Braves-Phillies: Time for Game 3 | Sports Daily Newsletter

Sold-out Citizens Bank Park will be rocking today for Game 3 of the National League Division Series, and the Phillies will be feeling confident with Aaron Nola on the mound.

Nola has been lights-out in his last two starts, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Astros and finishing off the Cardinals with 6⅔ shutout innings in the wild-card series. Against the defending champions, he will need to be just as masterful.

It would be a good time to take back the momentum in this series because there is no doubt that the Atlanta Braves have it now. The Phillies wasted a golden opportunity to beat the Braves in Game 2, Scott Lauber writes. He wonders: How often does it work out for the challenger when the champ is allowed to get up off the canvas?

— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

Kyle Schwarber was Middletown High School’s star linebacker and slugger, but there he was, dancing and singing across the stage, leaving little doubt about how serious he took the show choir. Schwarber, like he is with the World Series-dreaming Phillies, was the leader of his team, whether it was football, baseball, or the Purple Pizzazz. “He’s the best leader I’ve been around,” said Austin Downing, a former high school teammate in Ohio. “He did a lot of leading, but just doing things the right way.”

Aaron Nola is excited to finally experience a home playoff game as the Phillies’ Game 3 starter.

Next: The playoffs are back in Philadelphia with Game 3 at 4:37 p.m. today (Fox29). Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25) will start for the Phillies. The Braves have not named a starter yet.

If the Eagles hope to keep their perfect record intact, they’ll need to find a way to contain the Cowboys’ running attack on Sunday night. Dallas is one of the more run-reliant teams in the NFL, but the Birds just might have a big way to stop the rushing game: 6-foot-6, 336-pound Jordan Davis.

The rookie defensive tackle has played the majority of his snaps on early downs to combat the run before yielding to Fletcher Cox or Javon Hargrave for obvious passing situations. And the big guy is improving quickly. Says fellow defensive tackle Milton Williams: “It’s going to be scary when he really puts it together.”

Here’s what the beat writers for the Eagles predict for the Eagles’ upcoming showdown against the Cowboys.

Next: The Eagles host the Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. Sunday (NBC10).

Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s Week 6 game against the Dallas Cowboys at 7 p.m. Sunday. Watch at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday

While there has been a lot of pessimism surrounding the start of the Flyers’ season, that feeling gave way to good vibes for 60 minutes on Thursday night.

The Flyers began the John Tortorella era in emphatic fashion, beating the Devils, 5-2, with all five goals scored by players 25 years old or younger.

The result marked the team’s second major victory of the day, as just before puck drop, the Flyers signed Travis Sanheim, the team’s best defenseman last season, to an eight-year, $50 million contract extension.

Next: The Flyers host the Vancouver Canucks at 4 p.m. Saturday (NBCSP).

NBA preseason isn’t always the most useful time of year for established teams with lofty goals, but for the 76ers, who have several new players, it was important to get on the court and have an opportunity to meld before the start of real basketball.

So what was Joel Embiid’s big takeaway from preseason? “We’ve got a long way to go.” Embiid and James Harden believe the Sixers have something special but also see areas of improvement. They told The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey the Sixers’ biggest needs.

Working to trim their roster before the season opener Oct. 18 at Boston, the Sixers waived Isaiah Joe and Charles Bassey.

It’s coming to Philly! The Premier League fan fest, in all its glory, has arrived in Philadelphia for the weekend, with local connections and special guests, including the Union’s Paxten Aaronson, (yes, older brother Brenden plays in the Premier League for Leeds United) and many others. Apparently, host Rebecca Lowe has never eaten a cheesesteak, by the way, but she has heard of the fervent fans from Philadelphia.

Paxten is available because the Union have a bye week after clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but most of the rest of the Major League Soccer playoff teams are in action. Here are our first round predictions.

Jonathan Tannenwald has all the information fans need to track the progress of the Union’s rivals.

Also, here’s more of what to expect from the upcoming 2022 World Cup broadcast.

Chester High’s football coach and his five senior captains, no strangers to tragedy themselves, made the 20-mile trip to Roxborough to show support for that school’s traumatized students after last month’s deadly shooting.

We asked you: What’s your take on the series so far? Among your responses:

It’s always good to get a win on the road opening a short series. Let’s go home & get the bats working. — Dave S.

FABULOUS — Bill M.

Happy with the split, however, if the top of the batting order would do something we might be leading 2 games to zero. — Tom G.

I am ecstatic about the Phillies Wild Card series win and their advancement to the NLDS. I think it is beyond a fair expectation for them to sweep themselves to the World Series, especially when their Achilles Heels from the regular season (middle of bullpen, defense, and batting slumps) are still haunting them through these last two games. Since the 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th in Game 1, the Phillies have given the Braves a momentum swing in this series headed back to Philly. With all that said, my biggest concern moving forward is the complete lack of production out of the #1 and #2 slots in the batting order. These have turned into automatic outs. I don’t see how the Phillies can overcome the defending World Champions by serving up 6-8 automatic outs per game, especially at the top of the order. Thompson needs to seriously consider finding a way to jump start the top of the batting order before it is too late. — Jim V.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Matt Breen, Isabella DiAmore, Giana Han, Gustav Elvin, Aaron Carter, Andrea Canales, Jonathan Tannenwald, Sam Cohn, Colin Beazley, and Melanie Heller.