Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker says his side simply ran into a hot team after bowing out of the MLB postseason following a 8-3 loss in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
The Phillies completed a 3-1 NLDS win with another dominant display over the 2021 world champions at Citizens Bank Park, backing up Friday's emphatic 9-1 win.
Brandon Marsh delivered a three-run blast in the second inning, before J.T. Realmuto stirred up the home fans with a remarkable inside-the-park homer in the third. Bryce Harper's eighth-inning opposite-field home run put the gloss on the win.
For the Braves, it ended their title defence, having finished top of the NL East with a 101-61 after sensationally overhauling the New York Mets late in the regular season.
The Phillies won Games 3 and 4 scoring 17-4, while they piled on 24 runs across the four-game series despite being kept scoreless in Game 2 after a fine Kyle Wright shift.
Excluding Wright, the Braves starting pitchers struggled throughout the NLDS, with Charlie Morton pulled after two innings on Saturday, following on from Max Fried and Spencer Strider in Games 1 and 3 respectively.
"We ran into a really hot team, pretty much," Snitker told reporters. “They were hitting on all cylinders. They were playing great baseball. They got big hits.
"They shut us down offensively, and I think all the credit goes to the Phillies. They came in here, they got hot at the right time and played a heck of a series."
Snitker was not too downbeat about the Braves campaign, where rookies Michael Harris II and Strider emerged while Wright broke out, offering a solid foundation moving forward.
"They should be very proud of what they did this year," Snitker said. “Like I said earlier, you just never know where the postseason is going to take you and what’s going to happen.
"But we had a really strong year. The goal was to get into the postseason. We did and it didn't happen."
The Phillies, who finished 14 games behind the Braves in the NL East, progressed to the NLCS for the first time since 2010, after a midseason change of manager with Joe Girardi replaced by Rob Thomson.
Philadelphia will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres in the NLCS and will have plenty of belief after dominating the final two games against the Braves.
"The last 24 hours shows what we're made of," Marsh said. "There's a lot of good going with this ball club.
"We've just got to keep it going, keep our heads down and grind and just stay focused on the task at hand. The last 24 hours have been pretty fun."