PHILADELPHIA — After the game, the Braves tried to find ways to describe the indescribable. They never saw themselves in this position.
After so much winning and so many accomplishments, their season is over.
The Braves lost to the Phillies, 8-3, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves lost the best-of-five series 3-1.
Here are five observations:
1. In their clubhouse, the Braves grappled with reality: The team they thought could win it all did not do so. Faces they have seen every day may never be in that room again.
“We just hate for it to end this way,” Michael Harris said.
The Braves won 101 games. They captured a fifth consecutive NL East title, the longest active run of division crowns in the sport. Some players will win awards.
But they all wanted to hoist a trophy again.
“They should be very proud of what they did this year,” manager Brian Snitker said. “You just never know where the postseason is going to take you and what’s going to happen. But we had a really strong year. The goal was to get into the postseason. We did, and it didn’t happen.”
2. Momentum might be real. It’s impossible to quantify with a statistic, but the Phillies possessed something else – an extra edge – in this series against the Braves, who entered the postseason as the NL’s No. 2 seed.
“They’re a hot team,” Robbie Grossman said. “You could just see (that) everything they were doing was falling into place.”
“Well, we ran into a really hot team, pretty much,” Snitker said. “They were hitting on all cylinders. They were playing great baseball.”
The Phillies have a certain feel to them. Everything is working. Things are breaking right.
Remind you of anyone?
Last year, the Braves had a similar run.
“Man, they played a good series,” Matt Olson said. “They had really good at-bats the entire time; their pitching was good. Their bullpen arms did a great job, too. …They were kind of doing the little things and doing the big things together. It’s like we couldn’t get anything rolling, really.”
Could the Braves feel this momentum?
“You know, I think so,” Kyle Wright said. “They played great baseball.”
3. The Braves agreed on something.
“They outplayed us,” Dansby Swanson said.
“They played great baseball,” Travis d’Arnaud said. “They beat us. It’s as simple as that.”
“They just outplayed us,” Collin McHugh said.
Combined, Max Fried, Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton allowed 12 earned runs over 7 ⅔ innings across three games. Only Wright pitched well.
On the flip side, the Phillies’ pitching staff held Atlanta’s dangerous offense to seven runs over the final three games. The Braves’ only lead in this series came in Game 2, when they scored three sixth-inning runs and held on to win.
4. In Game 4, Morton, known for his success in elimination games, escaped a jam in the first. The Phillies had runners on the corners with no outs, but Morton didn’t fold.
In the second inning, he hung a curveball and Brandon Marsh launched it 398 feet for a three-run shot. The place went nuts. It foreshadowed the end of the Braves’ season.
“I mean, losing stinks – especially when you have a chance to finally taste the win,” Morton said. “The loss, it’s tough to watch, it’s tough to be here and see the other team win.”
In this series, the Braves hit .180. It’s probably easier to recall the hitters who didn’t struggle because it’s a much shorter list (d’Arnaud, Olson and Orlando Arcia).
The Braves’ three runs Saturday came on three solo homers – one from each of the players mentioned above.
Those who struggled will have a long winter to think about it.
“It’s tough,” Austin Riley said. “I want to help this team more than anything. I didn’t. That’s going to be a tough pill to swallow this offseason.”
5. This team should have opportunities to win titles for years to come.
This season, the Braves gave extensions to multiple players. They have a talented core. They return a lot of pieces.
“Obviously, a special group here,” Olson said. “You don’t just run into 100 wins during a season. Obviously, we didn’t continue it the way we wanted here in the postseason, but a good, fun group.
“Not the end we wanted here.”
Stat to know
1998-2000 – With the Braves eliminated, the 1998-2000 Yankees are still the last team to win consecutive World Series titles. They won three in a row.
Quotable
“Like I told (the team), the goal when we leave spring training is to win the division. Until you win the division, you don’t have a chance to do anything special because you never know what’s going to happen, you don’t know what team’s going to get hot, what things have to go right for you to go deep into the postseason. And we got in. It didn’t happen for us this year.” – Snitker
Up next
The Braves will report to North Port, Fla., next February. Until then, they will work to strengthen their team over the offseason.
