ATLANTA — “No time like October” flashed across video boards around Truist Park, a thin slogan that suddenly turned ominous. Ninety-four wins and the NL East title, but the Atlanta Braves were trailing in the bottom of the eighth of the first wild card game — and suddenly in real danger they hadn’t even seen October.
The Braves handed Game 1 the ball to Chris Sale. The Phillies skidded into the crossfire and fuming, their fate in doubt until the last day. All three games of the wild card series would be in Atlanta, before an enthusiastic, if late, home crowd. Everything is set up for the Braves to send the once faltering Phillies into the all-time high.
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“I could have put this game at 8:15 this morning,” Sale said after the game. “I felt like one of those scary movies. My eyes were opened” [this morning]and I sprung out of bed.
But it’s not really time for October – or the time when the parameters of this slogan are expanded for two days – and in this way they are waiting for new things. Philadelphia was turned within the heads of Atlanta; Phillies Braves out of position in both 2022 and 2023. On Tuesday, Bryce Harper received the full supervillain treatment, from Darth Vader’s “Imperial March” walking music to a cascade of boos from the home fans.
Then when the Phillies’ JT Realmuto jumped on some loose ends and a rare Didier Fuentes error in the seventh, a two-run home run to make it 2-1 fell short of a 3-2 lead in Philadelphia, troubling Truist Park. The Phillies had gotten six more quality innings out of Sale, including a career-best nine strikeouts, and here they were ready for the first game since the Atlanta Falcons and the Braves had their backs against the wall.
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“It’s a crazy game, man,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said afterward. “You take your best shot, and whatever happens, happens.”
Matters of time, however, remain novel on both sides. On an afternoon when the Braves’ best pitcher couldn’t catch the Phillies’ offense, one of the Braves’ best offensive hitters obliterated them.
By the numbers, Austin Leo plays the most expensive contract in Braves history, a 10-year, $212 million beast in 2022. Also by the numbers, Leo was one of Atlanta’s biggest disappointments in 2026, finishing the regular season with a .219 batting average, a .364 slugging percentage and just 19 home runs in 159 games.
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Well for Leo then, he replaces everything when the time hits.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Leo came to the plate against Phillies closer Jhoan Duran. On the first pitch he saw, a 99.9-mph four-seamer, up the middle, Leo ripped a three-run homer to right-center field, putting Atlanta ahead by a run with one inning to play. Redemption, relief and exultation, all rolled into one at the stroke of the bat.
“My season went … I just didn’t want to,” Leo said after the game. “But that’s the beauty of it, you get new boards and go out there and do something for the kids and the city.”
For Philadelphia, Tuesday’s loss was the most in a long series of late-season body blows. After being as far out of first place as 10.5 games, the Phillies closed within three of Atlanta on Sept. 9. Philadelphia closed the year on a 1-4 skid, barely managing to stay ahead of the Diamondbacks for the final National League playoff spot.
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And yet the Phillies completely rested Cristopher Sánchez on Wednesday, and he could slip through this entire series again — even though the Braves beat him in both appearances against Atlanta this year.
“Always good with Christopher out there,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said. “The stories are based, as it seems, and in fact, the moment begins when the pitcher starts.”
The Braves will battle in Game 2 with strong deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle, who has wins in two appearances against Philadelphia already this season.
“This was the first game of the era, it was just like our time, right?” The sale is called postgame. “Everybody was just pouring everything they had into themselves and never folded, never feeling like we were out of it. From the first pitch to the last pitch, all nine guys, the guys on the bench – they were engaged and focused and determined to talk about.
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“I think I’ve said a lot: If you’re one, one, go down three, it doesn’t matter if you’re first [inning] or nine You always have that feeling like we have a chance to win this game.
The Braves are now guaranteed to win at least two games, the Phillies one. Odds are there won’t be anything typical of how the rest of this series pans out.
There’s no day like October, after all.