The Phillies BROKE The Braves

The Atlanta Braves, man. What a weird, strange, crazy, interesting, wild, fascinating franchise. They seem to be in the midst of another 90s to early 2000s-esque run, winning a lot with a championship to show for it, but leaving you with a feeling that they should have won more, because here they are again, coming off of 6 consecutive division titles, and a solid shot at 7 straight trips to the playoffs, but you can't help but think things just look bleak. On the surface, they don't, but when you polish off some of that dust, it does show. And at the end of it all, there doesn't seem to be many issues with the Braves, but instead there's one big issue, a recurring common denominator, Philadelphia. Two years ago, everything seemed normal and trending forward for the Braves, they just won their first championship in 21 years, and although Freddie Freeman was gone, the Braves' new first baseman, Matt Olsen, was just as effective, and Atlanta won more than they did in 2021, racking up over 100 wins for the first time since 2003, getting the tiebreaker and winning the division. The Mets, having to settle for a wildcard spot, would lose in that round, so there would be no potential matchup between them and the Braves, but there still ended up being an NLS showdown, with Atlanta going on to face the Phillies, and at first glance, there wasn't too much reason to believe the Braves wouldn't win this series. The Braves finished 14 games ahead of the Phillies in the standings, a team that snuck into the postseason for the first time in over a decade, and the Braves also bested them in their head-to-head matchups that season, but the Phillies came out swinging, jumping ahead 7-1 at one point, and although the Braves did put up a fight, the Phillies held on to win game one, but after shutting the Phillies' offense down in game two to send the series back to Philly tied, I think the Braves were back to being favored to win, but everything changed once that plane landed in Philly. The Braves barely put up a fight in either of these games, it was a complete bloodbath between themselves and what looked like a team that just simply wanted it more in Philly, just straight up dominating and electrifying their home crowd, showing the Braves just how much the regular season mattered at that point, by sending them home not for a game 5, but for the season. It really did feel like the Braves almost didn't truly realize how bad the Phillies wanted it, and as a result, they got socked in the mouth. But then comes 2023, and the Phillies went on to win 3 more games than they did in 2022. The Braves, despite losing another long-time player in free agency, this time being Dansby Swanson, same, they won 3 more. So the standings in that way didn't change at all, except this time, what did change was the Braves steamrolling to a division crowd with nobody close to them. It really didn't get more dominant from the Braves in 2023, especially with the offense, with the lineup from top to bottom doing historic things. Ronald Acuna Jr. was the MVP and did things nobody had done before. This was somehow an upgraded version of a team that already felt upgraded the year before, but here they were, and for round 1 of the postseason, take 2 with the Braves. The Braves were hungrier this time, and not only that, they knew what they were getting with the Phillies. It didn't matter that they finished 14 games ahead of them again in the standings, nor did it matter that they won their regular season series against them again. It's a clean but short slate, here we go again. And, well, yeah, here we go again, because the exact same thing ended up happening. The Phillies took game 1, shutting out the historic Braves offense, and looked to be taking a 2-0 series lead this time back to Philly, until the Braves made a comeback late, taking the lead and doubling up Bryce Harper to end the game. And that ended up being the worst thing to happen for the Braves, because, yeah, it may have ended the game and gave them a win, but that play, along with Orlando Arcea mocking Harper in the clubhouse afterwards, something that the media leaked, which is why the public found out about it in the first place, led to Harper going off in game 3 back home, going deep twice and staring down Arcea as he routed second base both times. Deja vu, Phillies crushed the Braves in game 3 and take a 2-1 lead in the game 4. And although this wasn't a blowout either, like the game 4 from a year before, it still ended all the same in a Phillies win. Three straight innings of solo home runs off of Spencer Strider, two off the bat of Nick Castellanos were enough to put the Braves to bed for good. And just like that, after all the wins, all the offensive accolades, all the hype, everything Acuna did, the Braves season was done, and even more painfully, by their same division rival again. And at this point, as a Braves fan, a Braves player, a Braves whatever, you just gotta tip your cap to the Phillies and call them your daddy until further notice, because that's just the reality, and as we stand here today, that remains the reality. The aftermath has not treated this team kindly. First it was Spencer Strider, after coming into 2024 with Cy Young expectations his elbow started barking, elbow surgery out for the year. As if that seemed as bad as it could get, Ronald Acuna Jr., the MVP, someone who missed the second half of their championship season in 2021 after tearing the ACL in his right knee, would then tear the ACL in his left knee. That almost sounds like a joke, but that's exactly what happened, and the state of the Braves' health this year has pretty much been a joke. So your MVP and Cy Young caliber starter are done for the year. Anyone next? Well I'm glad you asked! Oh it was sarcastically? Too bad, more guys got hurt. Ozzy Albies would break his wrist while making a tag during a game. About a month after that, Austin Riley then broke his hand after a 97 mile an hour fastball hit it during a game. AJ Minter, one of the team's best relievers this year, had to get season ending surgery to repair a left hip impingement. Speaking of the pitching, Chris Sale has been an absolute godsend for this team this year. After a pretty miserable few years in Boston, full of injuries and just not looking like the Chris Sale we all know and love, he's back to being the Chris Sale we all know and love after getting traded to Atlanta. Basically just transforming back to that guy and is on pace to finally win his first Cy Young award, something that seems way overdue. Where would the 2024 Braves be without Chris Sale? It's scary to think about, as most of the rest of the team has just either been hurt or not the same, but one thing does remain the same, that recurring common denominator I mentioned earlier, the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies this season, instead of waiting until the postseason to strike, have now taken another step of being ahead of Atlanta by now doing so during the regular season. They've been in first place for the vast majority of it, and the Braves, with all their injuries and unfortunates this year, haven't looked to be a true threat for the division. But this last series they played against Philly, the last one they'll play against them, at least during the regular season in 2024, was the perfect chance to set things right for themselves, to make things interesting and look a little more like the Braves we've gotten used to over the years. Sure, they're not going to truly look like those Braves until they get their stars back, but this was their chance to creep closer and at least make Philly sweat, something that team hasn't ever seemed to do against Atlanta. The two teams are separated by five games, it's a four-game series, so even more of an opportunity for the standings to change for the better or worse for both sides, and game one started out just how Atlanta wanted it to. Orlando Arcea would smoke one into the gap to drive home Harris, another injured player this year, home to jump up early. And then Matt Olsen said hello, hitting a bomb in the center field for two more and then again in the sixth, hitting one out to the bullpen to make it 4-0. Meanwhile, Charlie Morton is dominating on the mound. Everything is going smooth until all of a sudden, the Phillies get within just one after a Brandon Marsh fly ball the left just kept on carrying. One inning later, the man who played a big part in kissing the Braves goodnight a year ago, Nick Castellanos, goes deep to center with a man on. And what seemed like five minutes after the Braves looked to be cruising to a win, the Phillies now had the lead and would keep that lead, slamming the door on the Braves offense for the last two innings to get the series opening win. Game two was like if game one stayed the way it was for the first five and a half innings, Orlando Arcea took a move out of Olsen's playbook and went deep twice himself, Sean Murphy also hit one out, Braves put up seven, and a couple of solo homers by the Phillies was all they got. So back to five games that separate the two, and as frustrating as that game one loss was for Atlanta, they still had a chance to leave Philly only behind them by three games. But game three shattered those hopes and dreams. The Phillies would get to Max Fried for a couple of homers, as Zach Wheeler dominated. Seven innings, seven strikeouts, not much noise from the Braves bats, and that would last all game, getting shut out, and now they're just trying to fight to keep the division deficit where it was at when the series began. The Braves jumped out two to nothing, and things were looking good until Braves killer Nick Castellanos came through. But instead of hitting homers this time, he'd drive into every Phillies run on base hits, smacking a two-strike, two-out double to tie it in the sixth, and then doing it again with two outs and two strikes now in the 11th inning, smoking one up the middle to walk Philly off to begin the month of September. And with that, the Phillies are back to running away with the division crown, an accomplishment that would be the franchise's first since 2011. Now at this point I think it's pretty clear that winning the division doesn't matter in the grand scheme of trying to win a World Series. Sure it helps, but the Phillies took down the Braves twice and were wildcard teams both times, who finished 14 games back of the Braves both times. So winning the division of course is not everything, but in the case of the Phillies and Braves, I think there is something to it. The team that has been the kryptonite for Atlanta in October ever since they won their championship is now on the way to breaking their consecutive run of division titles. It's fitting. The Phillies just continue to get the upper hand in this battle, and nothing is changing. Baseball is crazy and you truly never know what can happen, but as of right now, I think it's pretty clear that the Phillies not only own the Atlanta Braves, but they broke them too. Let me know your thoughts and thank you for watching.