NLDS Game 1: Braves vs. Phillies Live Blog

The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies will meet in Game 1 of the NLDS on Tuesday afternoon at Truist Park. The Braves will take the field five days off after earning a first-round bye. The Phillies earned the last wildcard spot in the National League and swept two straight from the St. Louis Cardinals to advance to the Division Series.

The Braves will go with left-hander Max Fried in Game 1. The Phillies used Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to defeat the Cardinals. This means it will be Ranger Suarez who gets the nod in the opener on Tuesday.

Game 1 starts early at 1:07 p.m. ET and will air nationally on Fox. If you’re stuck at work, we’ll be blogging the game live here with updates every round.

first round

It looked like it was going to be a quick first inning for Max Fried at the start, which allowed Kyle Schwarber to retire on the first pitch of the game. Rhys Hoskins floated out for second before JT Realmuto hit a single to the right of Orlando Arcia’s glove in second. A Bryce Harper single put the runners into the corners and Nick Castellanos won the first run with a right-hand single that went just past Ronald Acuna. Alec Bohm made it 2-0 with another right single before Fried forced Jean Segura out to end the inning. Fried only threw 17 pitches in the inning, but the Phillies were aggressive and took advantage.

The Braves looked set to respond right away. Ronald Acuna Jr. doubled into the corner of left field to get things started.

Dansby Swanson hit for the first out, but Austin Riley and Matt Olson worked back-to-back walks to load the bases. William Contreras was hit hard two calls but then rebounded a short 3-2 pitch where Edmundo Sosa stepped on the sack and shot first for a game-ending double play.

Second round

Max Fried pulled out Matt Vierling to start the second, but then gave up a double down the left field line to Sosa. Schwarber moved him to third on a pitch to Arcia that missed him, but recovered in time to get Schwarber early for the second out. Hoskins then lined up a 1-1 pitch to Riley to end the inning. Thus, Fried gave up another hit, but managed to keep the Phillies off the scoreboard.

Travis d’Arnaud put the Braves on the board in the second with a first left home run against Suarez to make it 2-1.

Suarez recovered however and brought out Arcia, Michael Harris on the ground and then Robbie Grossman who was looking to end the round.

One more note on Arnaud’s home run. According to Sarah Langs, d’Arnaud now has the sixth-most home runs by a catcher in playoff history.

Round three

Fried’s struggles continued in the third as the Phillies added. The round started with Realmuto returning a dribbler to Fried, but his throw took Olson out of the bag first. Realmuto dropped to second place as Bryce Harper dropped a bunt for an unknown reason. Castellanos struck again with a brace on the bricks on the right, Acuna played it well and were able to hold Realmuto in third place. Bohm followed with a sacrificial volley down the middle to make it 3-1. Segura drove home another run with a single down the middle to extend the lead to 4-1. Fried had Vierling run over Austin Riley in third to end the round.

The Braves threatened again in the third, but failed to hit hard. Acuna started the inning with a walk. Suarez came back and pulled out Swanson and Riley before Olson fielded a left single to put the runners in the corners. Suarez walked Contreras, but then came back and hit d’Arnaud to leave the bases loaded.

It was the second goal-laden opportunity for Atlanta in the game that yielded no points. Suarez tied his season high in walks with four and is 75 shots after three.

Round four

Fried came back to start the fourth and walked Sosa to start the inning. He pulled out Schwarber for the first out, but Hoskins followed with a left double to put the runners up to second and third with one out. That would be all for Fried as Brian Snitker summoned Jesse Chavez from the bullpen.

Chavez hit Realmuto for the second out, then intentionally made Harper walk. However, Castellanos struck again with his third hit of the game, this time a left-handed single that scored two runs to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 6-1.

Fried’s line was ugly. He allowed eight hits and six runs, although only four were earned. He walked one and struck out two while throwing 61 pitches. His speed was down in all areas and just couldn’t run out of bats.

Suarez walked the first man again to start the fourth. He bounced Harris into a power play, then gave way to Phillies reliever Andrew Bellatti. Grossman failed at second, but beat the relay to extend the run. Acuna made a left single, but Bellatti came back and retired Swanson for the third time in the game.

round five

Jesse Chavez came back to start the fifth and allowed a brace for Segura to start the set. Vierling brought it back to third and Segura scored on a sacrifice ball from Sosa to make it 7-1. Chavez was then replaced by Dylan Lee who forced Schwarber to retire to end the inning.

Atlanta finally started something again in the fifth against Connor Brogdon. Olson walked one with one out, then went third on a double from Contreras. d’Arnaud followed with a brace just inside the bag on third to score both runners to make it 7-3.

Brogdon then walked Arcia and was replaced by Brad Hand who forced Harris to line up sharply with Vierling in the right center gap. Hand then retired pinch hitter Vaughn Grissom to end the inning. Grissom’s choice over Grossman against a southpaw is moot unless Grossman was hurt or something. We will find out after the game.

round six

Dylan Lee returned to start the sixth and started the inning with strikeouts from Hoskins and Realmuto. Harper then doubled off the wall base to left center, prompting Snitker to go to Collin McHugh who rebounded Castellanos on the first pitch to end the inning.

Seranthony Dominguez took over on the mound to pitch for the Phillies in the home half of the sixth. Acuna narrowly missed and swung out for Schwarber on the left line. Dominguez then pulled out Swanson and Riley to end the inning. Swanson struck out in his four plate appearances in the game.

round seven

McHugh stayed for the seventh and retired the team in order. Swanson retired Bohm on a nice barehanded play for the first out. Segura punched in and Vierling lined up sharply with Harris in the middle.

Dominguez stayed in the game and forced Olson out, pulled out Contreras and out of Arnaud on a through ball to complete the frame. Dominguez has retired six consecutive batters including three via strikeouts. His emergence really solidified the backstory of the Phillies’ bullpen down the stretch.

round eight

Jackson Stephens took over on the mound for the Braves in the eighth and retired the team in order. Jose Alvarado replaced Dominguez and after a delay while the field team rebuilt the mound, pulled the Braves to send the game to ninth.