The Braves hoped to begin their World Series title defense in a different way.
They lost to the Phillies 7-6 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Truist Park. The Braves missed tons of opportunities in the loss.
Here are five observations:
1. Baseball can be rather complex. Its intricacies might be difficult to understand, and numbers often define anything and everything.
Sometimes, the sport is simple.
Tuesday provided an example: The Phillies collected five two-out RBIs, while the Braves left the bases loaded twice in the first three innings.
“It just happens,” Dansby Swanson said. “It’s a tough game. They capitalized, we didn’t. It’s pretty simple.”
That this area took center stage in the loss was rather surprising. In the regular season, the Braves ranked second in all of baseball in team OPS with runners in scoring position and two outs. The Braves were third in OPS with runners in scoring position.
They usually crush opposing pitching in these situations.
In the first four innings, they left seven men on base. They couldn’t make Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez, who was not sharp, pay.
“We had him on the ropes,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He was struggling, too. We just couldn’t get a big hit. We had the decks stacked in our favor three times against him. And we just couldn’t -- they got big hits and we didn’t.”
2. This much was clear: Max Fried was not himself.
It might have been lingering effects from a bout with the flu, though Fried wouldn’t say so because he didn’t want to make excuses. Regardless, he didn’t execute as well as he would’ve hoped.
“It’s just one of those days he didn’t have his best stuff,” Travis d’Arnaud said. “He tried to go out there and battle and stay out there as long as he could and keep us in the game, but unfortunately, it didn’t go the way we wanted.”
Fried was charged with six runs – four of them earned – over 3-1/3 innings. It marked the shortest postseason start of 11.
Also notable: Fried’s fastball, which averaged 94 mph this season, averaged 92.7 mph Tuesday. Was it time off? Was it the effects of the flu?
“Probably all the above, really,” Snitker said. “I asked him after the fourth, when he came off. He went down, and he was mad and everything. I just wanted to make sure he was OK physically. And he just kind of wasn’t firing today, pretty much.”
3. When Matt Olson blasted a ball that sailed over the center-field wall, it looked as if this might be another classic Braves win and another signature Phillies meltdown.
“It was close,” Olson said. “Figured it’d be good enough to get in a run.”
Instead, it scored three. The Braves had a chance. Down six runs at one point, they trailed by one.
The next two Braves made outs.
“At the end of the day, you’ve just got to play well,” Swanson said. “I didn’t think today we played particularly our best. We did in moments, but not for all nine innings. We gave ourselves a chance at the end, but weren’t able to come through at the end.”
4. D’Arnaud was a bright spot in the loss. He was responsible for three runs – one on a solo homer, the other two on a two-run double.
The Braves think their late rally might be momentum heading into Game 2.
“That’s kind of what we’ve done all year is never give up until the last out,” d’Arnaud said. “For us to put up three in the last inning shows everybody that we’re not going to give up until the last out.”
“I figured that question was going to be coming up,” Olson said with a chuckle.
The question: Did the five-day layoff affect the Braves?
“It’s a fair question,” Olson said. “I don’t feel like it was a big thing. But we typically don’t get that kind of break at all during the season. I felt everybody was prepared, we had some good workouts, we stayed ready. I didn’t feel like it was a big issue.”
Asked if the break had anything to do with Tuesday’s loss, Snitker said: “No, I don’t blame it on that, no.”
5. The Braves must move forward. They have been resilient all season.
They’ll need to display that again Wednesday.
“I feel like this team’s always been good at responding well,” Swanson said. “Tomorrow’s another opportunity for that. We’ve done it throughout this year, we obviously did it last year. Tomorrow’s a new day, and we’re going to be ready for it.”
Stat to know
3 - d’Arnaud is the only Braves catcher with a three-RBI game in the postseason since 2005, when Brian McCann did it versus Houston.
Quotable
“We had the guys on, and (it would’ve taken) just a two-out hit here and there. They got them, and we didn’t. But we certainly gave ourselves a chance to do something big there. We just couldn’t get a big hit.” - Snitker
Up next
Kyle Wright will face the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler in Wednesday’s Game 2, which begins at 4:35 p.m.
