The Braves and Phillies close a four game series at Citizens Bank Park on Monday afternoon, first pitch at 1:05 p.m. ET. Atlanta leads the series 2-1 after a 5-4 win on Sunday and leads the NL East by five games with 19 to play. Grant Holmes starts for the Braves against Jesus Luzardo.
| First pitch | 1:05 p.m. ET, Monday, September 7, 2026 |
| Ballpark | Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia |
| TV | BravesVision in the Atlanta market, WCAU in Philadelphia |
| Streaming | MLB.TV outside both home markets. In market, the team apps and your provider login |
| Starters | Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.62) vs. Jesus Luzardo (13-5, 3.02) |
| Series | Atlanta leads this four game set 2-1 and the season series 7-2 |
| Division | Braves lead the NL East by five with 19 games left |
What time is Braves vs. Phillies and what channel is it on?
First pitch is 1:05 p.m. ET, which is 12:05 p.m. CT, 11:05 a.m. MT and 10:05 a.m. on the West Coast and in Arizona. It is a Labor Day matinee and the last of four games in Philadelphia.
There is no national window on this one. It is a local broadcast in both markets, BravesVision for Atlanta viewers and WCAU in Philadelphia. Anyone outside those two territories can watch on MLB.TV, which carries every out of market game; in market it stays blacked out on MLB.TV, so you need the regional feed or your provider login.
The pitching matchup
| Grant Holmes, ATL | Jesus Luzardo, PHI | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-5 | 13-5 |
| ERA | 3.62 | 3.02 |
| Strikeouts | — | 209 in 169 2/3 innings, 11.1 per nine |
| Opponent average | — | .221 |
| Last start | — | Wednesday vs. Arizona: 6 2/3 innings, one earned run, six hits |
This is Luzardo’s 29th start of the season and he has gone at least five innings in each of the previous 20, with quality starts in his last two. He has been the steadier of the two all year, and the Phillies are 18-7 in his starts when they have been favored.
Holmes has been quietly effective in the other direction. The Braves are 18-7 against the spread when he starts, which is the kind of number that says the market keeps underrating him rather than that he keeps pitching well. Atlanta has him lined up for the game that decides the series.
How the series has gone
| Date | Result |
|---|---|
| Friday, Sept. 4 | Braves 5, Phillies 2 |
| Saturday, Sept. 5 | Phillies 4, Braves 2 |
| Sunday, Sept. 6 | Braves 5, Phillies 4 |
| Monday, Sept. 7 | 1:05 p.m. ET, series finale |
Atlanta has owned this matchup all season. The Braves are 7-2 against Philadelphia in 2026, including a 5-1 run through the April meetings, and a win Monday would make it 8-2 with three more still to come in Atlanta from Friday through Sunday.
What is actually at stake
Two things, and neither is the division race in the way it looks.
The NL East is close to settled. Atlanta at 85 and 58 leads Philadelphia at 80 and 63 by five games with 19 left, and the Phillies have burned three of their remaining head to head chances already. Philadelphia’s more realistic route is the wild card, where it currently sits second behind the Cubs.
The bigger prize for Atlanta is the first round bye. The Braves and Dodgers are separated by a single game for the second National League seed, with Los Angeles at 86 and 57 after Sunday, and Milwaukee at 88 and 56 holding the best record in baseball. Every game in September is a tiebreaker game for the Braves in practice, which is why a series finale against a team they have already beaten twice this weekend still matters.
The bottom line
Braves at Phillies starts at 1:05 p.m. ET on Monday, September 7 at Citizens Bank Park, on BravesVision in Atlanta and WCAU in Philadelphia, with MLB.TV covering everyone outside those markets. Grant Holmes faces Jesus Luzardo with Atlanta up 2-1 in the series and five games clear in the division. The two teams meet again in Atlanta this weekend.