ATLANTA — With the season on the line, the Atlanta Braves couldn’t get the final three outs. Now, they’ll have the whole winter to ponder an spectacular collapse.
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel surrendered the tying run in the ninth, and Hunter Pence came through with a two-out, run-scoring single in the 13th to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 4-3 victory that ended Atlanta’s season Wednesday night without a trip to the playoffs that looked like a certainty just a few weeks ago.
“It was tough to be so close and then have the feeling like it was falling out of your hands,” Kimbrel said. “And that’s the feeling I have now.
“My mind was rushing. Things started moving too fast. My head started moving too fast. My brain. I didn’t put it together. It was just too late. . . . When you walk guys, nothing good ever happens.”
The game ended more than an hour after the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Houston Astros 8-0 at Minute Maid Park to claim at least a share of the wild card. The Cardinals earned it outright when Phillies reliever David Herndon earned his first career save by getting Freddie Freeman to hit into a season-ending double play.
This one might hurt as badly as all those postseason losses in the 1990s and early 2000s. The Braves were 10 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis before play Aug. 26. They were still up by 8 1/2 games on the morning of Sept. 6. Instead of popping champagne for a second straight trip to the playoffs, they became the first team in major-league history to squander a lead of at least eight games for a playoff spot in September.
“We came from so far back,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “It’s nice to be part of history, because the club deserved it. We were great for four months, and we had a little bad period. We really came charging back. Adversity was something that we embraced.”
In the 13th, Scott Linebrink (4-4) got himself in trouble with a one-out walk to Brian Schneider, a .176 hitter. Jimmy Rollins flied out to center, but Chase Utley grounded a 3-2 pitch into right field to keep the inning going.
Pence followed with a blooper to right off the fists, the weakly hit ball barely making it to the outfield grass. But it was in just the right spot. Dan Uggla slid out to get it but had no play anywhere. Schneider raced in with the go-ahead run.
