Nothing better than seeing Chipper and the Braves licking their wounds after their playoff hopes vanished into nothingness on Wednesday night.
After closer Craig Kimbrel blew his second save of the series in the ninth inning, the Philadelphia Phillies scored on Hunter Pence’s two-out single in the 13th inning for a 4-3 win that ended the Braves’ season and completed their record September collapse.
The Braves lost their final five games and 13 of their last 18 to finish with an 89-73 record, a game behind St. Louis for the National League wild card. The Cardinals trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 25 and 8 1/2 games on Sept. 5.
With loss the Braves became the first team in major league history to squander a lead of at least eight games for a playoff spot in September. It is the largest September collapse ever by a NL wild-card leader.
Turn out the lights boys, the party’s over.
