An eventful Monday at Truist Park ended with the one result the Braves needed: After losing an 8-7 thriller in the first game, the Braves defeated the Mets 3-0 in the second contest to qualify for the postseason.
Here are five takeaways from Monday:
1. The Braves finished the regular season 89-73, earning the No. 5 seed. This marks their seventh consecutive postseason appearance. It’s their first as a wild card during that run.
“I’m proud of these guys, the staff; it takes a whole building to make something like this happen,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It feels really good. It’s really satisfying and I’m just so proud of the whole group. Hopefully we take a little nap here and get after it again tomorrow.”
They’ll face the No. 4 seeded Padres in the best-of-three Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday in San Diego. The winner will take a short trip to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in a best-of-five National League Division Series.
“We just have to go play baseball,” second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “They have talent and they’ve got good players, but we’ve just got to go play baseball as hard as we can.”
Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna: “They have a good team and so do we. We’re going to compete. It’s going to be a good series.”
The Mets, meanwhile, head to Milwaukee for a best-of-three series. If they upset the Brewers, they’d face the Phillies in the NLDS. Certainly, the Braves have an uphill battle ahead of them after Monday’s exhausting developments. But they expect to ride this adrenaline over what they hope is a lengthy playoff run.
“There’s going to be enough adrenaline to go around for everybody,” first baseman Matt Olson said. “Playoff baseball is why you do 162. You go out and play meaningful baseball. To have a chance to win a World Series, we ain’t worried about 18 innings today or a flight. We’re going to go play.”
2. Grant Holmes, who’s been so pivotal in a dual starter-reliever role, started game 2 instead of ace Chris Sale, who was scratched from the must-win contest with back spasms. Holmes excelled against an unmotivated Mets team, allowing one hit and striking out seven in four innings.
It was a superb performance from Holmes, who didn’t know he was starting until 35 minutes before first pitch. He’d thrown 21 pitches Sunday. It was a career highlight for Holmes, who spent a decade in the minors before emerging as a key contributor this season.
“I just went out there and tried to do what I could,” Holmes said. “This is what I worked for. Just a surreal moment. I’m super grateful and blessed. Thankful.”
Starter Reynaldo Lopez also gave the Braves a scoreless inning, getting deployed as a reliever during his side session day. The Braves pitched Joe Jimenez and Raisel Iglesias in both games, so both would presumably be unavailable for Game 1 Tuesday. But the team had to do what was necessary to qualify.
3. The Braves and their fans endured plenty of stress in game 2, though. The Braves’ offense was shut down by Mets starter Joey Lucchesi, with the club managing only one run over six innings. It finally broke through in the seventh when – who else? – Ozuna’s two-out single scored two runs to make it 3-0.
Ozuna has carried a flailing offense for much of the year, so perhaps it’s appropriate that in the most crucial spot, he delivered.
4. There were 10 runs scored in the eighth inning during the first game. The Mets, after trailing 3-0, surged ahead 6-3. The Braves retook the lead at 7-6 before Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer sent the Mets to the playoffs. The Braves were left in a difficult position, especially after the Sale news, but did enough to advance.
“Got our feelings hurt a couple times in that first (game),” Snitker said. “So it was nice how they bounced back. … A lot (of emotional swings). A roller coaster.”
5. Sale is expected to miss the Wild Card Series, Snitker said.
“Chris, at the end of the day, there were many times he was ready to go,” president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. “He’s been ready to go the entire time. All our starters throughout the year are dealing with stuff. Chris has said he’s pitched with way worse.
“But at the end of the day, worst that can happen is he goes out there for an inning, two innings, three innings, and it’s not good – we have to qualify for the postseason – we lose him for the postseason or he’s impacted for next year. It ends up becoming an issue with his arm or something. It just didn’t make sense to end up doing that.”
Sale finished as the National League’s triple crown winner, leading the NL in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225). He’s favored to win his first Cy Young award, about the only achievement missing from his decorated resume. But his absence, along with the Braves using their best relievers Monday, will make for a challenging start in San Diego.
Stat to know
7 -- This is the Braves’ seventh consecutive postseason appearance, their longest such streak since winning 14 straight division titles from 1991 through 2005.
Quotable
“I feel like a lot of clubhouses could shut down with the stuff we were going through, the kind of ball we were playing. But we have a bunch of guys who’ve been in here and won. They know what it takes. You can’t just drag your blanket around and feel sorry for yourself. You have to move on and get a win. It wasn’t clean this year for us, but we got in. It took us 162 (games) but we got in and we’re ready to roll.” - Olson
Up next
The Braves open the best-of-three Wild Card series Tuesday in San Diego. The Braves haven’t announced their pitching plans.
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