Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies exploded on the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS on Wednesday night, taking home a 10-2 win and a meaningful 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NLDS. Philly has one more game at home tomorrow where they can close out the series, or Atlanta can force a Game 5 on its home field with a Thursday win in Philly.
The narrative of the evening became Orlando Arcia's gloating in the Braves' locker room after Game 2 where he sarcastically exclaimed, "Atta boy, Harper!" repeatedly, something that came out in articles after the game.
Not at all surprisingly, it woke Harper up. He hit two home runs in Game 3 and stared right at Arcia as he jogged past him. After the game, he admitted his stares were intentional. It needed no confirmation.
Braves players should have known they should not poke the bear. Yet, they did, and for whatever reason, they aren't taking the blame for it.
Braves players scold media for letting Arcia's comments get out
After the game, Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud said this:
"The clubhouse is a sanctuary and I think when things like [Arcia's comments] get out, it doesn't make people want to talk to the media at all. It affects people that have been great to us all year and it is what it is."
Technically, perhaps not an incorrect statement from d'Arnaud. Arcia's shouting after Game 2 was probably not something he expressly said he was OK with being on the record. But if you don't want something like that getting out, you might want to have a cooler head when the media is around. I'm not sure shouting something repeatedly around an open locker room comes with an expectation of privacy.
The Braves can choose to pin this on whomever they choose, but scapegoating reporters with only one loss before the season is done won't do much good. Atlanta needs to look in the mirror and get honest with itself, and quick, to get its season re-tracked.
The Braves will need to win a game in a tough environment on Thursday just to earn itself the chance of a rubber match on Saturday.
