It ended, in a cruel twist of fate, with a strikeout.
Justin Upton took a hard cut at Kenley Jansen's 94-mph cutter and the Braves -- who led the National League in Ks -- could only watch as the Dodgers celebrated a trip to the NLCS, sealed with a 4-3 win in Monday's Game 4.
Longtime Braves Tim Hudson and Brian McCann, whose futures with the team remain uncertain, stood at the dugout railing with their arms crossed as Randy Newman's "I Love LA," blared throughout Dodger Stadium.
A season that saw Atlanta run away with the NL East title as a young core come into its own and the lineup made up for a number of potentially devastating injuries, was over.
The Dodgers rallied with Juan Uribe's two-run home run off David Carpenter in the eighth inning, denying the Braves' bid to push the series back to Turner Field for a decisive fifth game.
"We lost tonight in the playoffs and you've to say good-bye to everyone for the offseason, but we feel like we did everything we could," Upton said. "We battled. It just didn't go our way."
For the final time this season, here are three observations from the Braves' loss.
The breaking ball was up and Uribe pounced, throwing his hands up as it sailed into the California night, a no-doubt home run.
Carpenter stood before the cameras after suffering the loss, he also took the blame.
"I agreed with (McCann) on the pitch and it's my fault," he said. "I'm the reason that we're not going back to Atlanta tied 2-2. I'll take the responsibility for it every time. I let the guys down."
It was a sad bit of irony for the Braves that their bullpen, which led the majors with a 2.46 ERA, would ultimately cost it the season.
Carpenter had been one of the unit's most dominant pieces, posting a 1.78 ERA in September with a 13-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But he had also been tagged for a two-run home run by Hanley Ramirez in Game 2.
After allowing a double to Yasiel Puig to lead off the eighth, Carpenter took a 0-2 lead on Uribe but missed on a four-seam fastball and then threw a slider in the dirt. The next pitch would be the one that Uribe sent deep to left for the decisive runs.
"It was definitely location," Carpenter said. "I just tried to over throw a slider, it popped out of my hand on me and it went right into his wheelhouse where he's going to hit it."
While Carpenter struggled, All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel warmed up, but there was no thought to bringing him in early. Manager Fredi Gonzalez would tell reporters afterward that Kimbrel was an option for a four-out save, but would not stretch him out for six outs.
After the game, one by one, veterans Upton, Gerald Laird and Freddy Garcia consoled Carpenter as he sat on the bench, their message was simple.
"Right now it stings," he said they told him. "But for later on down the road when we're back here playing in this same situation, I'll be able to make a little bit better adjustment and come out on top."
While Dodgers manager Don Mattingly opted to play his trump card in throwing Clayton Kershaw on short rest, Gonzalez stuck to a plan that was ripe for criticism.
Instead of turning to Game 1 starter Kris Medlen, who had never pitched on three-day's rest, Gonzalez would give the ball to Garcia, the 37-year-old the Braves acquired from the Orioles in August for cash considerations. He hadn't won a playoff game since the 2005 World Series when he was with the White Sox.
Brought on to allow rookies Julio Teheran and Alex Wood extra rest between starts, the very notion of Garcia starting an elimination game at the time of his signing would have seemed absurd.
But as Garcia said following Sunday's Game 4 loss, which put the Braves on the brink of elimination -- setting off a Twitter storm in the process -- "I don't panic. I just make pitch."
He did exactly that, allowing just two runs -- on two solo home runs from Carl Crawford -- and scattering eight hits over six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Following Crawford's second homer, which came in the third inning, Garcia would allow just three of the next 16 batters he faced to advance past first base.
A pitcher who once relied on a mid-90s fastball has reinvented himself as a groundball machine and when Garcia said he "make pitch," he was clearly talking about his sinker, which he threw 33.6 percent of the time (34 of 101 pitches) in putting the Braves in line for the loss.
The decision to start Garcia had the potential to blow up in Gonzalez's face, but it wasn't because of the veteran starter that the Braves' season came to an end. That performance was arguably the most impressive of Atlanta's postseason.
Before he walked out of the visitor's dugout and into the bowels of Dodger Stadium, McCann looked back out onto the field.
A free agent, it may have been the last time we see him wearing an Atlanta uniform.
McCann struck out four times in Monday's loss as he went 0-for-13 in the series with six Ks, continuing a rough stretch as he hit .170/.290/.264 in September.
But that won't be the lasting image if his time as a Brave are over.
The Athens native came up as a member of the Baby Braves in 2005 and would go on to become a seven-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He posted six seasons with at least 20 home runs, hitting exactly that number this season despite not making his debut until May 6 after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The speculation is that McCann will command more than the Braves are willing to spend and they have younger options than McCann, who will be 30 this offseason.
Evan Gattis, 27, has been one of the biggest bright spots in the playoffs, going 4 for 14 (.357) and defensive wizard Christian Bethancourt made progress with his bat at Double-A.
No matter who's behind the plate next April, it will be a step back if it's anyone else other than McCann. He's putting together a potential Hall of Fame resume, but every indication is that he'll continue writing it for someone else.
