It’s not like the Braves haven’t been here before. As they pursue a fourth straight National League East title, they must once again quickly regroup, like they did after being swept out of Philadelphia to start the 2019 season.
Reminded of this after his team suffered a 2-1 loss to the Phillies in Sunday’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park, Braves manager Brian Snitker chuckled and said the season-opening sweeps don’t feel all that similar.
“We got boat raced in three games in 2019,” Snitker said. “We just didn’t hit [this weekend]. We scored just three runs. You’re not going to win many games that way. We’re going to hit. These guys are not going to not hit. They’ve done it their whole career.”
With reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman and two other MVP candidates — Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna — the Braves have potential to have one of the game’s best offenses for a third straight season. But through this year’s first 28 innings, their only runs have come from Travis d’Arnaud’s game-tying, seventh-inning homer on Sunday and Pablo Sandoval’s pinch-hit, two-run homer on Thursday.
Freeman went 0-for-9. Ozuna struck out in seven of 11 at-bats and Acuña recorded just two hits in his 12 at-bats. In other words, Phillies pitchers fared a little differently than they did when they allowed the Braves 59 runs over 10 games last year.
