Braves beat Phillies 5-3 as Austin Riley's eighth-inning homer wins NLWCS opener

Riley ends it in the eighth

Michael Harris II opened the eighth with a single off Jhoan Duran, and Duran followed by hitting Ozzie Albies with a pitch. Austin Riley made him pay, driving a three-run homer over the wall in right-center to put Atlanta ahead for good. Harris finished the night with three hits.

Duran came in with just two homers allowed across 61 regular-season appearances. He took the loss and dropped to 0-1 in the series.

Sale and Luzardo dueled before the middle innings turned

Chris Sale started for Atlanta against Philadelphia's Jesus Luzardo, who was back after missing time with left shoulder inflammation. Luzardo threw one-run ball over five innings on 77 pitches, with three hits and six strikeouts, a workload that ran longer than expected two days after he threw a scoreless eighth in Philadelphia's 7-3 win over Tampa Bay.

Alec Bohm got Philadelphia on the board in the first, lifting a high fastball from Sale for an RBI double over Harris in center. Sale did not allow another hit until Edmundo Sosa doubled with two outs in the fifth, but he came apart in the seventh. He hit Bryan De La Cruz with a pitch and gave up a single to Bryson Stott before Atlanta turned to reliever Didier Fuentes, who allowed a two-run triple to J.T. Realmuto that put Philadelphia ahead 3-2. Right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. bobbled the ball near the wall on the play but was not charged with an error.

Atlanta's answer and Philadelphia's bullpen trouble

Atlanta had already grabbed a 2-1 lead in the sixth when Albies tripled off Alex McFarlane. Phillies center fielder Derek Hill nearly robbed him at the wall, leaping for the ball but jumping too high, letting it hit his wrist below the glove.

After Realmuto's triple put Philadelphia back in front, interim manager Don Mattingly handed the ball to Duran in the seventh, looking for three innings to close it out. Duran had made only one multi-inning appearance all season, and the move unraveled in the eighth when Riley's homer put Atlanta back on top for good. Philadelphia's bullpen carried a 5.79 ERA in September, worst in the majors, a pattern that followed the team into the postseason.

What comes next

Atlanta can close out the best-of-three series on Wednesday. A win would extend a recent run of postseason success against Philadelphia in the NL East rivalry, a series in which the Phillies have had the upper hand before, including in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS.

Both clubs are dealing with injuries. Braves right-hander Reynaldo Lopez is on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation and outfielder Lane Thomas is on the 10-day list with a left side strain. Philadelphia is already without Luis Arraez, day-to-day with a left ankle sprain, and Jonathan Bowlan, day-to-day with a right groin strain, as the Phillies try to even the series at Truist Park.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.