PHILADELPHIA — The Atlanta Braves were once again in the hall of horrors, but they weren't daunted.
In each of the past two Octobers, Atlanta's final game of the season was held at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. For the second year in a row, the Braves have been forced to spend the winter reliving bad memories of this place and the team that wore their playoff numbers. No amount of regular-season wins can kill the devil at Citizens Bank Park — the Braves know that legends are born in the fall — and yet Atlanta beat the Phillies 9-3 on Opening Day. The defeat was encouraging for the visitors.
“I wish I had done it five months ago,” Braves ace Spencer Strider told reporters after the game when asked if it was fun pitching well in enemy territory. “But every game is important now.”
The first game of the season between these teams was billed as a showdown between two of the best hurlers in the game, Strider versus Philadelphia's Zach Wheeler. Both were predictably great, but the only blemish on both their resumes was the five-inning, two-run shot that Strider threw to Philadelphia's wettest caveman in left field, Brandon Marsh. Wheeler allowed a few good hits, but he didn't allow the Brave to touch home, giving up five outs in six innings pitched.
Marsh's home run, which broke a scoreless tie and sent the home crowd into a frenzy, was the result of the Stryders' only mistake of the day. His mustachioed right-hander was otherwise phenomenal, seamlessly mixing a brand new breaking ball into his already loaded arsenal, picking up eight strikeouts in the process. But when the Strider left the game with a two-run deficit just after 5 p.m., with a well-stocked Phillies bullpen waiting in the wings, memories of a postseason performance in this very garden were evoked — unfortunately. His perfect and comprehensive brilliance was ruined by an ill-timed long ball.
Indeed, the scene at Citizens Bank Park on Friday resembled much of what happened as recently as October. It all starts with diamond continuity. That's because, even though a full offseason has passed since their last showdown, their characters haven't changed much. Of the 18 position players who started Game 4 of the 2023 NLDS, 17 were in Friday's lineup. Jared Kelenic was the only newcomer.
And for five innings, the whole thing looked like Game 5 of the 2023 NLDS. Inebriated Philadelphians gathered together, thirsty and screaming in a packed hall. The elaborate playoff-style pregame introduction is filled with high-flying fighter jets. The rhythmic chants of “Strider, Strider” from the crowd mock the Braves' ace as he prepares for a crucial moment. The constant heckling of Philadelphia sports villains Ronald Acuña Jr. and Orlando Arcia. And, of course, there was the heap of noise that erupted around the yard when Marsh's game-winning home run went over the left-center field fence.
But the similarities ended there.
Marsh's big swing was the Phillies' only score of the day. Once Wheeler was pulled, Atlanta pounced on the rusty Phillies bullpen. The pen, which has many of the same relief pitchers as the past two seasons, completely capitulated in no time. The usually dependable left-handed duo of Matt Stram and Jose Alvarado combined for seven runs and three outs. After scoring two runs on Adam Duvall's RBI hit in the seventh inning, Atlanta exploded in the eighth with RBIs from Acuña and Michael Harris II, scoring seven runs. Matt Olson's double (his third of the day, and on his birthday) put the nail in the coffin, sending Philadelphia's no longer rowdy players down the aisle toward the exit and beyond.
The entire game was an incredible reminder that these Braves are just as talented and as formidable as any other Braves team that has had great success recently. They have Cy Young, who won the National League MVP and is a National League favorite. Despite the unfortunate loss of Sean Murphy, the batting lineup is incredibly deep. Murphy strained his oblique on a seemingly innocuous swing on Friday and will miss out on the disabled list. The rotation will be led by Strider and Max Fried, backed up by two reliable hard-throwing veterans in Charlie Morton and Chris Sale.
And unlike Philadelphia, Atlanta's supplied bullpen looks as solid as ever. The scoreless records of Joe Jimenez, Pierce Johnson, and AJ Minter point to this unit ranking as one of the best in the league, although this will certainly change over the course of a long season. , bodes well for Atlanta's inevitable playoff appearance.
The Braves are guaranteed to play six more games in Philadelphia this year, with two more this weekend and four back and forth in August. None of these contests in the regular season can completely cancel out the bad memories that rattle around in his head every time a Braves player enters this arena. To defeat the October Dragon, you need October Glory. But Atlanta's opening day performance clearly showed that the Braves are very capable of upsetting the Phillies, or anyone else, in the fall.
If the baseball gods bless us, these two teams will clash in the postseason for the third year in a row. Whether they say it openly or not, the Braves will certainly relish the chance to upset their opponents on their own turf in the playoffs. Past October results aside, Atlanta's players and coaches insist they are enjoying the competition at the deafening cauldron that is Citizens Bank Park.
I understand Strider. He knows he and his team attract some bitter people in this unforgiving town. Because they are very good at baseball.
“They don't boo anybody,” Strider said after the game.
And the Braves are certainly nothing.
