Dodgers, Rockies square off today for chance to meet Braves
PHILADELPHIA — The NL East champion Atlanta Braves are set to open the playoffs on the road.
All they need is an NL West champion to play.
Needing at least a victory to have a shot at home field in the National League Division Series, the Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 Sunday in their regular-season finale.
In addition to winning their game, the Braves needed the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers to both lose Sunday in order for Atlanta to secure home-field advantage for the best-of-five NLDS. The Dodgers and Rockies both ended up winning big, setting up a one-game playoff to decide the NL West today.
Atlanta’s second straight loss in Philadelphia made those results inconsequential to the Braves.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said he’ll watch the NL West-deciding game, which is set for 4 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN, like a regular fan.
“I don’t have a pick one way or the other,” he said. “I’m just glad we’re going to play Thursday.”
Cesar Hernandez hit a leadoff home run, and Rhys Hoskins’ RBI double in the fifth inning helped a Phillies team that was 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5 finish with 80 wins.
Not gaining home-field advantage for the NLDS was a mild disappointment to the rebuilding Braves, a surprising, resounding success this season under Snitker. The Braves were expected to need at least another season to contend for a playoff spot.
Instead, veterans such as first baseman Freddie Freeman and right fielder Nick Markakis teamed with young stars including second baseman Ozzie Albies and left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. — a rookie of the year contender — to make Atlanta the first NL team to win 90 games after three successive seasons of at least 90 losses.
“I’m happy for all the guys in there that endured all that,” Snitker said.
There’s more work ahead before they play the Dodgers or the Rockies. Snitker said he’ll meet with coaches and other members of the organization today to determine the
25-man playoff roster. Shortstop Dansby Swanson’s sore left wrist may keep him off it, though he took some swings Sunday and continued to receive injury treatment.
With or without him, the Braves are in the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
“It’s a good feeling what we accomplished this year — where we came from, where we started to where we are right now,” Snitker said. “There were multiple boxes we needed to check along the way here, and we did. It’s very gratifying. I’m proud of the guys in that room and how they carried themselves and showed up to play every single day.”
Markakis led the way there, becoming just the fifth Brave since 1962 to start all 162 games, and Freeman led the NL in hits with 191. He’s the first Atlanta player to do that outright since former third baseman Terry Pendleton had 187 hits in 1991.
Kevin Gausman (10-11) took the loss in his first start since Sept. 20 but settled down after Hernandez’s leadoff homer.
“I just kind of grooved that first pitch in there,” he said. “I mean, it was right down the middle.”
Atlanta’s Sean Newcomb retired two batters in the sixth in the first relief appearance of his MLB career. Newcomb went 12-9 in 30 starts this season and had started all 49 of his previous big league appearances.
Phillies starter Ranger Suarez struck out five in three innings — and hit a stand-up triple for his first MLB hit.
Tommy Hunter (5-4) earned the win in relief for the Phillies, and Seranthony Dominguez recorded his 16th save to end a season in which expectations for the Phillies soared in early August only to become unraveled in one of the bigger — but not close to the biggest — late-season collapses in team history.
The Phillies went 17-34 after they were 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5, but rookie manager Gabe Kapler said 2019 could be a special season if his key players continue to improve — something to think about in a pivotal offseason.
“It’s going to include probably a lot of thinking about the Phillies,” he said.