Unlikely Hero Ray Kerr Silences Phillies As Braves Advance to NLDS

Atlanta tabbed a pitcher who had started just once for them this season to start Thursday’s Game 3 with the season on the line. He worked wonders.

Ray Kerr delivered 3 1/3 scoreless innings after having started just one game and totaled 18 1/3 innings for Atlanta this year. | Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Braves powered their way to an NLDS berth after taking out their division rivals.

On Thursday night, Atlanta won a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Phillies, 6–2, in front of a loud Truist Park crowd. The Braves tagged Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola for three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire to eliminate their NL East peers.

Surprise starter Ray Kerr, a 32-year-old with 72 2/3 career MLB innings, pitched into the fourth inning unscathed to keep the Phillies at arm’s length. The Phillies never found much offense beyond contributions from stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, as the supporting cast beyond Alec Bohm failed to step up.

The victory sends Atlanta to Los Angeles for an NLDS matchup with the Dodgers starting on Saturday. For Philadelphia, a season that began with World Series ambitions was cut short in the wild-card round.

Here are our three takeaways from Game 3.

Braves Slug Their Way to NLDS

Atlanta relied heavily on the long ball in 2026, and with its season on the line that’s what it used to punch a ticket to the NLDS.

The Braves’ 204 regular season home runs ranked seventh in baseball, while their collective .409 slugging percentage was sixth. In Game 3, they flexed those muscles, blasting three home runs that accounted for each of their six runs.

Michael Harris II got things started in the bottom of the first, when he stepped to the plate with one out after back-to-back walks to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson. He hammered a 2–0 sinker from Aaron Nola just over the right field wall to give Atlanta a 3–0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Truist Park went BERSERK for that Michael Harris II homer! 🔊

(MLB x @CoronaUSA) pic.twitter.com/3UgHW8Zt2K

— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2026

Ozzie Albies got into the act three innings later when he launched a 96 mph four-seamer from Zack Wheeler 419 feet into the stands in right-center to increase the lead to 5–0.

Matt Olson added another in the seventh inning when he crushed a Jonathan Bowlan changeup to center to give Atlanta a 6–1 margin.

Matt Olson launched a solo home run in the seventh inning. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If the Braves are going to make a deep run in the playoffs, they’ll need to keep thumping baseballs out of the park. It’s the way they have played all year and it's how they were able to close out the Phillies.

The Ray Kerr Game

When the Braves announced their Game 3 starter, the collective response from the baseball world was: “Who?” We all know his name now.

Kerr had a remarkable path to signing with the Mariners as an undrafted free agent in 2017, at different points working at a movie theater and a 7-Eleven after dropping out of junior college. He bounced around the minors for several years and finally made his big league debut for the Padres at 27 years old in ’22, then recorded a 5.06 ERA in 29 games (32 innings) out of the bullpen over two seasons. He was then traded to Atlanta and recorded a 5.64 ERA in 10 games for Atlanta in 2024, but didn’t get back to the majors until Aug. 17 of this year. Once he did, he shined.

In nine appearances, he was 1–0 with a 1.47 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. Still, he had three career starts entering Thursday night, and his team had never won any of them. The 32-year-old lefty made Atlanta manager Walt Weiss look like a genius Thursday night.

In his postseason debut, Kerr was locked in on the mound as he carved through a Phillies lineup loaded with All-Stars. He pitched 3 ⅓ shutout innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out two. Kerr left the game with a 3–0 lead. Atlanta’s rotation is banged up right now and they needed a big performance from whoever started Game 3. They got it from the last guy anyone expected.

Ray Kerr acknowledges the crowd as he exits to a rousing ovation 👏 pic.twitter.com/71o847DFZN

— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2026

Schwarber, Harper Get No Help

Kyle Schwarber was the only Phillie who reached base multiple times in Game 3. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper brought the Phillies back from the dead in Game 2, hammering back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to tie a game Philadelphia ultimately won in 10 innings. On Thursday night in Game 3, the duo combined to go 3-for-7 with a walk and a run scored. The rest of the lineup went 3-for-24 with two walks and a run. That wasn’t going to get it done.

As a team, the Phillies slashed .231/.270/.394 with 23 strikeouts over the three games, while Trea Turner went 1-for-11, Bryson Stott was 2-for-13 and J.T. Realmuto was 2-for-10. Alec Bohm was the only other hitter who showed up, going 4-for-12 with a home run. The offense that ranked 28th in wRC+ (92) during the regular season didn’t give enough support to its two main contributors, as the flaws that dogged the Phillies all year were predictably their undoing as they exited the postseason with a whimper.

If Philadelphia is going to keep its title window open, Schwarber and Harper need some help.

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