Today's Three Things: Braves Win Season Finale in Morton's Final Start

The Atlanta Braves did Charlie Morton right in what is likely his final start before retirement

The Atlanta Braves took down the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 in Truist Park on Sunday afternoon to win the season finale and finish 76-86.

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

The Turning Point

The 8th inning.

Holding a slim 2-1 lead, Atlanta doubled it on some clutch hitting from the top of the order. Nick Allen started the action off with a double over the head of right fielder Nick Yorke, with Matt Olson driving him in with a one-out single. Ronald Acuña Jr. then drew a walk to put Olson in scoring position before he scored on a Drake Baldwin fielder’s choice, thanks to a throwing error from shortstop Jared Triolo.

While the Braves couldn’t add on any more, they did enough to push a slim one-run lead to a three-run lead, just enough for Raisel Iglesias to still qualify for a save with his scoreless 9th inning.

Today’s Player of the Game

Going on more of a “career nod” here, it’s Charlie Morton.

Uncle Chuck got the start today, walking two in the first inning but getting out of it thanks to a double play. He came back out for the second inning and after a leadoff strikeout, manager Brian Snitker came to lift him from the game. His family met him at the edge of the dugout for hugs and he received a curtain call from the Braves faithful.

Morton finishes his Braves career with a 49-42 record and 4.09 ERA, with no moment being larger than throwing ten pitches and striking out Jose Altuve in game one of the 2021 World Series with a broken leg. He’s an Atlanta legend, that’s for sure.

What You’ll Be Talking About

How close Atlanta was to a postseason spot.

Credit to Jake for bringing this up on the Postcast, but Atlanta finished with 76 wins and the final NL Wild Card spot went to the Cincinnati Reds with 83 wins. As Atlanta holds the tiebreaker over both the Reds and the New York Mets, seven more wins over the course of the schedule could have had the Braves in the postseason.

What really hurts here is seeing that Atlanta was 21-35 in one-run games, a .375 winning percentage, and knowing that even a normal distribution there would have added enough wins to their ledger to make it to October.

It gives me hope for 2026, honestly. We saw the 2023 Miami Marlins put up a -57 run differential on the season and still make the postseason thanks to an absurd 33-14 record in one-run games under manager Skip Schumaker. The next season, they regressed to a more normal 23-20 distribution. It’s likely that Atlanta’s .375 winning percentage moves to a more normal spread, but that’s an offseason project for me to dig into.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

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

What’s Next for the Braves?

Nothing. That’s it; their 2025 season is over.

The Atlanta Braves have offseason decisions to make, with a deadline on the first batch of decisions (player options) coming on the 5th day after the conclusion of the 2025 World Series. We’ll get you a timeline of the offseason and what pressing questions Atlanta needs to answer in the morning.