Baseball games are often decided by which teams does the most "little things" right. Getting extra outs here and there, maximizing matchups, and slight improvements in execution can be the difference between a heartbreaking loss and a season-defining win. The Atlanta Braves were fortunate enough to be on the right side of things on Tuesday night against the Phillies.
The Braves desperately needed to get off to a good start in this series. Their lineup is in shambles after losing Austin Riley in addition to all of the other guys on the IL right now and there was a real chance that the team could go into a tailspin. While getting back Reynaldo Lopez was great, it sure didn't help matters that Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler was on the mound for Atlanta's division rival.
Fortunately, some good fortune finally went the Braves way as not only did Ramon Laureano parlay some adventures in right field in the ninth into key outs to seal the Braves' win, but the Phillies made a truly disastrous bullpen decision that gave Atlanta some much needed breathing room late in the game.
Rob Thomson's decision to leave Jose Alvarado in too long helped Braves seal crucial win
To be fair, the Braves had to play their brains out to be in the position to take advantage of the luck that came to them. Lopez was tremendous in his first start back from the injured list while striking out 10 batters in five innings of work. The bullpen was lights out once again and Marcell Ozuna had a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning. Going 1-8 with runners in scoring position wasn't great, but Atlanta did just enough to carry a lead into the late innings.
In a tight game, facing Jose Alvarado is normally a tough assignment as he has been one of the Phillies' best relievers the last couple of years even if his habit of stopping games to repair mounds to his liking is incredibly annoying. However, Alvarado has been very vulnerable in the second half of 2024 and the Braves took advantage of the opportunity in the eighth inning.
After Ozuna drew a leadoff walk, Alvarado got two outs relatively quickly before things went off the rails. Alvarado would walk Jorge Soler (who made a surprise cameo appearance) and Orlando Arcia to load the bases. Any sane manager would have seen that Alvarado didn't have and had thrown too many pitches. However, Phillies manager Rob Thomson chose to leave the lefty and clearly gassed Alvarado in to face the newly signed Gio Urshela. Five pitches later, Urshela had drawn yet another walk and the Braves got a free run.
One batter too late for Rob Thomson to take Jose Alvarado out.
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) August 21, 2024
Right now, the #Phillies just can't trust him to get a big out in October.
Perhaps the Phillies just didn't have a better option for that situation or they arrogantly assumed that things would just go their way since they are atop the division right now. Whatever the reasoning, Alvarado ended up throwing 34 pitches (including just 14 strikes) in a loss and almost everyone is wondering what the Phillies were thinking. Given the Braves' luck this year, we'll take it.