<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Philadelphia Phillies" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Mf772-PzzqV4Xxth2TitfiMckHM=/0x0:6110x4073/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73553373/2168350066.0.jpg">
Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Matt Olson cleared the batter’s eye with one of his two massive homers, but the Braves couldn’t clear one of their persistent hurdles An iconic duo in recent Braves history: giving up three-run homers to the Phillies in big games. Perhaps another iconic duo in recent Braves history: acting completely oblivious to the times through the order penalty. Despite holding a 4-0 lead on Thursday night, both of these things came to roost in a mightily unpleasant way in Philadelphia, as Charlie Morton gave up yet another big homer to Brandon Marsh (this time on what could’ve been a routine fly ball elsewhere), and Grant Holmes served up a game-deciding two-run shot to Nick Castellanos. Meanwhile, another old foe of the Braves, bad outcomes on barrels, decided to crash the party once again, and the Braves were sent home losers.
Charlie Morton had been on a roll of late, but all semblance of a potentially easy outing evaporated for him early. He walked each of the first three lefties he faced, and after finally getting a lefty for an out (Marsh, in the second), he then hit a batter. Fortunately for him, though, he retired all the righties he faced in the first two frames save for that hit-by-pitch, and then struck out a second consecutive lefty to end the second.
Meanwhile, the Braves scratched across a run against Cristopher Sanchez in the second, as Michael Harris II had a broken-bat two-out single down the left-field line, and then scored on Orlando Arcia’s double to center that rolled to the wall because the Phillies had Marsh shading him over to right-center. Things got even more comfortable for them in the third, as Whit Merrifield started the frame by reaching on Trea Turner booting a ball, and then Matt Olson hit an absolutely insane mash to center, drilling the ball over the batter’s eye. It wasn’t even hit egregiously hard (106.7 mph), but it must’ve been a paragon of backspin or something. Anyway, the Braves led 3-0 at that point.
Morton settled down a bit, allowing a single to a lefty batter in the third, a leadoff walk to a lefty batter in the fourth, and a leadoff single to a lefty batter in the fifth, but nothing else. Olson then tagged Sanchez for another homer to start the sixth — Sanchez had only given up six homers all year, and none to a lefty, but Olson got him twice as his surge continues. A double and a walk later in the inning chased Sanchez in favor of Orion Kerkering, who got Luke Williams to fly out to end the threat.
And then, things turned pretty sour. To this point in the game, Morton had a 6/4 K/BB ratio and had also hit a batter; he had not struck out anyone the third time through. The Phillies hit two soft singles off him, though he did manage a strikeout of Bryson Stott, whom he had walked twice in the game, in between them. And then up came Marsh. Marsh, of course, hit the three-run homer off Morton that ultimately doomed the Braves in the 2022 NLDS. That’s also what he did tonight, on a ball not hit particularly well, but with enough distance to clear the left field wall. The Braves had been rolling, and while overconfidence is usually a slow and insidious killer, it struck quickly tonight.
After getting one more out, Morton gave way to Aaron Bummer, who got an easy groundout to send the game to the seventh. The Braves did nothing in the top half of that inning.
And they lost the lead in the bottom half. Bummer stayed in and issued a leadoff walk to Trea Turner. He then got an out on a soft tapper, and was replaced by Grant Holmes with two righties due up. Holmes got the inning’s second out on a grounder to third, and got ahead of Nick Castellanos with an in-zone fastball, but then tried to double up on it, and... oops. Castellanos smashed it into center to turn a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit.
Matt Strahm came in for the top of the eighth, struck out Olson, plunked Travis d’Arnaud, and then struck out Ramon Laureano after a ten-pitch battle that involved eight fouls and just one ball. Harris then got an elevated fastball from Strahm and smashed it into center, a la Castellanos, but Castellanos hit his one mph harder and six degrees higher, and that’s why his barrel was a two-run decisive homer and Harris ended up with a flyout.
There wasn’t much more to this one. Marsh had a leadoff double in the eighth but ended up being erased on a weird 6-3-5 double play for some reason, and the Braves did nothing against Jeff Hoffman in the ninth.
One day, the Braves will proactively worry about platoon disadvantage and the times through the order penalty, probably, but it wasn’t today, and it probably won’t be in the playoffs, either. Today, they paid the price, even if the ball Marsh hit wasn’t exactly a screamer or anything. I’d say something like, “Well, maybe this will be the wake-up call,” but we know it won’t. Anyway, they missed a chance to terrify/terrorize the Phillies, dropped a game on the Mets, and didn’t gain any ground on the Diamondbacks and Padres. Such is life. The series continues tomorrow.
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Philadelphia Phillies" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Mf772-PzzqV4Xxth2TitfiMckHM=/0x0:6110x4073/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73553373/2168350066.0.jpg">
Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Matt Olson cleared the batter’s eye with one of his two massive homers, but the Braves couldn’t clear one of their persistent hurdles An iconic duo in recent Braves history: giving up three-run homers to the Phillies in big games. Perhaps another iconic duo in recent Braves history: acting completely oblivious to the times through the order penalty. Despite holding a 4-0 lead on Thursday night, both of these things came to roost in a mightily unpleasant way in Philadelphia, as Charlie Morton gave up yet another big homer to Brandon Marsh (this time on what could’ve been a routine fly ball elsewhere), and Grant Holmes served up a game-deciding two-run shot to Nick Castellanos. Meanwhile, another old foe of the Braves, bad outcomes on barrels, decided to crash the party once again, and the Braves were sent home losers.
Charlie Morton had been on a roll of late, but all semblance of a potentially easy outing evaporated for him early. He walked each of the first three lefties he faced, and after finally getting a lefty for an out (Marsh, in the second), he then hit a batter. Fortunately for him, though, he retired all the righties he faced in the first two frames save for that hit-by-pitch, and then struck out a second consecutive lefty to end the second.
Meanwhile, the Braves scratched across a run against Cristopher Sanchez in the second, as Michael Harris II had a broken-bat two-out single down the left-field line, and then scored on Orlando Arcia’s double to center that rolled to the wall because the Phillies had Marsh shading him over to right-center. Things got even more comfortable for them in the third, as Whit Merrifield started the frame by reaching on Trea Turner booting a ball, and then Matt Olson hit an absolutely insane mash to center, drilling the ball over the batter’s eye. It wasn’t even hit egregiously hard (106.7 mph), but it must’ve been a paragon of backspin or something. Anyway, the Braves led 3-0 at that point.
Morton settled down a bit, allowing a single to a lefty batter in the third, a leadoff walk to a lefty batter in the fourth, and a leadoff single to a lefty batter in the fifth, but nothing else. Olson then tagged Sanchez for another homer to start the sixth — Sanchez had only given up six homers all year, and none to a lefty, but Olson got him twice as his surge continues. A double and a walk later in the inning chased Sanchez in favor of Orion Kerkering, who got Luke Williams to fly out to end the threat.
And then, things turned pretty sour. To this point in the game, Morton had a 6/4 K/BB ratio and had also hit a batter; he had not struck out anyone the third time through. The Phillies hit two soft singles off him, though he did manage a strikeout of Bryson Stott, whom he had walked twice in the game, in between them. And then up came Marsh. Marsh, of course, hit the three-run homer off Morton that ultimately doomed the Braves in the 2022 NLDS. That’s also what he did tonight, on a ball not hit particularly well, but with enough distance to clear the left field wall. The Braves had been rolling, and while overconfidence is usually a slow and insidious killer, it struck quickly tonight.
After getting one more out, Morton gave way to Aaron Bummer, who got an easy groundout to send the game to the seventh. The Braves did nothing in the top half of that inning.
And they lost the lead in the bottom half. Bummer stayed in and issued a leadoff walk to Trea Turner. He then got an out on a soft tapper, and was replaced by Grant Holmes with two righties due up. Holmes got the inning’s second out on a grounder to third, and got ahead of Nick Castellanos with an in-zone fastball, but then tried to double up on it, and... oops. Castellanos smashed it into center to turn a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit.
Matt Strahm came in for the top of the eighth, struck out Olson, plunked Travis d’Arnaud, and then struck out Ramon Laureano after a ten-pitch battle that involved eight fouls and just one ball. Harris then got an elevated fastball from Strahm and smashed it into center, a la Castellanos, but Castellanos hit his one mph harder and six degrees higher, and that’s why his barrel was a two-run decisive homer and Harris ended up with a flyout.
There wasn’t much more to this one. Marsh had a leadoff double in the eighth but ended up being erased on a weird 6-3-5 double play for some reason, and the Braves did nothing against Jeff Hoffman in the ninth.
One day, the Braves will proactively worry about platoon disadvantage and the times through the order penalty, probably, but it wasn’t today, and it probably won’t be in the playoffs, either. Today, they paid the price, even if the ball Marsh hit wasn’t exactly a screamer or anything. I’d say something like, “Well, maybe this will be the wake-up call,” but we know it won’t. Anyway, they missed a chance to terrify/terrorize the Phillies, dropped a game on the Mets, and didn’t gain any ground on the Diamondbacks and Padres. Such is life. The series continues tomorrow.
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