Braves manager Brian Snitker doesn’t think Citizens Bank Park will be a hostile environment for Atlanta this weekend
The Philadelphia Phillies are back in the postseason and started Red October winning three out of four games on the road, including a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card round. From there, Nick Castellanos and the Fightins took Game 1 in Atlanta before wasting a perfect opportunity last night in Game 2 to take a commanding series lead.
The NLDS now moves back to Citizens Bank Park for Games 3 and 4, with Aaron Nola on the mound tomorrow at 4:35PM. It will be the first MLB playoff game played at the Bank in 11 years. Both games, are already completely sold out, and the environment in South Philadelphia is going to be absolutely insane.
Knowing that as Phillies fans, let’s see what Brian Snitker had to say about the Braves coming to Philadelphia with the series tied at one game a piece.
Alex Coffey from the Inquirer posted the following screenshot to Twitter from a Q&A with the Braves skipper.
Brian Snitker:
Of course, if you’re going to talk about a team going into the opponents ballpark in the postseason, there’s really not much else you can actually say about it besides having your team’s back and downplaying the opposing crowd and the difficulty of playing away from your own fans.
I get that. Obviously.
However, to completely dismiss the fact that Citizens Bank Park is going to be completely insane this weekend is foolish.
There’s really no way to turn a “so-called hostile environment” into an actual “hostile environment” than by saying that it is a “so-called hostile environment”, right?
Also, for anyone thinking that Atlanta fans can compete with the city of Philadelphia, you’re just being dumb. The Braves couldn’t even manage to sell out the first two games of this series and were offering tickets online that were as cheap as $8.00 around game time.
Anyone who thinks that Citizens Bank Park won’t be the most electric ballpark in the postseason really hasn’t been paying attention. This city is hungry for playoff baseball and all things considered, believe that their team is poised to beat the Braves this series with Aaron Nola on the mound in Game 3.
The baseball world isn’t ready for two sold out games at Citizens Bank Park. It’s going to be a VERY hostile environment for any opposing team that takes the diamond this postseason.
Hopefully Brian Snitker has the Braves prepared for what’s coming. Until then, way to add fuel to the fire, Skip. Bold move. We’ll see how that works for you.
