2 winners, 3 losers of Phillies' disastrous Game 1 meltdown vs. Braves

Under the bright lights of October, the margin of error shrinks. The urgency is high, and sometimes bold moves need to be made. This is especially true in a best-of-three series like the NL Wild Card Series, and even more true when a team like the Philadelphia Phillies is taking on a hated rival such as the Atlanta Braves.

These two clubs know each other well, and trying to break out of the mold of past tendencies and let stars be stars seemed like a great strategy. Ultimately, it ended in a disastrous 5-3 defeat that put the Phillies immediately behind the eight ball. There are certainly more losers than winners here, but there were a couple of bright spots worth noting.

These two Phillies were winners in the agonizing loss Game 1 loss to Braves

Jesús Luzardo

Jesús Luzardo has been spectacular all year, but a late-season bum shoulder threatened to take the ace lefty down for October. Fortunately, he healed up quickly, but with only a one-inning, four-pitch relief appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays as a tune-up on September 27, it was unclear what Philadelphia could have expected from him.

Making his first start since September 7, which ironically was a complete-game, 12-strikeout gem against the Braves, Luzardo did pretty much everything that could reasonably be asked of him. He went five innings, throwing 77 pitches, and striking out six while allowing just one run. If the southpaw gets another chance to make an appearance this postseason, he should be able to use this outing as a springboard and be even more dominant.

J.T. Realmuto

It's clear that J.T. Realmuto's dynamic past in the batter's box is a thing of distant memories, but the 35-year-old backstop helped the Phillies break the bad vibes as the team clinched a playoff berth. In Game 1 of the NLWCS, he came up big and would have been the hero if everything had gone according to plan.

After Atlanta bullpen demon Didier Fuentes relieved a gassed Chris Sale in the seventh, Realmuto stepped to the plate in a matchup that should have spelled doom. Instead, he slashed a two-run triple to right field to put Philadelphia up 3-2. Had the Phillies held it there, it would have represented the turning point in the game. The silver lining here is that the grizzled vet seems to still have a little bit of magic left in his bat that he can break out during pressure-packed moments.

Three big losers from the Phillies Game 1 heartbreak against the Braves

Don Mattingly & Jhoan Duran

Sometimes bold moves are required to win big in October. There was nothing bolder than Don Mattingly opting to bring closer Jhoan Duran into the game in the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead. Had it worked out, we'd be talking about Mattingly bravely bucking conventional wisdom to secure a huge 1-0 advantage in the series.

That isn't what happened, though. While Duran cruised through the first five outs, it looked for a minute as if he was going to be able to nail down an astonishing three-inning save. But then a Michael Harris II dribbler with two outs in the bottom of the eighth turned the tide. Duran then hit Ozzie Albies with a pitch and gave up the game-winning three-run homer to Austin Riley. In a flash, a potentially brilliant decision turned into a boneheaded gaffe as the Phillies' postseason bullpen struggles continued.

Trea Turner

Trea Turner is no longer the defensive wizard he was earlier in his career. His -17 defensive runs saved were the worst mark in the majors this season among qualified shortstops. His decline was evident on that Harris II grounder.

While it was a tough play and Harris II runs well, a better shortstop makes the out and Duran gets out of the inning unscathed. Instead, Turner struggled to get the ball out of his glove and make a clean transfer, and his shotput throw to first was uncompetitive, and could have been even worse had it gone into the dugout. Of the Mattingly-Duran-Turner triumverate, Turner is most responsible for things unraveling.

The question now is how much longer the Phillies can afford to run out a shortstop who doesn't hit and is a liability in the field. Turner's failure to make the play felt like a turning point at the time and proved to be the gaffe that foreshadowed Philadelphia's horrific meltdown.

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