Even with the Atlanta Braves having home field advantage against the Philadelphia Phillies, Braves fans were uneasy about their chances against their NL East rivals. Although the postseason unleashes playoff anxiety in all fans, things have been different for Braves Country.
While the embarrassing back-to-back NLDS losses back in 2022 and 2023 to the Phillies were at the forefront of fans minds, they had another reason to feel anxious about this series, whether they knew it or not. Thankfully, one swing by Austin Riley completely flipped the script.
The last 3 times the Braves have won a Game One as a home team in Atlanta in a playoff series
— Shawn Coleman (@StatsSAC) September 29, 2026
10-16-2021 vs LAD
9-30-2020 vs CIN
10-12-1999 vs NYM
2-9 in 11 such games since 2000
Someone please relay this message to Chris Sale
Braves overcome unfortunate historical Game One trend thanks to Austin Riley
As "Hammer Terrritory" co-host Shawn Coleman pointed out, the Braves have only won one Game One at home in the last 25 years, and just three since 1999. Since 2001, Atlanta has hosted the first game of a playoff series 10 times (including their neutral site games in 2020), leaving them with a paltry 1-9 record at home in the last 25 years.
In fact, since 2000, the Braves have only won six Game 1s in 21 playoff series, with five of those coming in 2020 and 2021. In fact, Atlanta lost 10 consecutive Game 1s, spanning from from Game 1 of the 2001 NLCS through their NLDS loss to the Cardinals in 2019, and entered Tuesday having dropped their last 3 Game 1s.
When JT Realmuto hit the go-ahead seventh inning triple to give the Phillies a one run lead, it looked like the Braves were doomed to face the familiar feeling of not only losing the first game of a playoff series, but also staring a potential elimination in the face. Thankfully, Austin Riley flipped the script, taking All-Star closer Jhoan Duran deep to turn a one-run deficit into a two-run lead.
Although the Braves still need to take care of business against the Phillies over the next two days, there couldn't have been a better time for the Braves to reverse their Game One curse than breaking their NL East rival's hearts.
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