The Braves lost NLDS Game 3 to the Dodgers 3-1, and now they are staring down elimination on Wednesday. Talk about a gut punch, especially after splitting the road games and having everything set up for them back home: their ace on the mound, a packed house, and a perfect 74-degree night. Atlanta had it all, then slipped just once and, suddenly, the season is on the brink.
Chris Sale Got Grinded Down Hard
Diagnosing what went sideways for Atlanta in this one is not hard. Chris Sale, who absolutely dominated in the wild-card series against Philadelphia, took the mound on full rest. He struck out seven batters over five innings, which sounds decent, right? But the Dodgers absolutely grinded him. Braves manager Walt Weiss said they did a “nice job of really grinding the at-bats and passing the baton,” forcing Sale to “work hard to get the outs that he got.” He went deep into the count on practically every batter, and by the fourth inning, the Dodgers had seen enough.
Sale threw 95 pitches in just five innings! Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers star, later said that “getting Chris Sale out of the game after five innings is a huge win no matter what the score is.” Sale himself admits he made “two bad pitches” that wound up in the Truist Park seats. Kiké Hernandez absolutely hammered a 92-mph inside changeup 406 feet, scoring Andy Pages. Just two batters later, Freeman turned on an inside sinker to make it 3-0, and that was all the Dodgers needed. Sale summed it up: “One bad inning ruined the whole game.” He even thought the pitch to Freeman was “pretty good,” meaning Freddie either saw it out of the hand or was just looking for it. Ouch.
Where’s the Batting?
It was not just Sale’s tough outing that sunk the Braves, though. The offense was ice-cold. They just could not match the Dodgers’ fireworks at all, perpetuating a brutal run of hitting that is now seriously threatening to end their season. Austin Riley sounded frustrated in a quiet locker room after the game. “We’ve just got to get some key hits in key moments and get guys comfortable. It’s as simple as that,” Riley said. “We had some opportunities tonight and just didn’t get it done.” The Braves probably could have even weathered a slightly subpar outing from Sale if the bats had shown up, but they just did not.
The Whole Vibe Was Off
You could feel the bad vibes all game in Atlanta, both on the field and in the stands. The source even mentioned this bizarre fan race against “The Freeze,” where a guy in a Ronald Acuña Jr. jersey outran him for a surprisingly long time, only to face-plant on the warning-track dirt right as The Freeze cruised past him for the win. Talk about a metaphor for the Braves’ night, right? Even the fans seemed off, making the wrong choice in the cap shuffle game. The stadium PA had to blast “make some noise!” trying to fire them up, but the energy just wasn’t there.
So, here we are. The Braves are down, facing elimination on Wednesday. Can they somehow find those key hits? Can they turn the tide against the Dodgers? It’s do or die time, man.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply