and just four outs remaining in the game.
Atlanta will now look to close out the series on Wednesday with right-handed pitcher Tyler Mahle on the rubber. For the Phillies, they’ll send left-handed ace Cristopher Sanchez to the mound as they try to extend the series to Thursday.
Braves Make Matt Olson Move
Ahead of Game 2, Braves manager Walt Weiss made some interesting changes to his starting lineup.
While he is sticking with his rotational switch of Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuna Jr. at the top of the order, he is moving Ozzie Albies up to the three spot, which is where Olson hit on Tuesday.
Olson went 0-for-4 while batting cleanup on Tuesday, and Riley will move up to the six hole as Atlanta looks to get more production from the top of its order.
Between Baldwin, Acuna Jr. and Olson in Game 1, they collectively went 0-for-11 while all hitting in the top three spots.
Here’s the Braves starting lineup:
Via Underdog MLB: “Braves 9/30 R. Acuña Jr. RF D. Baldwin DH O. Albies 2B M. Olson 1B M. Dubón LF A. Riley 3B M. Harris II CF S. Murphy C H. Kim SS T. Mahle SP.”
Braves 9/30
R. Acuña Jr. RF
D. Baldwin DH
O. Albies 2B
M. Olson 1B
M. Dubón LF
A. Riley 3B
M. Harris II CF
S. Murphy C
H. Kim SST. Mahle SP
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 30, 2026
Looking at Game 2 for Braves
The Braves are now 10-4 in head-to-head matchups against the Phillies this season. And if they can handle their business on Wednesday, they would play again beginning Saturday in the NLDS.
If Atlanta fails to beat the Phillies on Wednesday, Grant Holmes would likely handle the bulk of the innings in a win-or-go-home scenario on Thursday.
Atlanta Braves Make Matt Olson Move During Wild Card Series vs. Phillies