PHILADELPHIA – When the Braves arrive at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, they will fight to save their season.
The Braves lost to the Phillies 9-1 in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Friday. The Braves trail the best-of-five series 2-1 and will be eliminated with another loss. Charlie Morton will start for the Braves in Game 4.
Here are five observations from Friday:
1. The Braves often talk about their grit and determination, their resiliency and fight, their poise and focus. We constantly praise their ability to overcome adversity and perform in the most important moments and games.
Saturday will test it all.
The situation is simple: The Braves must win consecutive games or their season is over.
“At the end of the day, we’ve won two games in a row plenty of times,” Dansby Swanson said. “I think it’s just about playing better baseball, and we have plenty of guys on this team that are really good baseball players. We’ve done it before, and I’m confident we’ll do it again.”
The outlook is not friendly: The Braves are 2-9 in postseason series when they lose Game 3 to go down 2-1, with neither of those two wins coming in a division series – both came in seven-game series. The last time the Braves won a series after going down 2-1 with a Game 3 loss was in 1996, versus St. Louis.
In the regular season, the Braves won 101 games and captured a fifth consecutive National League East title. Many players had outstanding individual seasons. The franchise kept cementing itself toward the top of the sport.
The Braves now are facing elimination.
“Huge confidence,” Travis d’Arnaud said. “We’ve won two games in a row before. We all believe in each other, we’re all still pulling on the same side of the rope. We know what the situation is, and we’re all going to be ready to go tomorrow.”
2. As Spencer Strider walked off the mound, pandemonium raged on around him. He had quieted the Phillies’ offense, and the crowd, for two innings before the home team erupted in the third inning.
“I was gonna pitch until they took the ball away and try and put up zeros,” Strider said of his plan. “Same as always.”
The Phillies blew up the Braves’ plan. After the game, manager Brian Snitker said the Braves hoped Strider could go four innings. The right-hander didn’t complete three. The Phillies jumped on him, his velocity dipped and the Braves found themselves in a six-run hole.
In his first career postseason start, Strider was charged with five earned runs over 2-1/3 innings.
Strider walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the third. One batter won a nine-pitch battle and hit a run-scoring double to right field. Another blasted a three-run homer. The game got away then and there.
He insisted he felt fine physically in his first time pitching in almost a month after suffering an oblique strain.
Of his expectation for Friday, Strider said: “Execute and put us in a position to win, and I didn’t do that.”
3. After crushing Strider’s fastball for a three-run bomb, Rhys Hoskins spiked his bat. The stadium shook.
Strider grooved that fastball right down the middle. It flew in at 93.8 mph, making it the slowest fastball of Strider’s season. The righty didn’t have a reason for his velocity dip, which began in the third inning. He sat around 98 before the third, then registered some 96s before the 93.8.
“No, I have no idea. I felt fine,” Strider said about the velocity dip. “Didn’t want to throw a ball that slow necessarily, and then right down the middle as well. So, throw it 91 or 101, you throw it right down the middle, they usually hit it.”
The key at-bat might have been when Bryson Stott fouled off four consecutive pitches before hitting an RBI double. The leadoff walk didn’t help. And then Strider gave up a single after the homer before Snitker pulled him.
“As good as he was throwing,” Snitker said, “we thought we could skate him through.”
4. Phillies starter Aaron Nola held the Braves to an unearned run over six innings.
In this series, Swanson is 2-for-12 with five strikeouts. Austin Riley is 1-for-12 with four strikeouts. Michael Harris is 1-for-11, though he did drive in the Braves’ lone run Friday.
The Braves need more hitters to step up.
5. Two years ago, Morton became the first pitcher in history to win five elimination games in his career.
In potential elimination games, Morton is 5-0 with a 0.73 ERA over 24-2/3 innings. His postseason success has, in part, defined his illustrious career.
“He pitches a spring training game the same way he pitches a big moment,” Swanson said. “He’s the same guy, really, each and every day. It’s impressive.”
Stat to know
3-18 – In the Braves’ win, they were 3-for-4 with RISP. In two losses, they’re 3-for-18.
Quotable
“Backs against the wall. We all know that. I think every baseball fan knows that. We’re going to be ready to go and give it all we’ve got.” – d’Arnaud
Up next
On Saturday, the Braves will face Noah Syndergaard, who has a 3.96 ERA over 10 starts (52-1/3 innings) against the Braves in his career.
