It was a night in Atlanta where the lights felt a little brighter and the tension a little sharper. What looked like a routine win for the Braves became a script-shredding shocker that not even the Diamondbacks could have imagined. The game was all but over—or so it looked. Yet, in the midst of disappointment, Arizona identified a spark. In just a few chaotic swings, the team not only bounced back but also rewrote the narrative. What came after that was not just a win; it was a statement, and Torey Lovullo made sure everyone felt it.

When you flip a script that had a 0.1 percent chance of a happy ending, you earn the right to speak, and boy, Diamondbacks manager did just that. After seeing his team erupt for six runs in the top of the ninth against the Braves, Lovullo did not hold back on expressing his emotions. “It was magical,” he said in an interview with MLB Network Radio. However, it was the manager’s five-word verdict that captured the spotlight: “I felt like a proud dad.” It was genuine, simple, and devastating for the Braves.

He compared that night of winning to a father watching his children pull off something extraordinary. “It is the same feeling for all those dads listening,” Lovullo said, reliving the euphoria that swept through the team. He knew that it was totally improbable—less than 1 percent win probability with one out? That is MLB at its wildest, and while others could have talked numbers and strategy, he went straight for the soul.

Lovullo was toasting the situation with a glass of wine and a Cobb salad en route to Cincinnati. He chuckled as his GM rattled off improbable win numbers mid-flight, saying, “I do not necessarily pay attention to all that stuff while it is happening.” However, what he did pay attention to was the unrelenting will of the stars. That is what made him a proud father.

And we cannot forget the mental layers buried underneath his calm voice. He did not just see a win—he saw progress. After that night, Lovullo met with some stars to “tighten up” details. Such a balance of joy and accountability is exactly why this five-word line rubbed salt in the Braves’ wounds.

While Lovullo’s celebration encapsulated the team’s high, it also inadvertently cast a spotlight on the other side, where things are unraveling quickly. That Diamondbacks win did not just break hearts in the home of the Braves; it has broken something deeper in the team.

Brian Snitker in the crosshairs as Braves spiral toward collapse

Brian Snitker could not have thrown a pitch; however, Thursday’s collapse raised a question about his management. What began as a routine win for the Braves became an all-out catastrophe, leaving fans stunned. It was not just the loss to the Diamonbacks, the team contributed to it by pulling Grant Holmes early, cycling through a carousel of relievers, and watching as the bullpen disintegrated. The 70-year-old skipper, despite his decorated tenure, now finds himself at the center of serious exit chatter.

According to Ken Rosenthal, “Snitker is not blameless.” The skipper’s leadership, while once identified as rock-solid, is now out of sync with the team’s unraveling identity. With the Braves sitting at 27-34 and in 4th place in the NL East, the momentum is not in Snitker’s favor. Former Braves star Tom Glavine did not mince words either and identified Thursday night as “rock bottom.”So, when veterans begin to use such phrases, you know the clock is ticking. Rosenthal also suggested that while the team will not fire Snitker outright, this could easily be his last season.

Thursday night’s chaos was not just a wild win for the Diamondbacks. It could have drawn a line between two teams heading in opposite directions. As the Diamondbacks ride the high of belief and youth, the Braves face tough concerns. Think this was rock bottom for the Braves? Sound off and join the debate.

`