Coming into Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night in Philadelphia, the Braves had struggled to do what they led the MLB in during the regular season – scoring runs.
Finishing the season leading the league in hits, runs, home runs (tying the MLB record), RBIs and batting average, the Braves managed to string together just seven runs through four games in the series with the Phillies and now will join the other 100-win teams that have been bounced from the playoffs this postseason.
Led by Bryce Harper, Trae Turner and Game 4 hero, Nick Castellanos, the Phillies sent the Braves packing for the second consecutive season. The Braves are now 1-6 in Philly during the playoffs and Philadelphia becomes the first team in MLB postseason history to beat the same opponent in consecutive postseasons after having 10-plus fewer wins than the opponent both times.
Castellanos also becomes the first player in postseason history to achieve back-to-back multihomer games as he finished the deciding game 3-for-3 with two solo homeruns, one day after going 2-for-4 with another pair of solo shots.
After getting steamrolled in Game 3, the Braves got on the board first in Game 4 when Austin Riley got a hold of an 0-2 changeup from starter Ranger Suarez with one out and sent it 346 feet over the left field wall to put the Braves up 1-0.
Unfortunately, for Braves fans, Castellanos continued his hot streak when he stepped to the plate the following inning and sent the first pitch he saw, an 86-mph slider from Spencer Strider, down the left field line and just cleared the foul pole to even the score up 1-1.
Phillies SS Trae Turner hopped on another first-pitch slider from Strider in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the lead 2-1. Turner finished the game 4-for-4 with the homerun, a double and a pair of singles.
Another Castellanos homerun to left field in the bottom of the sixth put the game further out of reach and ended the night for Strider. Strider exited with 5.2 innings pitched with 7 hits, 3 ER, 7 K and 3 BB.
The Braves did have an opportunity to take control in the top of the seventh when, trailing 3-1 and after a series of walks loaded the bases, NL MVP favorite Ronald Acuna Jr came to plate to face Phillies reliever, and former Braves closer, Craig Kimbrel. Acuna managed to work the count to 2-2 before flying out to deep center field to extinguish the rally and end the inning.
All hope was still not lost as the game headed into the top of the ninth. With two outs and runners on the corners, Braves SS Vaughn Grissom saw his first action of this postseason but struck out swinging on a slider low and inside to send Atlanta home for the holidays and the Phillies on another trip to the NLCS where they’ll take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Atlanta will surely find little consolation in not being the only regular-season heavyweight already out of these playoffs. The teams with the five best regular-season records — the Braves, Orioles (101 wins), Dodgers (100), Rays (99) and Brewers (92) — all failed to reach the LCS.
So, after a 104-win season that basically saw the Braves lead the division wire-to-wire, they have now lost 10 of their last 11 elimination games and will take the next several months to wonder what went wrong after another empty postseason.