Michael Moore

After having a valiant run in the regular season with an impressive record of 96-66, the Atlanta Braves could not make it through the divisional round of the MLB Postseason against the LA Dodgers, as they fell short 4-3 in game 4. The Dodger’s left fielder, Carl Crawford, led the charge with two home runs of his own within the first three innings against the Brave’s newly acquired pitcher, Jeff Garcia of the Orioles. Chris Johnson, the Brave’s 3rd baseman with the highest batting average in both the post season and regular season, singled to left for a score, and the Brave’s star shortstop, Andrelton Simmons grounded into fielder’s choice in the game to help Evan Gattis make it to the plate tying the game at 2-2. Second baseman Dan Uggla’s postseason replacement, Elliot Johnson, made one of his only hits of the postseason when it mattered most when he made a crucial double in the 7th inning, and Jose Constanza drove him in with a single, putting the Braves on top 3-2. It seemed the Braves could hold on to win it until the Dodger, Juan Uribe homered off of the Brave’s reliever Carpenter with Yasiel Puig on base to put them back in front 4-3. Ironically, the Braves season ended with a strikeout from Justin Upton, after Jason Heyward and Jose Constanza could not get on base.

It seemed that the Braves had a shot at achieving greatness earlier on in the season, as they hit homerun after homerun, but the homers proved to be unreliable in the postseason, as they were no where to be found. All Star closer Craig Kimbrel never even had a chance to go out in the 8th inning, even though the Braves manager, Freddie Gonzales put him in the 8th in the one game that they won. The worries of countless strikeouts also came to life. Brian McCann struck out 4 times in the final game. For we know, this performance could very well have determined his future here in Atlanta with Evan Gattis emerging without warning this season. With the Falcons declining and the Hawks not being terrific in the offseason, the Braves were the spotlight of Atlanta until this point. Is this the end for a good run for the Braves? It certainly is not in my opinion. The Braves can certainly have a similar if not better run next year, regardless of how tiresome this statement seems to be to Atlanta fans. THe offseason moves will be unknown. Freddie may not even be the manager after this for all we know, but we do know that this season had a lot of potential, and it’s still there.
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