<img alt="Philadelphia Phillies v. New York Mets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/up6GwhjAnmwUNrooYPpiUtz_sPQ=/0x0:5292x3528/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73602393/2172790248.0.jpg">
Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images
An Acuña is currently helping an NL East team get into the Postseason. It’s not Ronald and it’s not the Braves, though. For what feels like the umpteenth time in this NL Wild Card race for the Atlanta Braves, it was one step forward but two steps back. Atlanta got the job done against the Marlins but unfortunately, everybody else in the race held serve. Any day where the Braves don’t gain ground on their opponents in the Wild Card race is a bad day at this point and unfortunately, Saturday ended up being a bad day despite the win. Let’s talk about it.
New York Mets (86-69) 6, Philadelphia Phillies (92-63) 3
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
The Phillies did not, in fact, get it over with on Saturday evening as the New York Mets continued to delay what’s been inevitable for the Phillies for a while now while also boosting their own chances in the NL Wild Card race with a 6-3 win. Kyle Scharber got things going for Philly with a leadoff homer to start the game but that was as good as things got for both him and the rest of the Phillies on Saturday. The Mets came to life and took the lead in the very next inning, as the young duo of Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña both went deep in that frame to put New York in front.
Philadelphia eventually responded in the fifth inning, which is when they tied the game thanks to a drive into deep left field by Nick Castellanos, which was a home run. The game remained tied until the seventh inning, which was the main turning point of this contest. Orion Kerkering entered the game and folks, it did not go well for him. He started off the inning by walking Starling Marte and then he hit Pete Alonso with one out to put Marte into scoring position. Brandon Nimmo capitalized on those mistakes by smacking an RBI single to left field and then Francisco Alvarez popped up again by hitting a huge double that plated two Mets and gave them some crucial breathing room.
Edwin Díaz was called upon to make a four-out save in this one after the Phillies threatened to get right back into the game. Díaz struck out Kyle Scharber with a man on to end the threat in the eighth inning after Philadelphia got a run back and then after Pete Alonso’s RBI single pushed the deficit back to three, Díaz retired the heart of the Phillies lineup in 1-2-3 fashion to finish them off. The champagne remains on ice for Philadelphia, hope is certainly alive in New York and Atlanta’s chances continue to dwindle.
Arizona Diamondbacks (87-68) 5, Milwaukee Brewers (88-67) 0
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
The Braves have gotten absolutely no help from the team that replaced them in Milwaukee, as the Brewers got shut out on their way to the Arizona Diamondbacks picking up a massive series win on the road. Merrill Kelly pitched five shutout innings for Arizona in this one and then their bullpen kept the Brewers completely quiet in this one. Our old Friend Joc Pederson got things going with a two-run homer in the first inning and it remained 2-0 until Jose Herrera’s solo homer in the fifth inning. Arizona sat on that three-run lead with little threat from Milwaukee as the Brewers only mustered up two hits on the day. Arizona finished it off in style in the ninth inning as Ketel Marte hit his 34th homer of the season to plate two more runs and finish it off 5-0. Once again, woof.
San Diego Padres (89-66) 6, Chicago White Sox (36-119) 2
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
While it’s been a bit disappointing for the Braves to get no help from Milwaukee this weekend, I think we all expected that the White Sox weren’t going to be much help at all. Sure enough, this game was nowhere near as dramatic as the shockingly-close game on Friday night. The San Diego Padres led from wire-to-wire in this one. Xander Bogaerts pointed the Padres in the right direction with a two-run dinger in the second inning and then they added ttwo more runs across the fourth and fifth inning thanks to a solo homer from David Peralta and an RBI single from Jackson Merrill.
Once it was 4-0, you could basically take this one to the bank for San Diego. The White Sox did make it a 4-2 game by the bottom of the eighth after Lenyn Sosa hit an RBI single and then Bryan Ramos got an RBI thanks to a one-out bases loaded walk. The White Sox had their chance right then and there but then the Padres decided to get serious and replace the struggling Jason Adam with Taner Scott. Sure enough, it only took two pitches for Sott to get Dominic Fletcher to ground into an inning-ending double play to wipe out the scoring threat. Elias Díaz put the game on ice in San Diego’s half of the eighth inning with his sixth home run of the season to push the lead back to four runs. The Padres clinch the series as the White Sox continue their march towards infamous baseball history.
Here are the standings. Again, everybody in the mix won on Saturday, which is horrible news for the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Braves, only. The situation remains dire!
Padres 89-66, +3.0, 100.0% Playoff Odds (+0.1%)Diamondbacks 87-68, +1.0, 93.4% Playoff Odds (+1.5%)Mets 86-69, —, 69.2% Playoff Odds (+2.0%)-----------------------------------------------------------------Braves 84-71, -2.0, 40.9% Playoff Odds (-3.4%)
<img alt="Philadelphia Phillies v. New York Mets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/up6GwhjAnmwUNrooYPpiUtz_sPQ=/0x0:5292x3528/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73602393/2172790248.0.jpg">
Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images
An Acuña is currently helping an NL East team get into the Postseason. It’s not Ronald and it’s not the Braves, though. For what feels like the umpteenth time in this NL Wild Card race for the Atlanta Braves, it was one step forward but two steps back. Atlanta got the job done against the Marlins but unfortunately, everybody else in the race held serve. Any day where the Braves don’t gain ground on their opponents in the Wild Card race is a bad day at this point and unfortunately, Saturday ended up being a bad day despite the win. Let’s talk about it.
New York Mets (86-69) 6, Philadelphia Phillies (92-63) 3
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
The Phillies did not, in fact, get it over with on Saturday evening as the New York Mets continued to delay what’s been inevitable for the Phillies for a while now while also boosting their own chances in the NL Wild Card race with a 6-3 win. Kyle Scharber got things going for Philly with a leadoff homer to start the game but that was as good as things got for both him and the rest of the Phillies on Saturday. The Mets came to life and took the lead in the very next inning, as the young duo of Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña both went deep in that frame to put New York in front.
Philadelphia eventually responded in the fifth inning, which is when they tied the game thanks to a drive into deep left field by Nick Castellanos, which was a home run. The game remained tied until the seventh inning, which was the main turning point of this contest. Orion Kerkering entered the game and folks, it did not go well for him. He started off the inning by walking Starling Marte and then he hit Pete Alonso with one out to put Marte into scoring position. Brandon Nimmo capitalized on those mistakes by smacking an RBI single to left field and then Francisco Alvarez popped up again by hitting a huge double that plated two Mets and gave them some crucial breathing room.
Edwin Díaz was called upon to make a four-out save in this one after the Phillies threatened to get right back into the game. Díaz struck out Kyle Scharber with a man on to end the threat in the eighth inning after Philadelphia got a run back and then after Pete Alonso’s RBI single pushed the deficit back to three, Díaz retired the heart of the Phillies lineup in 1-2-3 fashion to finish them off. The champagne remains on ice for Philadelphia, hope is certainly alive in New York and Atlanta’s chances continue to dwindle.
Arizona Diamondbacks (87-68) 5, Milwaukee Brewers (88-67) 0
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
The Braves have gotten absolutely no help from the team that replaced them in Milwaukee, as the Brewers got shut out on their way to the Arizona Diamondbacks picking up a massive series win on the road. Merrill Kelly pitched five shutout innings for Arizona in this one and then their bullpen kept the Brewers completely quiet in this one. Our old Friend Joc Pederson got things going with a two-run homer in the first inning and it remained 2-0 until Jose Herrera’s solo homer in the fifth inning. Arizona sat on that three-run lead with little threat from Milwaukee as the Brewers only mustered up two hits on the day. Arizona finished it off in style in the ninth inning as Ketel Marte hit his 34th homer of the season to plate two more runs and finish it off 5-0. Once again, woof.
San Diego Padres (89-66) 6, Chicago White Sox (36-119) 2
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
While it’s been a bit disappointing for the Braves to get no help from Milwaukee this weekend, I think we all expected that the White Sox weren’t going to be much help at all. Sure enough, this game was nowhere near as dramatic as the shockingly-close game on Friday night. The San Diego Padres led from wire-to-wire in this one. Xander Bogaerts pointed the Padres in the right direction with a two-run dinger in the second inning and then they added ttwo more runs across the fourth and fifth inning thanks to a solo homer from David Peralta and an RBI single from Jackson Merrill.
Once it was 4-0, you could basically take this one to the bank for San Diego. The White Sox did make it a 4-2 game by the bottom of the eighth after Lenyn Sosa hit an RBI single and then Bryan Ramos got an RBI thanks to a one-out bases loaded walk. The White Sox had their chance right then and there but then the Padres decided to get serious and replace the struggling Jason Adam with Taner Scott. Sure enough, it only took two pitches for Sott to get Dominic Fletcher to ground into an inning-ending double play to wipe out the scoring threat. Elias Díaz put the game on ice in San Diego’s half of the eighth inning with his sixth home run of the season to push the lead back to four runs. The Padres clinch the series as the White Sox continue their march towards infamous baseball history.
Here are the standings. Again, everybody in the mix won on Saturday, which is horrible news for the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Braves, only. The situation remains dire!
Padres 89-66, +3.0, 100.0% Playoff Odds (+0.1%)Diamondbacks 87-68, +1.0, 93.4% Playoff Odds (+1.5%)Mets 86-69, —, 69.2% Playoff Odds (+2.0%)-----------------------------------------------------------------Braves 84-71, -2.0, 40.9% Playoff Odds (-3.4%)
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