Michael Harris Ronald Acuna and Matt Olson Hit Two Run Homers as Atlanta Clinched a Playoff Place
The Braves are back in the postseason a year after a losing season ended a run of seven consecutive playoff appearances.
Atlanta clinched a place in the Major League Baseball postseason on 18 September 2026 by beating Houston 6-2, with all six of their runs coming from two run home runs.
Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr and Matt Olson each cleared the fence with a man on base. The win took the Braves to 90 victories for the season and secured an eighth playoff berth in nine years.
It marks a sharp recovery from 2025, when Atlanta finished 76-86 and missed the postseason for the first time in eight seasons, ending a run of seven straight appearances.
The Braves lead the National League East by five games from Philadelphia with eight games left and can wrap up the division as early as Sunday, which would be a seventh divisional title in nine years. Harris said the team were trying to win the East and had to go out and do what they knew they could do.
The manager, Walt Weiss, said everything a team gets in the league is earned and praised a group that had overcome a lot during the season. Atlanta last won the World Series in 2021.