Well that was certainly fun, wasn’t it? Series finale notwithstanding, the Atlanta Braves did exactly what they needed to do against the Philadelphia Phillies in order to essentially close the door 99 percent of the way on the NL East. This was a massive series where the Phillies honestly needed nothing less than a sweep and a series win was the bare minimum.
While the pressure was on the Phillies, the Braves still all of the incentive in the world to essentially finish things with a strong performance
in the weekend series. Sure enough, the Braves got the job done — both in dramatic fashion and dominant fashion in the two wins that they picked up. Now it’s time to go into detail as to how Atlanta was able to pull it off. Let’s get into it, folks.
Friday, September 11
Braves 6, Phillies 5
This was quite possibly the most exciting win of the season when you consider the opponent, the circumstances and the implications for the rest of the season. The Braves trailed in the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings but still came out on top in improbable fashion.
This had to have been an incredibly painful way to drop a game for the Phillies since it honestly felt like a golden chance for them in a series where they could ill afford any setbacks. Derek Hill hit a bases-clearing double in the second inning to go up 3-1 and Aaron Nola did his part to make sure that that lead held up.
Philadelphia’s lead held up until the ninth, which is when a base knock from Mike Yastrzemki gave them some life and then Derek Hill misplayed a ground ball in center field that allowed pinch runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to speed around the basepaths to score the tying run. The Braves had two outs to potentially end it right there but Jonathan Bowlan got out of it for the Phillies and so we went to those fateful extra innings.
Justin Crawford came through with a pinch-hit single to put the Phillies back in front? So what? Mauricio Dubón’s sacrifice fly brought pinch-runner Brewer Hicklen home from third base to cancel it out. Luis Arraez somehow (and frustratingly) went the other way on a 99-mph pitch inside from Didier Fuentes to put the Phillies up again? Who cares? Ha-Seong Kim came up huge against Brooks Raley with Atlanta down to their last out in order to tie the game up again. That set the stage for Drake Baldwin, who lined a gapper out to right center for a walk-off double that shook Truist Park to its core.
Saturday, September 12
Braves 12, Phillies 2
Hoo boy, did this feel good or what? It especially felt good to see the Braves lay the smack down on the Phillies after what happened in the first inning. Perhaps Bryce Harper and the Phillies were still feeling some type of way after both Friday’s contest and Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s extended home run trots because Harper took his longest trot of the season after he hit a dinger in the first inning. It felt like the Phillies had thrown down the gauntlet and were reminding Atlanta that they were still here to fight for this division, no matter what the odds said.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Atlanta proceeded to bring the boom once the fourth inning rolled around. With Jesús Luzardo scratched from this start, the Phillies were going with a bullpen game in this one and the fourth inning saw Brooks Raley take the baton from opener Tim Mayza. Raley then proceeded to receive a rude welcome to the game after Ronald Acuña Jr. decided to show Harper what a real home run trot looked like after he hit a dinger of his own.
That was only the beginning of the carnage in the bottom of the fourth inning, as a combination of good hitting and overall poor performance from the Phillies both on the mound and on defense led to this being a breakout inning for the Braves. Once the smoke cleared, Atlanta had put up eight runs on the board and considering how Tyler Mahle was going, this one was essentially done once that crooked number went on the scoreboard.
This went so poorly for Philadelphia that they had gone to Garrett Stubbs for relief work in the seventh inning. Garrett Stubbs is not a pitcher and the Braves lineup essentially took turns trying to take potshots at Stubbs while he was out there for 1.1 innings. Michael Harris II was the one who got the big knock, as he tagged the right-field pole for a three-run dinger that put icing on the cake for a beautiful series win for the Braves.
Sunday, September 13
Phillies 9, Braves 4
Considering what the divisional odds currently look like, I was half-tempted to simply put ‘Who cares’ in this section but alas, I have to document this contest for due diligence. This one was a 2-2 game heading into the eighth inning but you could argue that the Braves should’ve had more than those two runs at that point. Atlanta left 11 runners on base and only went two-for-eight with RISP. In fact, the Braves had a chance to go ahead in the seventh when Atlanta had two runners in scoring position with two out. Ozzie Albies flew out harmlessly and the Braves ended up rueing that missed opportunity in the immediate near future.
That’s because Philadelphia put a seven-spot on the scoreboard in the eighth inning. Dylan Lee gave up four runs on four hits and things didn’t get much better for the Braves when Victor Mederos entered the game. Mederos gave up three runs of his own and once the smoke cleared, Atlanta found themselves in a seven-run hole right after they had an opportunity to go up.
Atlanta didn’t go down quietly, as Matt Olson did give the Phillies a two-run dinger as a parting gift but they didn’t go out loudly enough to make a serious comeback. Again, the Braves didn’t necessarily need this one for the division but it sure would’ve been nice to see Atlanta finish this one off with their brooms. Instead, they just had to settle for the series win — and five out of seven against the Phillies here in September. Sweet.
So at the end of this run of seven games out of 10 between these two divisional foes, our Braves ended up coming out of it as the clear winners. They got the split in Philadelphia across four games and then they won the series here in Cobb County. The Braves now have a five-game lead (essentially six thanks to the tiebreaker) with 12 games left to play — there would have to be a disaster of mammoth proportions in order for the Braves to not enter the Postseason as NL East champions.
Atlanta did exactly what they needed to do across these two series in order to tighten their grip on the divisional lead and now they are in a fantastic position as far as that race goes. FanGraphs now has Atlanta at a 99.2 percent chance of winning the division and PECOTA has it at 98.1 percent. The divisional advantage is clearly in Atlanta’s hands as the season starts to wind down.
At this point, the main question has to be whether or not the Braves can catch the Dodgers for the second seed in the National League. Atlanta is two-and-a-half games behind the Dodgers in the standings (and again, you can make that one-and-a-half thanks to the tiebreaker) and while the schedule is certainly in LA’s favor (the Dodgers have four games with the Reds, six games with the Giants and three games with the Padres in between their two series with San Francisco while the Braves have to face the Cubs, Astros, Reds and Marlins), I’m not going to say that this particular race is over.
The Dodgers just got done dropping a series in Miami (which should serve as a warning to the Braves with a trip to Miami looming) and they haven’t exactly dominated the Giants this season. They have had success with the Reds and the Padres, so there’s that. The point is that the Braves have no reason to take their foot off of the gas.
Thanks to their efforts this weekend, they’re getting closer and closer to finishing off the division and they’re still within striking distance of getting one of the top-two records in the National League. There’s still plenty to play for between now and the end of the month and the Braves have played themselves into really good shape here in the halfway point of the final month of the regular season. Let’s see what happens going forward!
