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Atlanta Braves Are Eliminated and Embarrassed

By Deke Lloyd

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 08: Manager Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves looks on as the Braves take batting practice prior to the start of Game Four of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field on October 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 08: Manager Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves looks on as the Braves take batting practice prior to the start of Game Four of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field on October 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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The Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the playoffs when the team lost in embarrassing fashion to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5. After the follies of Game 4, the Braves have only themselves to blame.

Game 5 was over before it even got started. In the top of the first inning, the St. Louis Cardinals hung a 10 run inning on the Atlanta Braves. Mike Foltynewicz was chased after only recording one out. Max Fried, on in relief, did his best to salvage a terrible situation, but gave up four of the ten first inning runs in his appearance. It was an absolute catastrophe.

With the loss, the Cardinals advance to the NLCS to face the Washington Nationals while the Braves will be going home to lick their wounds. A season with so much success and progress ends in a fiery crash that will stick in the minds of the Braves players, organization, and fans for a long time to come. Now, the Braves have an entire offseason to try to shake off this ugliness that took place on Wednesday.

With the season over, the Braves now have to shift to offseason mode. One decision was already made for the Braves when Brian McCann announced his retirement after the game. It was about the worst possible way for McCann, similar to the way Chipper’s career ended, to wrap up his 15-year career as a catcher. It’s a shame McCann didn’t get to help bring his hometown a championship but he will always be remembered as one of the greatest players to be on a Braves uniform.

Josh Donaldson, Julio Teheran, and Nick Markakis all come to mind when thinking of the offseason. Those three players will likely have played their last game’s ever in a Braves uniform. Donaldson, a free agent, is the most likely to come back but yesterday’s result could have left a bad taste in his mouth. Teheran and Markakis, for different reasons, will be gone most likely.

For now, it’s hard not to wallow in the misery of being an Atlanta Braves fan. After the loss, it will drive you crazy to think about the Braves having the lead in the 8th inning in Game 1 and Game 4 only to lose those games. It will make you sick to think why Mike Soroka only started one game in this entire series, the Braves best pitcher this season and in the series. This series with the Cardinals will be a hard one to shake from the mind.

There will be a lot of time this offseason to speculate and theorize on what the Braves will do with their offseason moves and how they will spend their money. However, for today, we should all just sit back and try to remember what a great season this was. Try to remember the young core that makes up this team. The Braves window is wipe open going into next year. With that said, it’s okay to be miserable today. We all are.

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