The Atlanta Braves are one win from their first postseason series victory since 2021, and they are rearranging the middle of the order to try to finish the job.
For Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park, Austin Riley is hitting sixth. That is one spot higher than he batted in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, when he delivered the swing that flipped the series.
The announced Atlanta lineup, posted by Underdog MLB, reads: Ronald Acuña Jr. in right field, Drake Baldwin at designated hitter, Ozzie Albies at second, Matt Olson at first, Mauricio Dubón in left, Riley at third, Michael Harris II in center, Sean Murphy behind the plate and Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop. Tyler Mahle gets the ball opposite Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
The bump is modest, but it is not accidental. Riley spent most of 2026 buried in a slump — .219 with 19 homers and a franchise-record 201 strikeouts — and entered the postseason hitting seventh.
Then, with two outs in the eighth and Atlanta trailing 3-2, he jumped a 99.9 mph fastball from All-Star closer Jhoan Duran and sent it 385 feet over the right-center wall. Michael Harris II had singled and Albies had been hit by a pitch. Three runs scored.
The Braves led, and they held on.
It was Riley’s sixth career playoff homer and the third time he has gone deep in the eighth inning or later to put Atlanta ahead in October, a Braves postseason record.
He later said he treated the at-bat like any other and admitted he was “praying it was going” as he ran to first. Manager Brian Snitker has long preached the same-guy-every-day approach. The lineup card for Game 2 is the first concrete reward.
Moving Riley up also reshuffles a top-heavy Atlanta order against a left-handed starter. Acuña returns to the leadoff spot. Baldwin, who caught Game 1 and went hitless, slides to DH. Harris, who was 3-for-3 on Tuesday and scored twice, drops from fifth to seventh. Murphy, the veteran catcher, is back in the eight-hole.
The construction puts Riley in position to drive in Olson or Dubón if the first five reach, and it keeps him from hitting immediately after Albies — the pairing that produced Tuesday’s winning rally.
Philadelphia, facing elimination, will counter with its own tweaks. Sánchez is the kind of innings-eater who can force Atlanta’s right-handed bats to work.
A Braves win sends them to the NLDS. A Phillies win forces a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday.
Riley’s regular season was a grind. One swing in the eighth inning of Game 1 bought him a slightly better seat for Game 2.
Atlanta is betting that the clean slate he talked about Tuesday still applies when the first pitch arrives Wednesday.
