Speechless. Last year the Braves ran out of gas of injuries decimated their lineup. This year, injuries to their starting pitching, and an overtaxed bullpen that was brilliant just 6+ weeks earlier, failed the Braves.
For the Braves, this one might hurt as bad as all those postseason losses in the 1990s and early 2000s.
They were 10½ games ahead of St. Louis before play on Aug. 26. They were still up by 8½ games on the morning of Sept. 6. Instead of popping champagne for a second straight trip to the playoffs, they became the first team in major league history to squander a lead of at least eight games for a playoff spot in September.
They had some company a short time later when Boston did the same in the AL, also blowing a ninth-inning lead. But that was of little consolation in Atlanta.
Even if the Braves somehow managed to win, I think they still would have fallen today in a pre-Wild Card ‘win and you are in’ playoff against red hot St. Louis.
