ATLANTA — Nothing has come easy for the Braves this year. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that their postseason fate will be learned on what has become the final day of their regular season.
Both the Braves and Mets need just one win during Monday’s twin bill to secure one of the Wild Card spots. If either team is swept, then the D-backs would advance to the postseason.
The Braves will have both Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach available to start on Monday. They both remained options for the doubleheader when Atlanta gambled on Charlie Morton and his ability to get them a win in the finale against Kansas City.
Unfortunately for Morton, in what might have been the final start of his career, it didn’t go as he or the team had wished. The 40-year-old hurler surrendered a three-run homer to Michael Massey before the game’s first out was recorded.
Morton allowed just one more run over the next 4 1/3 innings, but the Braves weren’t able to overcome the early deficit.
Gio Urshela’s third-inning leadoff homer and Ramón Laureano’s fourth-inning RBI single accounted for Atlanta’s only runs. The Braves also ran into outs when Orlando Arcia was thrown out trying to advance to third base on a pitch that went just to the right of Royals catcher Freddy Fermin in the third before Jorge Soler was easily thrown out at the plate when he tried to score on a sharp grounder to third base in the fourth.
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