ATLANTA — One could make the argument that Ronald Acuña Jr. single-handedly delivered a 4-3 loss to the Phillies on Saturday night. He gave the Braves a 2-0 lead with a first-pitch home run off of Aaron Nola in the bottom of the third, and then tacked on two more runs with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the fourth. But the wreckage didn’t end there.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with one out and Bryson Stott on third base, Acuña fielded a sac fly from right field and fired a laser home that clocked in at 105 mph. Stott narrowly avoided a tag.
A few at-bats later, Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The reigning NL MVP hit a line drive to right field, which seemed like it would score at least a run or two, but, instead, scored none as Acuña made a leaping grab to end the inning.
So yes, that argument certainly could be made. But the Phillies did show some fight, even if it took them a while to do so. Their offense recorded only two hits and one run against Braves’ starter Jake Odorizzi, who entered the game with a 4.15 ERA, but showed more spark against the Braves’ relief corps. In the top of the seventh inning, Matt Vierling, who opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly, drove in Bryson Stott with an RBI double to left field off of Collin McHugh. And in the top of the eighth, Stott hit an RBI single to center field to score Harper. By the top of the eighth inning, the Braves’ lead had been whittled from 4-0 to 4-3. Braves closer Kenley Jansen shut the door in the top of the ninth to end the ballgame.
The Phillies have shown the ability to bounce back after soul-crushing losses and were hoping to do same on Saturday night, but, despite their efforts, they ultimately were unable to do so. They’ll try to avoid the sweep on Sunday, against Spencer Strider — which will not be an easy task.
Nola’s line deceives in a good start
Some might chalk up Nola’s outing as another chapter in his book of September woes after glancing at his line, and, to be fair, it wasn’t pretty. The starter allowed four earned runs off through seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts and one home run. But all of those earned runs came from Acuña, and they weren’t necessarily scored off of bad pitches.
The first home run that Acuña hit came off of four-seam fastball that just nabbed the edge of the strike zone. The double came off of a knuckle curve that, again, just fell inside the strike zone.
To be fair, Nola didn’t set himself up for success by allowing a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies in the bottom of the third, which gave the Braves a 2-0 lead, as opposed to a 1-0, lead when Acuña took his fastball deep. But, all in all, it wasn’t a bad outing. And the right-handed pitcher got better as the game went on. He allowed no hits or walks from the fifth inning on.
Good night for the day care
All of the Phillies runs on Saturday were scored by their younger players: Vierling, who is 26 and is in his second big league season, and Stott, who is a 24-year-old rookie. Vierling finished his night 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Stott 2 for 3 with an RBI. Stott also took some good at-bats, including a 10-pitch battle in the top of the third.
