What a crazy game that was.
In the top of the 9th with Luis Castillo on 3rd and only 1 out, Billy Wagner blew David Wright away with a 97MPH fastball and then made Ike Davis look silly on a slider to end the inning. Brian McCann, just minutes after taking a foul ball to the groin, ripped a single off LOOGY Pedro Feliciano. Yunel Escobar drew a walk which left runners on 1st and 2nd for Melky Cabrera. After failing to lay a bunt down on 2 pitches, Melky smacked a ball into the dirt towards David Wright. Wright cleanly fielded the ball, but threw wildly to Ike Davis at 1B. The ball rolled down the RF line and pinch-runner Brent Clevlen scored easily from 2nd. Braves win 3-2.
Kris Medlen dominated the Mets for 4 innings, and then gave up 2 meatballs to Ike Davis and Jeff Francoeur. Medlen then re-grouped and finished off the final 5 Mets hitters without breaking a sweat. Why did he fall apart for 3 minutes in the 5th inning? No one knows. But if you exclude the 2 pitches to Davis and Francine, Medlen was phenomenal on Tuesday night.
Now let's look at the Braves' offense. They were hitting everything hard for the first four innings, including a rocket 2-run HR from Troy Glaus. Then, like something magical happened, they were shut down the next 4 innings. 12 batters up, 12 batters down. The Braves looked dead at the plate. They were swinging at the 1st pitch, rolling over on hanging breaking balls and so on. But then the 9th inning came along and something clicked. McCann started the rally, Escobar drew a walk and Melky hit a game-winning chopper that went 40 feet.
Baseball truly is a great game.
Game MVP(s):
1. Kris Medlen - 6.1IP 4H 2ER 2BB/6K
2. Troy Glaus - 1-for-3, HR(6)
3. Melky Cabrera - The best bunting and 45-foot chopper hitting outfielder in baseball.
4. The Bullpen - 2.2IP 1H 0BB/3K; Peter Moylan came in to relieve Medlen and promptly got Jeff Francoeur to ground into an inning-ending double play. Takashi Saito was filthy and Billy Wagner was huge when the game was on the line.
Game LVP:
1. David Wright - 0-for-4, 3K, throwing error to end the game.
Upcoming Game:
The Braves will face the red-hot, NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds to Atlanta tomorrow night. Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.02ERA) will face Kenshin Kawakami (0-6, 5.79ERA) in Game 1 of a quick 2-game series. First pitch at 7:10EST.
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GO BRAVES!