Let’s start with an image. It’s the only image you need, really:
Within the span of three batters, in a tie game, Michael Harris II hit a ball at over 105 mph, whose combination of velocity and angle yields a hit just about 60 percent of the time, and would’ve been a homer in 26 of MLB’s 30 ballparks. That ball was caught at the wall. Then, pinch-hitter Jimmy Crooks hit a ball over 102 mph, whose combination of velocity and angle yields a hit just about 60 percent of the time, and would’ve been a homer in 24 of MLB’s 30 ballparks. That one was not caught at the wall and ended up being a game-winning homer.
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As I’ve been thinking for over a month now, “this is why the Braves built this cushion.” But the existence of the cushion itself doesn’t feel particularly comforting when stuff like this happens. Combine it with the Braves’ steadfast desire to give the guys they consider the “good relievers” as much rest as possible, and, well, we stayed up until about 1:30 am ET for this, guys.
This game was a Chris Sale start, once upon a time. Sale had a poor outing in his last start, and came out firing, striking out five in three frames before the rain cut his night short. There was a little bit of a hiccup with a double and a walk in the third, but Ivan Herrera did nothing of use with a hanging first-pitch slider.
This game was also a Kyle Leahy start, once upon a time. Leahy retired the first eight Braves he faced, gave up a single to Jim Jarvis, and then was bailed out on a snag of a Michael Harris II liner by JJ Wetherholt, who signed a big extension today.
Then, we all sat through a nearly three-hour rain delay as Mother Nature turned Busch Stadium into Busch Lake.
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When play resumed, it was kind of a battle of who was less sleepy. Mike Yastrzemski barreled a double with one out in the fifth, and then scored on a hard grounder from Austin Riley back up the middle. That was the only run the Braves ended up scoring… though they could have had more if Wetherholt didn’t snag another liner for the third out of that inning. In the sixth, Drake Baldwin nearly popped a two-run homer, but the ball was just foul.
Victor Mederos threw two shutdown innings after the rain, but Didier Fuentes gave up the lead: a one-out walk, a slow, seeing-eye single on a pitch that was basically in the “waste” area, and then a hard-hit liner the other way by Jordan Walker. Fuentes and the defense escaped the frame with the tie intact, and Tyler Kinley had a leadoff walk erased on a double play in the seventh.
That’s how we got to the eighth, and the image above. Harris didn’t homer, Danny Young came in (not Dylan Lee) and saw Jimmy Crooks deposit a sweeper into the stands, and that was pretty much that.
For an added little pinch of “seriously you already made me stay up past 1 am for this?” Baldwin hit another deep drive off closer Riley O’Brien. That one wasn’t quite a barrel, but it did travel 402 feet, and would’ve been a homer in 12 parks. Just, you know, not Busch Swamp. The game ended shortly thereafter.
The entire NL East lost today, so the division lead remains at three. That’s why they have this cushion, right? Right?
