Atlanta Braves: Dallas Keuchel labors through rough start against the Phillies
By Steven Teal
It was a tough night for Dallas Keuchel as he allowed 5 runs through five innings of work. A couple of defensive miscues in the fourth inning ultimately doomed the Braves in Game 1.
The Atlanta Braves are on the cusp of clinching the National League East for the second year in a row. It could happen during the final homestand of the year and I’m almost certain that it will.
However, they’ll have to get through the Phillies who are hoping something works in their favor to get them in the wild card picture.
It looked like Atlanta was going to walk away with Game 1 as they got off to a quick start in the first inning of the game against Vince Velasquez.
Not only was the offense clicking, but Dallas Keuchel was also dealing through the first 3 innings of the game. He didn’t allow a single hit in that time frame and looked like he would be on cruise control all night.
Unfortunately, the Braves ran into some issues during the top of the fourth inning. Josh Donaldson failed to field a ground ball that Dansby Swanson had a better chance at and Keuchel had a ball go off his glove that could have been fielded by Swanson as well.
The Phillies managed to score 5 runs in the inning and that sealed the fate of the Braves on Tuesday night.
Atlanta slowly crept back into the game thanks to solo homers from Adeiny HechavarrÍa and Adam Duvall. Unluckily, the comeback fell short as Markakis popped out with a runner on third base.
Tough pill to swallow but the team has to just move on from it and come back swinging on Wednesday.
They’ve certainly got a bigger picture to consider as the postseason approaches.