Phillies-Braves: Game time, channel, how to watch and stream MLB playoffs

The Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Atlanta Braves in a best-of-five divisional series rematch that begins Saturday night in Atlanta.

Phillies fans will have to change the channel to find Saturday’s game. While ESPN had the exclusive broadcast rights to this year’s wild-card games, the National League divisional series games will air on TBS. (Fox will air both American League divisional series.) Once again, no Phillies games will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Fans will see a familiar face on the TBS pregame show: former MVP Jimmy Rollins, who spent 15 seasons with the Phillies and helped lead the team to a World Series win in 2008. During Rollins’ playing days, the New York Mets were the team’s most hated rival. But Rollins thinks the star power of Bryce Harper and Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. could throw fuel on a budding rivalry between the two teams.

» READ MORE: Phillies-Braves Game 1: Live updates

“I think for many years there was really never a rivalry between the Braves and Phillies, because it was all Braves,” Rollins said in a conference call Friday. But now, the Phillies have the chance to send the Braves home early for two straight seasons after Atlanta won more than 100 games. That, Rollins said, is when a rivalry “really begins.”

“That’s when you really stop liking not just the team, just the colors of the uniforms,” Rollins said, admitting he had a tough time speaking with friend and former shortstop Alex Cora when he signed with the Mets. “I just could not get close to that damn orange and blue.”

Saturday marks the third time the Phillies have played the Braves in the postseason, with Philly winning both the previous series. In addition to last year’s division series, the teams faced off in the 1993 National League Championship Series, where the Phillies won in six games, despite being underdogs against a Braves team featuring Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.

This season, Phillies went 5-8 against the Braves, the best team in baseball, with 104 wins and the first to clinch a playoff spot. But Philly was 4-3 against Atlanta in September, including a blowout on Sept. 18 when Zack Wheeler limited the potent Braves offense to just one run and four hits.

» READ MORE: Phillies or Braves? Our predictions for the NL Division Series

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream Phillies vs. Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series:

Game 1 of Phillies-Braves is scheduled to begin at 6:07 p.m. Eastern on TBS.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson and analyst Jeff Francoeur, who played for both the Braves and Phillies during his 12-year MLB career. Matt Winer will report from Truist Park in Atlanta.

A Spanish broadcast of the game will air on MLB Network, with Fernando Álvarez on play-by-play alongside analyst Candy Maldonado.

While NBC Sports Philadelphia won’t be airing the games, longtime Phillies announcers Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen will continue to call all the action on 94.1 WIP. You can either tune in on the radio or stream it for free on the Audacy app.

Bill Kulik and Oscar Budejen will call Phillies-Braves in Spanish on La Unika 1680 AM.

Phillies-Braves will stream on the Max app, but you would need a subscription to both Max ($9.99 a month with ads) and the B/R Sports Add-On ($9.99 a month), though they currently are running a promo.

You also can stream the series on the TBS app, but you’ll need to log in with a cable subscription.

The games also will stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries TBS, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

You won’t be able to watch if you’re a Fubo subscriber, since the subscription service doesn’t carry any of Warner Bros. Discovery’s channels.

TBS pregame coverage of Phillies-Braves will begin at 5:30 p.m. Hosting the network’s studio coverage is veteran broadcaster Ernie Johnson, best known for his role on Inside the NBA. Joining him will be Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and three-time All-Star Curtis Granderson.

Despite not airing the games, NBC Sports Philadelphia will continue to offer pre- and postgame coverage throughout the Phillies’ postseason run.

On Saturday, Phillies Pregame Live will air at 5 p.m. featuring Michael Barkann, Rickie Bottalico, Ben Davis, and former Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. They’ll all return for Phillies Postgame Live following the game.

WIP also will offer pre- and postgame coverage, hosted by Gregg Murphy.

If you happen to be a Phillies fan living in India, good news — you be able to watch the entire Phillies-Braves divisional series on TV, though you’ll have to set your alarm.

MLB Network is producing an Indian broadcast of the playoff series that will air on STAR India. Calling the game will be Jacob Wilkins, Tejas Goradia, Manish Batavia, and Aayush Sharma.

India is 10½ hours ahead of Philadelphia time, so Game 1 will start around 4:37 a.m. local time.

Here is the complete National League Division Series schedule for Phillies-Braves:

* — if needed. Games 4 and 5 would move to 8:07 p.m. if Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers is over.

» READ MORE: Full 2023 MLB playoff TV schedule