 I went to Turner Field today to watch the Atlanta Braves play against the Florida Marlins. It was the third and final game in this series, and it was the rubber match between the two teams. Coming into the game, the Braves were three games back behind the Colorado Rockies in the chase for the wild card spot in the National League Playoffs. The implications of this game were huge. I captured the image seen in today's entry as Brian McCann and Javier Vázquez emerged from the bullpen to start the game. It was a pretty bad game for the Braves, as the Marlins' starting pitcher, Ricky Nolasco, struck out sixteen Braves batters in a span of 7 and 2/3 innings. At one point, Nolasco struck out nine consecutive Braves. The sixteen strikeouts was the most by a major league pitcher in more than two years! The Braves played miserably for most of the game. In the eighth inning, the Braves scored two runs. In the ninth inning, the Braves rallied for two more runs. They had a chance to win after they loaded the bases, with two outs in the game. Martin Prado came up to the plate, and the first pitch he saw went past the catcher. Unfortunately, Matt Diaz, who was on third base, was caught in 'no man's land' after he stepped off third base. The hesitation cost the Braves this game, as Ronny Paulino, the catcher for the Marlins, made a strong throw to third and Diaz was thrown out. Said Diaz after the game: “I got a good jump, but then realized it wasn’t very far from the catcher. Once I realized that, I should have gone back to third.” It was a very surreal ending to the game. I stood there for a minute in disbelief, wondering how this could have happened. It was so close, but not to be. Alas, that's the way the games go sometimes. Final score in Atlanta: Florida Marlins 5, Atlanta Braves 4. The postseason hope for the Braves was further decimated later in the evening, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Milwaukee Brewers to take a four game lead in the wild card chase. Trivia: 1) Nolasco’s 16 strikeouts were the most in the majors since Johan Santana struck out 17 for Minnesota against Texas on August 19, 2007. 2) Nolasco’s nine consecutive strikeouts in one game were one short of the major league record set by Tom Seaver for the New York Mets on April 22, 1970, against San Diego. 3) Nolasco made a total of 123 pitches in this game. 4) The Braves pitcher, Vázquez, came into this game having won all of his four previous starts with an ERA of 0.84 in those four games. No team this season had beaten Vázquez more than once, except the pesky Marlins, who claimed their third victory over Vázquez tonight (he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in a span of six innings). In fact, Vázquez is 0-3 with a 5.46 ERA in five starts against the Marlins this season, while he is 15-7 with a 2.44 ERA against every other opponent he has faced this season. |
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