Atlanta @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 10, 2019 ) Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 6

The Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves for Wednesday’s third matchup of a four-game series, and hope the power from Tuesday’s 6-5 victory will show up again to help keep their flickering National League playoff hopes alive. The Phillies belted five homers Tuesday, including a go-ahead inside-the-park blast from center fielder Scott Kingery, after starting the day three games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second wild card.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto and right fielder Bryce Harper hit back-to-back homers in the first inning as the Phillies built a 4-0 lead, and left fielder Corey Dickerson homered twice to give him three longballs in the series. Kingery has homered four times in his past nine games and Dickerson boasts eight homers in 33 games since being dealt from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline. Atlanta lost for just the second time in nine games this month, but its magic number to win the NL East for the second consecutive season dropped to nine as Washington fell to Minnesota, keeping the Braves division lead at 9 1/2 games. Ronald Acuna Jr. finished 3-for-5 and scored once to give him a NL-leading 117 runs on the season, while first baseman Freddie Freeman collected his second consecutive three-hit game and drove in his major-league leading 117th run.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Southeast (Atlanta), NBCS Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Dallas Keuchel (7-5, 3.47 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Zach Eflin (8-11, 4.31)

Keuchel has pitched of late like the ace the Braves hoped he would be when they signed him in June, allowing only three runs total in his past five starts while going 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 31 innings. The 31-year-old held Washington to six hits with two walks and three strikeouts over six scoreless innings Friday - the third start out of his past five in which Keuchel did not allow a run. Keuchel has faced the Phillies once, taking the loss July 2 despite giving up two runs on five hits over seven innings.

Eflin has pitched well since spending three weeks in the Phillies bullpen, pitching to a 3.32 ERA in four starts with eight runs allowed on 22 hits over 21 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old landed in relief duty after a disastrous six-start stretch from late June through late July, in which he gave up 31 earned runs on 47 hits (including nine homers) across 26 2/3 innings. Included in that rough stretch were Eflin’s only two starts against Atlanta this season, and in a combined 5 2/3 innings he went 0-2 and surrendered 17 runs (12 earned) on 14 hits (four homers) and six walks.

WALK-OFFS

1. Braves INF/OF Johan Camargo went 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored, and since being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett is 5-for-10 with two homers and three RBIs in eight games.

2. Phillies RHP Blake Parker struck out four in two innings of relief as Philadelphia relievers allowed just one run on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over six innings.

3. Tuesday’s loss was just the fourth for Atlanta in its past 22 games.

PREDICTION: Braves 6, Phillies 3