Thursday, October 1, 2026
73 ° Clear
73 ° Clear
When you look back at the 2020s, the decade will be remembered for the battles between the Philadelphia Phillies (79-61) and the Atlanta Braves (83-57).
Another chapter of the National League East is being written, with its most important chapter set to unfold this weekend in Philadelphia.
Entering play on Friday night, the Phillies trail the Braves by four games in the division. With Atlanta just two wins away from securing the season series, these next four games become massive for the Phillies' chances to overtake the Braves for first place. They will meet again next weekend in Atlanta, finishing their regular season slate of games.
When these two teams met earlier in the season, Atlanta took five of six games. It helped sink Rob Thomson's tenure in Philadelphia as manager and set the Braves up for a lead that they have not surrendered.
If the Phillies have any chance, it starts with a win on Friday night.
As it stands, the Phillies sit atop the National League Wild Card by just .5 games. They are narrowly ahead of the Chicago Cubs, who lost on Thursday to give the Phillies the top spot. Chicago holds the tiebreaker over Philly thanks to their dominance against the team earlier in the season.
In the final Wild Card seed sits the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thanks to their win over the Phillies on Wednesday, the Diamondbacks lead their division rivals, the San Diego Padres, by .5 games as well.
MORE: Phillies' Jesús Luzardo named NL Pitcher of the Month for August
Meanwhile, the Braves are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second seed in the National League, with Atlanta owning the tiebreaker over Los Angeles.
If the season ended today, the Braves would secure a first-round bye.
The Braves are three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the first seed. They will meet Milwaukee again later this month, making this season just as important for their chances as Philadelphia's.
All of Major League Baseball will be paying attention to what happens at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.
These are the players to watch in this weekend's series.
The Braves' All-Star first baseman is playing like an MVP once again this season.
Olson ranks third in the National League in home runs, 10th in OPS and has played in every game thus far in 2026. Olson remains one of baseball's premier first basemen defensively and is on track to win another Gold Glove Award.
In 36 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Olson is hitting .266 with 15 home runs and a 1.002 OPS, paired with 32 runs batted in. Simply put, he mashes in Philadelphia.
If the Phillies are seriously going to take down the Braves in this series, they must limit damage from Olson's bat. Jose Alvarado and Brooks Raley will likely be sent to handle Olson late in games. Those matchups will be key for both clubs.
It was at the trade deadline that the Phillies felt adding Luis Arraez to their lineup would give them a boost come October.
His contact-first approach and ability to drive in runs was to provide a spark to a lineup that needed to be deepened. Since joining the Phillies, Arraez has been hitting below his marks with the Giants. His average with the Phillies is .280; it was .324 in San Francisco. His OPS was .801 with the Giants and .678 as a member of the Phillies.
Entrusted with the cleanup role of the team's lineup, Arraez needs to do better with runners in scoring position. He has just 12 runs batted in in 27 games with the team.
