Braves squander Olson's 2-HR night in costly loss vs. Phils

PHILADELPHIA -- As Matt Olson made his latest two deposits at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night, it looked as if the Braves had legitimately rekindled their hopes for a seventh straight division title. But that excitement was quickly replaced with the frustration created by squandering a four-run sixth-inning lead.

Olson’s second multihomer game of the month wasn’t enough for the Braves in a tough 5-4 loss to the Phillies. Charlie Morton’s scoreless bid ended with Brandon Marsh’s three-run homer in the sixth, then Grant Holmes surrendered Nick Castellanos’ game-winning two-run home run in the seventh.

“We were trying to win all these games,” manager Brian Snitker said. “[The Phillies] are a good club and this was a tough loss. What do we have, [28 games] left? They’re all going to be tough losses when you don’t win. We’re not going to go [28-0]. So, it’s going to happen.”

But the way this latest loss happened created a little extra sting.

With a win, the Braves would have moved to within four games of the first-place Phillies in the National League East. It would have been Atlanta's smallest division deficit since sitting just 3 1/2 games back at the end of play on May 17. Suddenly, hopes for a seventh straight NL East title might have seemed legit.

But after blowing the lead and this opportunity, Atlanta finds itself six games back with 28 to play. It’s a tall task, but the Braves can still keep things interesting by winning each of the three remaining games in this four-game set in Philadelphia. The good news for Atlanta is it still holds a three-game lead over the Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot.

“Nothing really fazes this team,” Holmes said. “We come in every day and try to do our best, win or lose. So, we’ll come in tomorrow and try to win another game.”

Morton handled the Phillies through the first five innings before surrendering a single to two of the first three hitters he faced in the sixth. That set the stage for the left-handed-hitting Marsh, who had struck out in each of his first two plate appearances of the night. That left him just 2-for-12 (.167) with nine strikeouts in his career against Morton.

“[Morton] was going to go through until [Kyle] Schwarber,” Snitker said. “If I’d have known he was going to hit a homer, I’d have probably taken him out. I don’t have that luxury. He’s a good matchup there. I like Charlie’s breaking ball [against Marsh]. He popped him up, and the wind blew it out.”

Morton used two curveballs and a two-strike fastball to strike out Marsh in the second inning. He used three curves and one heater to set him down again in the fourth. He missed with a curveball outside to begin the sixth-inning matchup, then left one up and on the outer third. The ball came off Marsh's bat at 100.7 mph and seemed to catch a friendly wind stream that carried it over the left-center-field wall.

“I know he barrelled it, but I know the trajectory of the ball was pretty high,” Morton said. “So when I’m looking, I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, that ball is going to continue to go and go.' It went over the wall.”

As for Holmes, he certainly regrets not throwing a breaking ball to Castellanos, who entered Thursday having been thrown a fastball just 45% of the time this year. That was the lowest percentage among the 338 MLB players who had seen at least 750 pitches this year.

Holmes got Castellanos to swing through a first-pitch fastball. He opted to follow with another. This one was slightly higher and a little more over the middle of the plate. Castellanos crushed the heater over the center-field wall to erase Atlanta's lead.

"I threw the first [fastball] and he swung and missed it,” Holmes said. “I just didn't put [the second one] in the right spot."

Holmes regretted not throwing a breaking ball, and as this week has progressed, the Braves have regretted not having left-handed reliever A.J. Minter, who underwent season-ending hip surgery last week. Minter’s absence, combined with some recent struggles from Jesse Chavez and Luke Jackson, has made the bullpen’s depth a concern.

The injury-depleted lineup was a concern most of the year. But production has improved with the resurgence of Olson, who has four homers in his past 22 at-bats. He has 10 homers and a .997 OPS over 28 games going back to July 31.

“We’ve been getting big hits and keeping the line moving with big innings,” Snitker said. “It just didn’t happen tonight.”