Cub! Sometimes you are the Mauler and other times you are the one who is repelled. The Atlanta Braves have now experienced both ends of that battle on consecutive days, because they followed an eruption victory in Miami with an eruption loss in Philadelphia against the Phillies, 19-4
The first inning was a wonderful thing for the Braves, when Aaron Nola started an unusually bad start (at least against Atlanta. Phillies fans are probably used to this season). Jurickson Profar got things going with a single, Matt Olson then ran, Drake Baldwin tore a one-out single to load the bases and then Ozzie Albies took a basic loaded walk (!) To put the Braves on the board. Michael Harris II then immediately followed that with a single to make it a 3-0 game and it just seemed that the Braves were in use and the Phillies sputtered. The always patient and always quiet fans in Philadelphia fascinated their own team, as usual. The vibes were excellent even after Ozzie Albies was thrown away to steal home on a “double stealing”. This looked like it might have been fun! How naive was I!
Then Cal Quantrill took the hill and the Phillies came to the Battle and things immediately went aside. Kyle Schwarber started his historic Home Run Rampage by hitting one in his first battle and that was the first of three dingers that Quantrill would only give up in the first inning. As soon as the smoke had disappeared, it was 5-3 Phillies and all good vibes from the first inning were completely disappeared.
That was especially the case because Aaron Nola eventually settled and got six innings under his belt while he only got four hits. De Braves met Nola’s 2025 version in the first inning, but for the rest of the game they got the version of Nola that she usually tormented in the course of his career. On the other side of things, Quantrill only went 3.1 innings, but managed to squeeze nine hits and four home runs in nine. For those who keep track of at home, 19 Phillies is more than 10.2 innings against Quantrill this season. Yes.
Anyway, two of those four gayers who gave up quantrill were hit by Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber was then nowhere close, while he hit another in the second half of the fifth inning and then wrote history by crushing his fourth Homer of the Night with a dinger from Wander Suero in the seventh inning. In fact, Schwarber could have demonstrably made an even greater MLB history by beating five in one night, because he eventually got a battle against Vidal Bruján (who, I remind you, is not a pitcher). Instead, Bruján did what Cal Quantrill, Austin Cox and Wander Suero (who are pitchers) could not do this night and that is Schwarber in the margin. Schwarber certainly hurled for the fences, but Suero let him stand out and that was how his enormously successful night ended.
By the time the Phillies were ready, they had 19 runs on the board after crushing seven dingers in the night, because JT Realmuto and Bryce Harper both got their licks, because there is no such thing as an embarrassing loss for the Braves for the Phillies without those two are involved. The three runs that the Braves scored in the first inning looked like they would be everything she wrote for this, but Matt Olson showed a number of signs of life while hit a Nola pendant over the fence in the right-hand center for a solo shot. Besides that game, this game was all Phillies because the Braves were completely unable to keep track of Philadelphia in this.
The hope was not particularly high for Cal Quantrill in this and unfortunately he ‘exceeded’ the expectations with the way he was blown up by the Phillies tonight. The Pitching Staff of Atlanta also made an unfortunate history, because since 1948 they became the first professional baseball team to give up four home runs to one player in one game twice in the same season. Yes, I wrote “Professional” because This includes every level of pro -baseball. The pitching of Atlanta has had some struggles this season and the valleys are as low as you could ever understand (credit to Jacob Pomrenke for Dig up that specific gem).
There is no other choice then to go again, because the Braves will now turn to Bryce Elder to stop the bleeding while he will get the start tomorrow night. In related news I now count the minutes until Chris Sale returns to the hill.
#Braves #Piloried #Phillies