‘Gruesome’ series leaves Braves with sinking feeling in Philadelphia again

PHILADELPHIA — The Atlanta Braves have the pending National League Most Valuable Player in Ronald Acuna Jr.

The Atlanta Braves have the should-be National League Cy Young Award winner in Spencer Strider.

The Braves were the winningest team in the regular season, going 104-58, finishing 14 games ahead of their nearest NL East opponent … the Phillies.

The Braves’ .276 team batting average was by far the best in baseball. They were also first in home runs (307, tying the most in baseball history) and RBIs (916) and OPS (.845).

They had probably the best starting arm in the majors, and certainly more lineup firepower than any club, one through nine.

And here they stood in the visitors clubhouse moments after an exhausting 3-1 loss to the Phillies in the fourth and final game of the National League Division Series, the second straight season they went out in four games in this round at Citizens Bank Park.

What the … and how?

“Baseball’s a gruesome sport,” Atlanta’s Austin Riley said after a game in which his homer accounted for the Braves’ lone run. “And I guess we’re crazy to play it.”

Meanwhile, down the hall and around the basement bend, the Phillies were going crazy again, celebrating a second straight series win, a second straight playoff upset of the team that largely tortured them in the regular season. The Braves won eight of the 13 games played between the teams during that regular season.

So what changed again?

“I think they’ve got a lot of energy, they’ve got a lot of confidence,” Strider said of the Phillies. “We are a really good club and come into the park every day over the course of the year, letting our talent come out. But I think that in the postseason, in such a confined sample size, you’re tossing a lot of those long-term things out the window. And like I said, we’re going to have to change or improve the way we focus and prepare for the postseason. There’s just no other way around it. That’s a tough reality to confront, but that’s the only way we’re going to change the results.”

It seemed clear at this midnight hour following another disastrous playoff night for the Braves that it was Strider feeling the brunt of the loss perhaps more than any other teammate. He did it, however, with clear-eyed talk of the future and a conviction that he somehow could have, should have altered the outcome.

And yet the bashball Braves hit all of .186 as a team in the series. The Phillies clocked in at .274. The Braves had three home runs … the Phillies 13. It was the second straight series that the talented but unusually upstart wild card club these Braves know oh so well reared up and reversed regular season trends against them.

And had a blast doing it.

“We’ve got a really talented group, but they are tough and they have really short memories,” Phils manager Rob Thomson said. “Short memories for negative things and long memories for positive things. And they just come out and they fight every day. I love being around them, they have a lot of fun, but when it’s game time, they’re focused and they compete.”

It’s precisely what Strider said the Braves didn’t do. Not last year, not this year.

“The confidence we play the game with is fun, something I’m happy to be a part of,” Strider said. “I think we have all the pieces necessary to keep that trend going. But obviously, we’re going to have to make an adjustment with the way we handle the postseason and the way we focus and prepare for it. We’re going to get to work on that when we get out of here.”

Along the way, he could reflect on his one NLDS appearance last year, when the Phillies ganged up on him. Strider allowed five earned runs on three hits, one a homer, and two walks in only 2.1 innings pitched.

But this time, he combined for 12.2 innings pitched over two outings, allowing but four earned runs (2.95 ERA) … but also four homers, three of them coming in this elimination game.

“I had everything I needed to be more effective and win the game for us and I didn’t do it,” Strider said. “I can say that about two games this series. So if anybody’s looking for someone to blame, they can blame me. And I’ve got a year to get back to this position and I know I’m going to put in the work to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.”

It’s that approach that the Braves know they all have to take, especially if fate brings them another postseason match with these same Phillies.

Asked what he thinks could make a difference for his team going forward, Braves reliever A.J. Minter referenced the party down the hall and said, “Just watch the celebration.”

“I felt like we were the best team,” Minter said, “but like I said, it’s not always the best team that wins. We didn’t stand up and finish the job. You’ve got to show up to win and we didn’t do that.”