Brian Snitker handed Phillies a critical NL East victory on a platter

It's hard to imagine a potentially more dramatic late-August, early-September series than the rival Atlanta Braves visiting the Philadelphia Phillies with the latter in the NL East lead but watching that lead diminish quickly. The Phils entered the first of four games hosting the Braves on Thursday night with just a five-game lead in the division.

And it looked as if Atlanta was threatening mightily to cut that to just four games early on.

A pair of Matt Olson moonshots along with an RBI double from Orlando Arcia had the Braves holding a comfortable 4-0 lead in the middle of the sixth inning. Unfortunately for fans in Atlanta, however, manager Brian Snitker worked the wrong kind of magic, specifically with his pitching staff, from that point on.

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Braves manager Brian Snitker gifts Phillies win in NL East battle

Charlie Morton, who had pitched five scoreless innings to that point, allowed a leadoff single to Nick Castellanos, struck out Bryson Stott, and then allowed another single to J.T. Realmuto. With two men on and only one out, lefty Aaron Bummer was already warming in the bullpen with Brandon Marsh up to bat. And as David O'Brien of The Athletic pointed out, Marsh had struggled mightily against left-handed pitchers to that point, posting just a .532 OPS over 74 plate appearances this season.

Rather than yanking Morton and making the call for Bummer for that advantageous matchup (even with the note of Bummer being slightly better against right-handed hitters this year), Snitker left Morton in the game. Marsh drilled a three-run homer on the second pitch of the at-bat. Even stranger, Snitker then pulled his veteran starter after the next out to get Bummer in to face Kyle Schwarber.

That home run was the beginning of the end for the Braves. It gave the Philadelphia crowd at Citizens Bank Park life and that life transformed into a two-run, go-ahead home run from Nick Castellanos in the following inning. That score held, with the Phillies winning 5-4. Instead of Atlanta trimming their rivals' division lead to four games, they helped extend it to six games.

Snitker has deservedly been under plenty of fire this season for managerial decisions like this one. He's over-managed in other times and, in instances like this, not made the obvious move. With the situation his team has been in all year, that's the last thing they can fford.

The Braves have been ravaged by injuries all year long, currently without Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley in the heart of their lineup while being without Spencer Strider all year as well. That's an uphill climb for any team to overcome but it's made near impossible when Snitker is actively hurting the cause as well.

Perhaps Atlanta fans can take solace in the fact that they still hold a three-game lead for the final wild card spot in the National League. I doubt it, though, considering that as recently as the top of the sixth inning of Thursday's game, another division crown seemed feasibly in reach.