Braves' Freeman after NLCS loss: 'This moment sucks'

Freddie Freeman and his Atlanta Braves are going home after losing Game 7 of the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.

The exit is a tough pill to swallow for Freeman, who overcame COVID-19 early in the season and is one of the favorites to win the NL MVP Award.

"I don't think we exceeded expectations," he said. "This is kind of what we expected out of ourselves to get to this point."

"This is the start of something special for a long time," he added. "It hurts right now, it really does. This moment sucks. But the Atlanta Braves organization is set up for success for a very long time."

Atlanta won the NL East and finished with the third-best record in the senior circuit despite losing ace Mike Soroka to a season-ending injury early in the campaign.

The Braves led the best-of-seven NLCS 3-1 after four games, but then they dropped three straight to the Dodgers.

Manager Brian Snitker acknowledged the team's mistakes, but he also highlighted how much his resilient roster impressed him.

"It was (an) unbelievable experience for a really young team," Snitker said, according to David O'Brien of The Athletic. "And we made some mistakes. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. It really hurt. And in games like these, where runs are so hard to come by, you've pretty much got to play flawless baseball."