Braves manager Brian Snitker spoke following Tuesday’s 7-6 loss to the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Truist Park.
Here is what he said:
Q: The drop in velocity, what did you see from (starter) Max (Fried) today? Did you think it was just a little bit time off or the lingering stuff from the flu or whatever?
A: Probably all the above, really. I asked him after the fourth, when he came off. He went down, and he was mad and everything. I just wanted to make sure he was OK physically. And he just kind of wasn’t firing today, pretty much.
Q: When you don’t -- leave the bases loaded twice, not getting the big hit?
A: We had him on the ropes. He was struggling, too. We just couldn’t get a big hit. We had the decks stacked in our favor three times against him. And we just couldn’t -- they got big hits, and we didn’t.
Q: Can you blame that on the layoff at all?
A: No, I don’t blame it on that, no.
Q: When you are the team that gets all the big two-out hits throughout the season, or runners in scoring position, it’s one of those games that’s how you have to look at it?
A: As I said, as of right now, just like I say, we had the guys on and just a two-out hit here and there. As I said before, they got them and we didn’t. But we certainly gave ourselves a chance to do something big there, we just couldn’t get a big hit.
Q: Back to Max, what was the conversation like? What did he say to you in that moment?
A: I just wanted to make sure he was OK, that it wasn’t anything with his arm or anything like that. I just don’t know if there was in the tinder box in there firing a little bit. It was probably time off, the sickness, whatever. So we really, through that part of the lineup, we tried to get him through one more, really. And in the past he’s been able to do that, but just wasn’t working for him today.
Q: When you’re talking about the sickness, was it the flu or stomach bug?
A: Yeah, he had the flu, the last game he pitched against the Mets. But he’s been doing everything, throwing his sides. Did all the drills, did everything. Just didn’t happen for him today.
Q: Big picture, I know you obviously would have wanted to take this one. Last year against the Brewers, as far as the five-game series and the shift of mindset or that kind of thing?
A: Good to see us come back, rally there. At that point in time, in a game like that we’re looking for any positives we can. And to come back, cut it to a run, with (Matt Olson’s) homer and all that, that’s good stuff because like I say we have to win three more games. But it’s good to see like they’ve done for the last few years. It’s never over until it’s over, and they keep fighting, and we did again today.
Q: What did you make of what Acuña was able to do?
A: In what respect?
Q: Just being able to get on base, lead off those innings?
A: He had a nice day. Like I said earlier, probably the days off did him good just to get off his legs and let things calm down. When he’s got his legs under him, he’s very, very dangerous in all the areas.
Q: Seeing this team often during the season, how different do you think the defense looks at this point versus when you saw them earlier in the year, the defense for Philly, just in general?
A: You know what, I’d praise it. They’ve done a good job I think of bringing a lot of their young prospect-type guys up here. I think they’ve helped this club. They’re good players. And they’ve helped make this a good defensive team. It’s a good club. They’ve been a good club all year. They’re a scary team, offensively. They’ve got great approaches. They don’t have to -- they go with the pitch. They exploit a shift. I mean, they’re a very, very dangerous offensive team. And they’re catching the ball.
Q: When you have to dip into the bullpen early there, how vital was it to have that time off like you guys did for the longevity of the series?
A: It was good, and it did a lot of those guys good to get out there, too, because you look at it, and we’re going to play again tomorrow, and we’ll have another day off (Thursday). As we do, we’ll lean on them. But I think it was good because getting to this point, we roughed those guys up a lot. They pitched a lot of big innings for us. I think it was good for them to have that time off.
Q: How did Spencer (Strider’s) side (throwing) go over?
A: It was good. He’s good, felt great. Again we’ll just check with him tomorrow after that and kind of go from there and kind of formulate a plan for him.
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