Today's Three Things: Braves Walked Off In Extras After Bullpen Mismanagement

Manager Brian Snitker decided to conserve his closer for a possible Sunday win versus taking the win in front of him

The Atlanta Braves got walked off in extras by the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 in Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night.

Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

Atlanta’s reliever selection for extra innings.

Chris Sale was on a pitch count - the lefty threw just 78 pitches to get through his six innings, with Atlanta using several of their better relievers to get to the ninth.

I have zero qualms about Tyler Kinley getting the seventh inning, and he was phenomenal with strikeouts of J.T. Realmuto and Alex Bohm. Pierce Johnson got the eighth inning, but after a hit and a walk, Dylan Lee was called on to bail him out by getting Kyle Schwarber to line out to end the inning.

Manager Brian Snitker then went to Raisel Iglesias for the ninth, despite Lee having faced just one batter and throwing four pitches to Schwarber. Iggy was incredibly efficient, needing just eight pitches to retire the side, but Snit pivoted away from Iglesias for extras, going with Hunter Stratton and then Dylan Dodd to (unsuccessfully) try and escape the 10th.

Snit confirmed after the game, as relayed by the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, that he pulled Iglesias so that he had a high-leverage reliever available for Sunday night’s series finale.

Here’s the issue, though. I’m not saying that Iglesias was guaranteed to get through the bottom of the order cleanly in the 10th. But Atlanta had the lead and getting through the inning cleanly would have gotten the Braves a win. Instead of going for the win in front of him, Snitker decided to save his horses for a possible win on Sunday. For a team playing for momentum towards 2026, that feels like an easy way to give up some potential momentum.

Today’s Player of the Game

Who else? Christopher Allen Sale.

In his first game action in multiple months, Sale went six strong innings with just three hits and one walk allowed. He struck out nine and gave up exactly one run, a solo homer to Weston Wilson.

Diving under the hood, Sale was barely even challenged. He faced 21 batters and only allowed 11 balls in play (with only five hard-hit balls). He induced 36 swings and 15 of them were whiffs, combining with his 15 called strikes for an elite 38% CSW.

It hurts a bit to think about what Atlanta could have done with the post-All-Star Break offense and a healthy Chris Sale anchoring a rotation that wasn’t decimated by injury. The good news is that the Braves should have confidence that Sale’s likely to be at top form when they pick up his 2026 option this offseason.

What You’ll Be Talking About

The dire designated hitter situation for the Braves.

Today saw a bit of a lineup shake-up for Atlanta - Drake Baldwin got a start behind the plate (with a lefty on the mound, in fact) while Sean Murphy was the designated hitter and Marcell Ozuna had the night off.

It did not go well.

Murphy went 0-3 in this one, continuing a tough August where he’s hitting just .080/.193/.100. He twice watched Ozzie Albies and Baldwin hit back-to-back singles ahead of him and then promptly grounded into double plays. Ozuna got an at-bat as a pinch hitter (for shortstop Nick Allen) and didn’t fare much better, flying out to lead off the eighth inning. The Big Bear is hitting just .195 in August, albeit with five home runs.

I’m especially curious to see what happens tomorrow night. It’s not a day game after a night game (the Braves play on Sunday Night Baseball), so Drake Baldwin could possibly get a second consecutive start, but it is Hurston Waldrep on the mound and Sean Murphy has been the backstop for his starts this season. Additionally, it’s also a left-handed starter for Philly and manager Brian Snitker has traditionally taken Baldwin out of the starting lineup against southpaws, but Baldwin was behind the plate for tonight’s game. The hope here is that Baldwin gets to be the designated hitter on Sunday while Murphy catches the Mayor of Splitter City in Waldrep.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the loss.

What’s Next for the Braves?

As we mentioned earlier, the Braves are on ESPN‘s Sunday Night Baseball for the finale. Hurston Waldrep (4-0, 0.90) takes on Jesús Luzardo (12-6, 4.23) at 7:10 PM ET.