ATLANTA — The National League Wild Card round comes down to a single winner-take-all showdown Thursday, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 after three other series ended in sweeps. The Braves took the opener 5-3 on Tuesday before Philadelphia answered with a 4-3 extra-inning victory Wednesday to force the decider in Atlanta.
Philadelphia evened the series after trailing, scoring twice in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 3-3 before Alec Bohm — who went to high school in Omaha before attending Wichita State — hit a home run in the top of the tenth for the 4-3 win. Elsewhere on Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox knocked out the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees disposed of the Boston Red Sox 18-2 over two games, and the San Diego Padres swept the Chicago Cubs with a 4-1 win in the finale.
The Game 3 pitching matchup will be Aaron Nola for the Phillies against Ray Kerr for the Braves. Nola, a 12-year veteran all with Philadelphia, finished the season 7-12 with a 4.67 ERA — 3% below league average — and a 4.87 FIP while allowing the most home runs with 37, and will make his 12th career playoff start. Kerr, a 31-year-old lefty more of an opener than a starter, made only one opening assignment this season in his last outing against the Miami Marlins, going three innings with one walk and two hits allowed but no runs, and totaled nine games and 18 1/3 innings with a 1.47 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 11 strikeouts and two walks.
Kerr has held Philadelphia scoreless in two September appearances, pitching 6 1/3 innings with two hits allowed, zero walks and five strikeouts while none of his four inherited runners scored, though he has never before pitched in the playoffs. First pitch for the decisive Game 3 is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CDT on NBC or Peacock, with the winner advancing from the last remaining Wild Card series. The matchup follows Aaron Nola set to start the Phillies' winner-take-all Wild Card Game 3 as Philadelphia turns to its veteran in the elimination game.