The Atlanta Braves surprised everyone after they won the first two games of their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The offense and pitching exploded and Atlanta looked the most complete they have in a while. Chris Sale's start on Saturday was the most impressive and made him a lock for the NL Cy Young Award.
Game three of the four-game series started similarly to the first two as they took an early lead against their foes from the West. The starting rotation depended on Charlie Morton to succeed against the Dodgers' potent lineup.
Charlie Morton's gem against LA Dodgers wasted thanks to missed opportunities
Charlie has experienced an up-and-down season in what could be the last of his career. However, fans were treated to the good version of Uncle Charlie on Sunday evening. Morton's inconsistency turned into gold in front of a National audience on ESPN.
Morton had a slight hiccup in the fifth inning as he allowed the first two baserunners to reach. He was able to get the third and fourth batters out but with two outs in the inning, NL MVP frontrunner Shohei Ohtani laced an RBI double to right field. The Dodgers were within a run of Atlanta's two-run lead but Charlie escaped without further damage.
He pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to end his impressive night against Los Angeles. Charlie's 28th start of the season was a gem as he fanned six Dodgers bats with one earned run allowed on three hits and two walks. This was Morton's third consecutive start allowing two earned runs or less.
Solid from Chuck 🫡#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/3Gjw68JiY4
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 16, 2024
Unfortunately, he didn't get the win as the Dodgers fought back during the late innings. The Atlanta bullpen tagged in hoping to keep the team's 2-1 lead but Dylan Lee suffered a similar fate to Morton. Shohei Ohtani drove in the game-tying run with two outs in the top of the seventh. Joe Jimenez checked in after Lee's two-thirds of an inning to keep things tied.
This is where things took a not-so-good turn for the Atlanta Braves. Jimenez kept the Dodgers quiet in the top of the eighth inning and the offense showed signs of life against LA reliever Michael Kopech.
Ozuna walked and advanced to third on a double from Matt Olson. Olson missed a chance at a go-ahead homer to right field as the ball bounced off the wall. Regardless, Atlanta had a golden opportunity with two runners in scoring position with no outs. Surely, they'd score the go-ahead run and give the best reliever in the NL a shot at a save. Right?
In a perfect world, the team would have done that but this is the 2024 Atlanta Braves, remember? Travis d'Arnaud chased pitches outside the zone that would have loaded them up for Atlanta. Instead, he flied out to shallow left field and Eli White couldn't advance home. Orland Arcia experienced the same fate as he swung at multiple fastballs that weren't even close to being strikes. Had he and d'Arnaud walked, the Braves could have taken a 3-2 lead.
Jarred Kelenic struck out on three straight 101 mph fastballs to end the inning and send momentum into the visitor dugout. That failed opportunity by Atlanta's offense wasted an incredible performance by Charlie Morton and didn't allow the team to gain any ground in the NL Wild Card race. They remain tied with the Mets for the final spot.
However, there was still hope as Raisel Iglesias came into the game and he's been arguably the best NL reliever in 2024. He carried an impressive streak of 30 straight appearances without allowing an earned run.
He struck out the first batter but Will Smith launched a ball that appeared like it would be a home run but it bounced off the top of the wall somehow and kept him to a triple. Iglesias then got Dodger rookie Andy Pages to ground out for the second out. This brought Ohtani to the plate and Atlanta opted to walk him and face Mookie Betts instead.
Betts laced the third pitch of the at-bat into center field and LA took a 3-2 lead, ending a streak for Iglesias that lasted for three months. However, if he could have just ended things there, Atlanta could have a shot at winning.
That didn't happen as LA exploded with five runs against Raisel and knocked him out of the game. John Brebbia checked in and the Dodgers homered back-to-back against him to complete a seven-run inning. Atlanta's fate was sealed as their NL foes led 9-2 and the offense went out with a whimper in the bottom of the ninth.
Raisel Iglesias entered having allowed eight earned runs in 62 innings this season. He was charged with five earned runs in the ninth inning tonight.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) September 16, 2024
That is going to happen. No one is perfect.
The Braves not scoring in the bottom of the eighth was a huge missed opportunity.
It is unacceptable for the Braves to have lost that game. They had a perfect opportunity to put their fate back into their hands and they wasted it along with a gem from Charlie Morton. They have one last game against the Dodgers on Monday and hopefully, they can get back in the win column. But it isn't encouraging after what happened in the final inning of Sunday's matchup.
The team is running out of time and every loss is huge. They must figure out how to get runners in during crucial moments late in games. If they aren't able to, they will miss the playoffs and even if they get there, it would be another early exit.