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In a clash between first-place teams in Atlanta, the Red Sox completed the hat-trick of the Braves with a 9-8 win (boxed score). You can tell by the high run totals and the low margin that it was an exciting game, but that does not fully reflect the dimensions of what could have been the craziest game of the 2018 season.
First of all, the 20 year old Braves phenomenon, Ronald Acuna, started with his eighth circuit of the season:
As the man says, this is a Braves record for championship racing in one season. The thing, though, is that Acuna hit those eight head races in just 44 starts as a head hitter. In total, he has 24 home runs in 88 games and he beats .289 / .359 / .570 on the season.
The Acuna circuit is part of the Braves' attack that led them twice against Boston thrower Hector Velasquez and five points against Drew Pomeranz, who had only one win over Velasquez. Meanwhile, Mike Foltynewicz was putting mostly zeros at the disposal of the hosts.
At the start of the eighth inning, the Braves led 7-1 and, by victory, had a 99.2% chance of winning. 99.2! So, the Boston offense happened:
And if you prefer the blow by blow:
- C. Vazquez: Foul, Vazquez chose the right center
- T. Lin: Foul, Lin chose left, Vazquez in second place
- J. Bradley: Striking the look, Bradley chooses right, Vazquez in third place, Lin in second place
- B. Swihart: Striking, Ball, Ball, Swihart doubled in center right, Vazquez and Lin scored, Bradley third
- Jonny Venters Dan Winkler relieved
- A. Benintendi: Strike swinging, Strike swinging, Benintendi scored left, Bradley scored, Swihart third
- Steve Pearce blow for Mitch Moreland
- S. Pearce: Ball, pick-up attempt first, Ball, Peek, Pearce hits a shot on the left, Swihart mark
- B. Phillips: Striking, Striking, Pickoff Attack, Foul, Ball, Phillips safe at 3rd base player Camargo throw error, Benintendi ranked third, Phillips ranked second
- Brad Brach relieved Jonny Venters
- Ian Kinsler blow for Rafael Devers
- I. Kinsler: Ball, Kinsler left, Benintendi and Phillips scored
- Eduardo Nunez hit for Bobby Poyner
- E. Nunez: Attempted pickup, ball, foul, ball, foul, ball, Nunez's flew to the center
- C. Vazquez: Vazquez in the center, Kinsler in the third
- Alex Bogaerts to hit for Tzu-Wei Lin
- Freddie Freeman in first base
- A J. Minter pitch
- X. Bogaerts: Ball, ball, watch, ball, ball, bogaerts walked, vazquez to the second
- Mookie Betts blow for Jackie Bradley
- Mr. Betts: Ball, ball, watch, strike, look, fault, foul, look, betts, hit, look
- Midfielder 8 (6 races, 7 hits, 1 error)
That, guys, it's a draw. Dan Winkler, your thoughts?
Winkler allowed four points without a save and his ERA for the season went from 2.40 to 3.04. The frustration is understandable.
The Braves, however, loosed half of the eighth thanks to a circuit Freddie Freeman. Thus, despite this merger of eight nuclei, the Braves found a chance to win the game 84.1%. When the Red Sox at the top of the ninth did two outings around one Andrew Benintendi's single, the Braves pushed their chances to triumph up to 92%. Given that 37-year-old Brandon Phillips was at the helm of Boston and was playing in his first league game since last season, maybe those odds outweighed the chances of the Sox.
But then lightning struck:
Dat is Phillips' first home track since September 26 of last year, and it's a great pinball machine. That also made Phillips (a native of Georgia and former Brave) the first to win a home game in the ninth inning or later in his Red Sox debut.
The closest Craig Kimbrel took the lead in the bottom of the ninth and that means that this has happened:
Do this 487-1. It is now 97 victories over the season for Boston, which continues to lead East Asia by a wide margin and continues to have an equally firm grip on the best seed in the playoffs. The Braves, however, wasted a potentially important part. With this overwhelming defeat, the Braves' lead over the Phillies in East NL has fallen to 2 1/2 games. In addition, the Phillies have an easier schedule in terms of the average victory percentage of the opponents. They also played seven more face-to-face games against the Braves, including the last three of the regular season in Philadelphia.
Yeah, if the Braves end up blowing their division lead, then this game will remember long.
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