Spencer Strider was livid in the Atlanta Braves’ dugout after being removed from Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga.
Strider pitched seven innings and exited with his Braves down 2-0 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Strider had allowed a run in the fourth and another in the sixth on a Bryce Harper solo home run. But he got the Phillies out 1-2-3 in the seventh.
That didn’t matter, as the Braves removed him anyway.
TBS, which televised the game, showed Strider heated in the dugout while talking with pitching coach Rick Kranitz during the bottom of the seventh. TBS’ announcers believed Strider was upset to learn he was being removed from the game.
Reliever A.J. Minter entered to face the top of the Phillies’ order in the eighth. He got a strikeout but then put two on, so the Braves made a switch to Pierce Johnson. The Phillies added a run on a catcher’s interference call before Atlanta escaped.
Strider allowed the two runs over seven innings and took the loss as his Braves were shutout 3-0 by Philadelphia. Whether he was removed in the eighth or not didn’t really matter so long as Atlanta couldn’t score a run.
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