The Braves' best pitcher, NL Cy Young Award favorite Chris Sale, was back home in Atlanta with a back injury. Max Fried, who started his career as a San Diego Padres farmhand and won the clinching game in the 2021 World Series for the Braves,

Kyle Higashioka's solo homer started a five-run rally against an ailing Max Fried with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, and the National League's fourth-seeded San Diego Padres held on to beat the fifth-seeded Braves 5-4, completing a sweep of their best-of-three series in the wild-card round.

Brave lefty Max Fried left after the two innings after being hit on his left hip by a comebacker, while the Padres' Joe Musgrove was pulled in the fourth inning of Wednesday's Game 2.