The Braves made two spectacular defensive plays.
The Phillies failed to make a routine play.
Therein lies much of the difference in the Braves’ 3-0 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. The best-of-five series now moves to Philadelphia tied 1-1.
The left side of the Braves infield came up with two key defensive plays, as shortstop Dansby Swanson and third baseman Austin Riley made big catches. Each stalled any potential Phillies rally and kept all the momentum with the Braves, not to mention giving the Truist Park crowd plenty to cheer about.
Swanson ran into no man’s land in left center field to catch a pop fly off the bat of Bryson Stott with two outs in the sixth inning. He dove for the ball over his shoulder. Look for it on all the sports highlight shows.
“Well, I was trying to throw a flag on myself because I feel like I made it look way harder than it needed to be,” Swanson said. “I was running out there, and I felt like, maybe because it was it was a breaking ball, but it kind of like kept spinning away from me. And I slowed down just enough to check (left fielder Eddie) Rosario to see where he was so that we didn’t have a collision. And once he just kind of looked at me, like, hey, brother, it’s yours or nobody’s, I just went for it.”
Riley turned and ran back to track down a foul pop off the bat of J.T. Realmuto with one out in the eighth inning. He crashed into the tarp and held onto the ball as it nearly escaped the webbing of his glove. Look for it on all the sports highlight shows.
“I’ll say his was better,” Swanson said. “I didn’t have to dodge a tarp. But I mean, the guy -- once again, very under-appreciated defender, a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. The guy’s a gamer.”
According to Statcast, Swanson covered 80 feet to make his catch, and Riley covered 90 feet to make his. OK, maybe the nod goes to Riley.
“Both of those plays were definitely key,” Ronald Acuna said. “They don’t make those plays, maybe it’s a different score and a different result.”
Braves starting pitcher Kyle Wright said he has come to rely on the defense behind him.
“For me, defense is everything,” Wright said. “I get a lot of ground balls. For me, that’s my best friend is a good defense. I try to get guys to put it on the ground. When they make catches like that, that’s good, too. That’s been one of my biggest weapons this year, I believe, is the defense.”
On the other end of the defensive game was the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins. The first baseman failed to get in front of a Matt Olson smash in the decisive sixth inning. Olson’s hit brought home the first run in the three-run inning that proved to be all the scoring in the game.
“I think if you asked Rhys he would say he should make that play,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I don’t know whether he didn’t get a good read off the bat, but it’s probably a play you should try to front, keep it in front of you if you can. I don’t know whether he had time to do that or not. I think if you asked Rhys he would probably tell you he should make that play.”
Riley followed Olson with an RBI single. Travis d’Arnaud followed with another. That capped the Braves’ three-run inning in which they had three of the four hits they would have all night. They all came with two outs.
In a game where the Braves once again came away with a victory with clutch two out hits, defense was key. Just watch the sports highlight shows.
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