The Atlanta Braves fell to their division rival Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 in the first game of the National League Division Series on Tuesday afternoon. The team played their first meaningful baseball since clinching the National League East seven days ago (Oct. 4th) against the Miami Marlins, and it showed.
The Braves had five days off between games, while the Phillies are fresh off an emotional two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies looked like the white-hot team that left Busch Stadium in the early innings, jumping out to a fast 7-1 lead in Atlanta.
Max Fried got the afternoon started by allowing two runs in the first frame, despite starting off with two quick outs, on four consecutive singles. The Phillies swung early and often, tagging the Braves' ace with eight hits and six runs to only one strikeout in 3.1 innings pitched.
"I put us in a big hole right away," Fried told the media after the game. "They came out swinging and had a really good approach. Frankly, I just didn't do my job today."
The bullpen was able to come in and right the ship for Atlanta. In their 5.2 innings of work, they held the Phillies to one run on four hits, while striking out seven.
On the other side of things, Ranger Suárez danced on a razor's edge by walking a career-high five Braves in 3.1 innings but ultimately held Atlanta's bats to a singular run from Travis d'Arnaud's second-inning home run.
Despite being able to get runners on base to finish innings with runs on the board. That is, everybody not named Travis d'Arnaud. The Braves catcher accounted for the team's first, and only, three runs before this blast from Matt Olson cut the deficit to one run in the ninth.
"We just couldn't get the big hit," Brian Snitker told the media after the game. "They got the big hits and we didn't."
The Braves were a miserable 0-for-7 before their late rally in the ninth. Meanwhile, the Phillies were 5-for-12 in such situations.
The Braves ultimately fell one run shy of a comeback, after an unbelievable Nick Castellanos diving catch in right field and a subsequent groundout that ended the game. The hope is certainly that the Braves will be able to pick up where they left off tomorrow in a critical game two, but the momentum is certainly favoring the Braves after taxing a much shallower Phillies bullpen and tagging them for five runs, with three in the final frame.
The one-game deficit is also not unfamiliar territory for the Braves.
Just last season Atlanta found itself trailing the Milwaukee Brewers after their first game in the Divisional Series, and the Braves were able to rally and win that series. All is not lost, and momentum might be favoring the Atlanta Braves, but here comes Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola for the Phillies.
First pitch for game two is set for tomorrow at 4:35, and Kyle Wright is expected to take the mound for the Braves against Zach Wheeler.
