Philadelphia Phillies vs Atlanta Braves Prediction: A 50/50 chance for the two sides

Wednesday's Major League Baseball postseason game at Citizens Bank Park features a matchup between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. In the best-of-five Division Series playoff, this will be Game 3 of the series. The series is tied 1-1 after the Philadelphia Phillies won the first game of the series with a scoreless victory and the Atlanta Braves won the second game with a one-run victory that evened things up.

Bryce Harper contributed two runs, two hits, two walks, and a single home run to the Philadelphia Phillies' victory in the season opening game over the weekend. The game was a shutout. In Game 2, the Philadelphia Phillies had a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the team was unable to maintain its advantage despite allowing only four hits to their opponents. Nick Castellanos also contributed two hits and a run to the winning effort for the Phillies, while JT Realmuto's home run and two RBI helped Philly take the game. On Wednesday, the Phillies will turn to Aaron Nola to begin the game as their starting pitcher. Nola pitched exceptionally well in his lone postseason appearance this year, leading Philadelphia to victory over Miami Marlins on Wednesday with a scoreless performance that included three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. During the regular season of 2023, Nola started 32 games and had a record of 12-9 with a 4.49 earned run average.

The Atlanta Braves' performance in the first game of the Division Series on Saturday was not very good. The final score was 3-0 against Atlanta, which committed two errors and managed just five hits. Ozzie Albies' offensive performance was unremarkable, as he only managed one hit and one walk. In Game 2, after a sluggish start and a late rally from a 4-0 deficit (and a wild game-ending double play), Atlanta was able to pull off a comeback and win 5-4. The game ended with a double play. At the plate, the club was carried by two home runs hit by Travis d'Arnaud and Austin Riley, each of which scored two runs. Because Charlie Morton is sidelined with a sprained finger, the Atlanta Braves will most likely turn to either Bryce Elder or AJ Smith-Shawver as their starting pitcher in the event that the team advances to the American League Championship Series. Elder allowed the Atlanta Phillies to score four runs over the course of 10.2 innings this year, while Smith-Shawver has not yet faced them.

I'm going to lean toward taking a chance on the Atlanta Braves here, despite the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies are also performing very well, but my level of confidence is rather low. The Atlanta Braves had a very successful regular season leading up to the postseason. With that being said, the Braves have had a lot of trouble getting hits in the first two games of this series, and it's a miracle that they're even in the series going into Philly with a 1-1 tie. For an offense with as much potential as the Atlanta Braves', the team's performance through the first 18 innings of play has been quite disappointing, as it has resulted in only nine total hits and three errors. The Atlanta Braves will have their work cut out for them when Nola takes the mound for the start of the game; during his last 12.2 innings of the regular season, he allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits and did not walk a single batter. The Philadelphia Phillies have 15 hits through the first two games of this series, which is more than enough to put them in a position to lead the series 2-0 at this juncture. Having said that, I believe that the bats of the Atlanta Braves will come around in Game 3, despite the fact that it is a tall order.