MIAMI – At one point on Sunday, you might’ve wondered: Is this it? Is this where the Braves’ season effectively ends?
The Braves were on the edge of disaster. They cannot afford any loss right now, but this one might have essentially slammed the door on their postseason hopes.
And, in the end, they were winners of a 5-4 thriller at loanDepot park, one full of twists and turns, ups and downs. It felt like they saved their season.
“That was just one of the harder-fought games that I think I’ve been a part of in a long time,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That was pretty good, how them guys just kept stepping up.”
When the Braves recorded the final out, the Mets hadn’t yet played – which means Atlanta’s win brought it within 1 1/2 games of New York, pending the Phillies-Mets series finale.
Five observations:
1. As Raisel Iglesias jogged out to the mound, the game, and probably the season, hung in the balance. He had to protect a one-run lead in a must-win game.
It is the type of situation that makes September baseball so thrilling, but also so gut-wrenching for fans.
“Thankfully, I felt really good,” Iglesias said through interpreter Franco García. “I was just kind of riding the momentum of pitching (Saturday). I feel like the more I get to pitch, the better feel I have and the better I feel when I go out.”
In the eighth inning, Iglesias gave up two singles, but stranded both runners. Then he retired the Marlins in order to earn his 32nd save.
This was Iglesias’ fifth time pitching two innings this season, but his first doing so in regulation. In the four other times, he threw the ninth and 10th innings.
“For me, it feels like we’re already playing in the postseason,” Iglesias said. “When we showed up in Miami, we knew how important these games were. It already has a big playoff atmosphere to it, so to me they’ve already felt like postseason games.”
On Sunday, he entered for the eighth. The Braves needed six outs to best position themselves for the upcoming series against the Mets, which will all but decide their postseason fate.
Once again, Iglesias showed his selflessness.
“I mean, it’s just the kind of guy he is,” catcher Sean Murphy said. “He wants to win. There’s not a lot of closers who go two innings as often as he does. …It’s so nice to have a guy at the back end who can do two.”
2. In a one-run game in the seventh, the Marlins loaded the bases on Aaron Bummer on a single and two balls that didn’t leave the infield. The Braves were on the edge of the cliff.
They needed another Houdini act.
They got it.
Bummer struck out one batter. Then Snitker called on Daysbel Hernández for the biggest spot of his young career.
“I love the competition,” Hernández said through García. “It felt good that I was given an opportunity in that situation, in a high-leverage, important situation like that. When I go out there, I’m always gonna give my best effort.”
He struck out one batter. Then a hard-hit liner went right at Eli White in right field.
“He’s built for that,” Murphy said. “He’s got big stuff. You see him running in, you’re like, ‘This is a guy who can get us out of here right now.’ We were in a bad spot and Daysbel was up, and came in, attacked guys, threw strikes and ultimately executed.”
With Hernández’s help, the Braves escaped unscathed.
“I’m grateful,” Hernández said. “I’m grateful that I was used in that situation. I knew this was a big game for us, I knew this was a game that we needed to win. To be able to pitch in that, I’m happy and I’m glad that it all worked out. I’m going to be ready – no matter what situation or how they want to utilize me, whatever they need from me, I’m gonna be ready to go.”
3. The crazy part: That seventh inning was only one of the Braves’ escape acts. Another one, in the fifth, helped them survive – at least at the time.
In that fifth inning, the Marlins had runners on second and third with no outs. Atlanta led by a run. The game could’ve spiraled then, but Dylan Lee entered and got two strikeouts and a groundout to keep Miami off the board.
Fans may forget about Lee because he returned in the sixth and gave up back-to-back solo shots that tied the game. But make no mistake: His fifth-inning mastery helped Atlanta prevent this game from getting away.
“I mean, you’re sitting there, you’re like, ‘All right, maybe let’s hold it one, manage it, because we’re in a bad spot,’” Murphy said. “And then Dylan came in and got those three outs. And it’s so hard to get those outs and go back out and (pitch) another one. I know he’s not happy with what he did today, but I mean, he picked us up big time. It could’ve gone way sideways.”
4. As it turned out, the deciding run came in the top of the seventh, when Jorge Soler grounded a ball to the pitcher. It should’ve ended the inning.
The baseball gods gave the Braves a lifeline.
The reliever, Declan Cronin, couldn’t handle it. A run scored. The Braves were on top again.
Before that, Ozzie Albies homered in the first, then Michael Harris II and Matt Olson both drove in runs in the fifth. In the sixth, Gio Urshela homered for the second time in as many days.
“That’s a grind-it game,” Murphy said. “Used the whole bullpen. It’s back and forth. They never rolled over on us. They could’ve, but they came back and hit those two home runs (right away), and made that thing tight all the way through. That was a great game. It’s just one of those ones that’s fun to play and more run to win.”
5. The Braves could’ve had Chris Sale start Tuesday’s game against the Mets, which would’ve made him available for the regular-season finale if they needed him to start that game.
Instead, they’ll throw Sale on Wednesday.
“Just kind of like where we were, getting him an extra day,” Snitker said. “They’re all gonna pitch. We were going over it all morning – what would the best option be? And (we) talked to the guys, and they’re all really good with it.”
The Braves will start Spencer Schwellenbach on Tuesday, Sale on Wednesday and Max Fried on Thursday for a series that will almost certainly decide whether they play in October or not.
In his last start, Sale’s fastball velocity was down – perhaps a sign of some late-season fatigue. But Sale said pitchers feel better on some days than others.
Still, the Braves are giving him the extra day before his next start – which means he only has one start remaining in the regular season. They won’t throw him twice.
“We thought about that, but it’s like, Schwellenbach is throwing the ball really good,” Snitker said. “They’re both gonna pitch. That’s just kind of what we came up with.”
The Braves, currently behind the Mets, control their own destiny because if they can sweep New York, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for the third and final wild card spot.
Stat to know
1.78 - Iglesias has a 1.78 ERA over 65 2/3 innings this season.
Quotable
“These are big games – all of them are big games that we’re gonna play. We’ve got six more and they’re all gonna be big. We’re gonna come up Tuesday and try and go 1-0. But it’s good to take this series – and I mean, the last one (against the Reds) was a tough series to take, too.”-Snitker
Up next
Tuesday’s game begins at 7:20 p.m.
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