It’s hard to envision a more dramatic late-August, early-September series than the rival Atlanta Braves visiting the Philadelphia Phillies, with the latter leading the NL East but swiftly losing that advantage. The Phillies entered the opening of four games against the Braves on Thursday night with a mere five-game lead in the division.
And it appeared that Atlanta was threatening to cut it to just four games early.
In the middle of the sixth inning, the Braves held a comfortable 4-0 lead thanks to two Matt Olson moonshots and an RBI double from Orlando Arcia. Unfortunately for Atlanta fans, manager Brian Snitker performed the wrong type of magic, particularly with his pitching staff, from that point forward.
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Brian Snitker, manager of the Braves, gives the Phillies a win in the NL East war.
Charlie Morton, who had previously pitched five shutout innings, gave up a leadoff single to Nick Castellanos, then struck out Bryson Stott before allowing another single to J.T. Realmuto. With two men on and one out, lefty Aaron Bummer was warming in the bullpen when Brandon Marsh batted. And, as David O’Brien of The Athletic noted out, Marsh had struggled terribly against left-handed pitchers up to that point, with a.532 OPS in 74 plate appearances.
Rather than pulling Morton and going with Bummer for that favourable matchup (despite the fact that Bummer is somewhat better versus right-handed hitters this year), Snitker kept Morton in the game. Marsh hit a three-run homer on the second pitch of the at-bat. Even stranger, Snitker withdrew his seasoned starter after the next out to insert Bummer to face Kyle Schwarber.
That home run was the beginning of the end for the Braves. It energized the Philadelphia fans at Citizens Bank Park, which translated into a two-run, go-ahead home run by Nick Castellanos in the following inning. That result stood, with the Phillies prevailing 5-4. Instead of reducing their rivals’ division advantage to four games, Atlanta helped increase it to six.
Snitker has justifiably come under fire this season for managerial decisions such as this one. He has been over-managed in the past and, in this case, has failed to make the obvious move. That’s the last thing his team can afford after what they’ve been through this year.
The Braves have struggled with injuries this season, missing Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, and Spencer Strider. That’s a difficult task for any team to overcome, but it’s nearly impossible when Snitker is actively harming the cause as well.
Perhaps Atlanta fans might find comfort in the fact that they still have a three-game lead for the National League’s final wild card slot. I doubt it, however, given that as recently as the top of the sixth inning of Thursday’s game, another division title appeared to be within grasp.
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