The Braves’ wild-card lead vanished Tuesday, and their playoff hopes were flushed away Wednesday.
After closer Craig Kimbrel blew a save in the ninth, the Philadelphia Phillies scored on Hunter Pence’s two-out single in the 13th inning for a 4-3 win to end the Braves’ season and complete the worst September collapse by a National League wild-card leader.
Up by 8-1/2 games on Sept. 5, the Braves lost their final five games, 13 of the final 18 and 20 of their last 30 to finish 89-73, a game behind St. Louis for the wild card.
“Our slump combined with the Cardinals playing really good baseball in September, you’ve got a shocking situation," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "Having such a big lead and then sitting here after No. 162 and not being in the playoffs is a tremendous disappointment."
St. Louis beat Houston 8-0 on Wednesday and won 16 of its last 21 games. The Cardinals trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 25.
"We fought and we fought hard, I really can’t fathom it," Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said of the team's September swoon. "We went out there every day battling and came up on the short end of the stick. The Cardinals took care of business."
Their season is finished, while the Cardinals advance to a division series against Philadelphia beginning Saturday.
Aging Braves reliever Scott Linebrink gave up a walk and two singles in the 13th inning, the last a two-out bloop to the right side of the infield by Pence that drove in the go-ahead run.
“I’m proud of the club," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We battled today. The ball that Pence hit, you couldn’t throw it or place it any better. And they got the win. It’s a good club over there, but I’m really proud of our club, the way we battled. We had an opportunity to play for tomorrow, but it didn’t work out."
Kimbrel gave up three walks, a hit and the tying run in the ninth for his second blown save in his past three appearances. Kris Medlen bailed him out without further damage, and the Braves kept it there for another three innings before Linebrink entered.
He tied for the NL saves lead with a major league rookie-record 46, but Kimbrel blew three of his last six save opportunities and showed signs of fatigue from his season-long heavy workload. He insisted fatigue had nothing to do with it and that he let adrenaline and emotions get the best of him Wednesday.
"Everybody on this team showed up to play today and gave everthing they could to win this game, except myself," Kimbrel said. "I didn’t go out there and pitch to my abililty. Part of being a closer is being able to bottle up your emotions and harness them, and I didn’t do that today, and I let the team down.”
Teammates said Kimbrel was being way too hard on himself.
"We wouldn’t be here without him," said Braves veteran Tim Hudson, who allowed six hits and two runs in 6-1/3 innings and was in line for the win until the ninth inning. "He’s been a stud all year, one of the best closers in the game this year, probably rookie of the year. He’s unbelievable. Great teammate, great kid, works hard.
"He just had one night where it didn’t fall in place for him, and it just happened to be the last game of the season. But we wouldn’t be here without him."
A win would’ve pushed the Braves into a wild-card tiebreaker Thursday night at St. Louis. Instead, they are left out of the playoff picture and undoubtedly will spend much of the offseason and spring explaining what went wrong and how they blew such a big lead in Gonzalez’s first season after replacing retired icon Bobby Cox.
“It’s cruel, because probably nobody in Atlanta sports is probably under as much scrutiny as he is filling in for Bobby Cox," Jones said. " o have it slip away in late September, it’s cruel. It’s really cruel. It’s not indicative of the way this team played, the way he managed, and what we deserved in this situation.
"But baseball’s like that. It’s kind to you one day and fickle the next.”
Dan Uggla’s two-run homer gave the Braves a 3-1 lead in the third inning, and it looked as if Hudson and the bullpen would preserve it.
“We all thought it was going to be our night as soon as we got to the yard today," said Uggla, who hit a career-high 36 homers in his first season with the Braves. "Everybody was loose, same way we always were in the clubhouse. Once we tied it up and the homer put us up, Huddy can take of the rest and we turn it over to the bullpen and they take care of the rest.
"But this [Philadelphia] a tough team, man, they put together good ABs on a consistent basis. It just so happens they got a couple guys on and put together some more good at-bats and got a run across. Then did it again in the 13th."
Jonny Venters got what would have been one of biggest outs of the Braves season by striking out Raul Ibanez with bases loaded to end the eighth inning and protect a 3-2 lead, drawing a huge roar from a crowd of 45,350.
But the Phillies mounted another threat against Kimbrel in the ninth, this time punching through. Placido Polanco had a leadoff single and Ben Francisco a one-out walk.
Kimbrel had a 2-2 count on the next batter, Jimmy Rollins, before walking him to load the bases. Chase Utley followed with a sacrifice fly that brought in the tying run, and Kimbrel was replaced after Pence drew the third walk in a four-batter span.
Kimbrel was pulled and replaced by Medlen, who had made just one seven-pitch relief appearance since returning from a 13-month rehabilitation following ligament-transplant elbow surgery.
Medlen got the job done, inducing a pop foul by Michael Martinez to end the ninth with the bases loaded and scored tied, then pitched the 10th and struck out Carlos Ruiz after giving up a two-out single. He got four outs in 16 pitches (12 strikes).
Venters and Medlen issued a combined five walks in two innings, and Venters also hit Ryan Howard with a pitch.
When the Cardinals’ win over Houston ended more than an hour before the Braves’ game ended Wednesday, it dropped the Braves a half-game behind St. Louis — the first time the Braves had trailed in the wild-card race since June 8.
Hudson limited the Phillies to two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, but the Braves couldn’t hold them off and lost their last seven games against the Phillies to finish 6-12 against the NL East champions.
Jones had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and Uggla hit a two-out homer off Cole Hamels in the third to put the Braves ahead 3-1. Hamels pitched three innings in a tuneup for the playoffs, after Joe Blanton started and went two innings.
Hudson gave up a two-out walk and Ryan Howard’s RBI double during a 26-pitch first inning, but the Phillies advanced just one runner past second from the second through sixth innings.
Hudson gave up consecutive singles to start the fourth, then worked out of a jam with two groundouts and a strikeout to preserve a 3-1 lead.
He ran into trouble in the seventh after Ibanez doubled and Polanco singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Carlos Ruiz hit a grounder that caromed off shortstop Jack Wilson for an error and an RBI, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Major league ERA leader Eric O’Flaherty entered and did what he’s done all season, inducing an inning-ending double play from Shane Victorino.
But of the Braves’ vaunted “O’Ventbrel” relief trio, only O’Flaherty finished the season strong without showing signs of wear in September.
