Shane Greene outdueled Yimi Garcia in the 9th, allowing only 3 runs to Garcia’s 4 to force a 10th inning, where the Braves won on Max Fried‘s pinch hit single. You can shut down the internet now; all the possible combinations of words have now been written.
After falling behind 7 – 3 in the top of the 9th, the Braves got 4 in the bottom half to tie it. Austin Riley led off the inning with a single, then after a force out from Dansby Swanson, the Braves peeled off back to back singles from Guillermo Heredia and Orlando Arcia, followed by a walk to pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval. Now down 7 – 4, pinch hitter Abraham Almonte doubled down the 3rd base line to cut the score to 7 – 6. A Ronald Acuna Jr. sacrifice fly tied the game at 7.
A score and 16 years after the game certified as “the wackiest, wildest, most improbable game in history,†Fried added his name to the list just below Rick Camp. Riley began the inning on 2nd base as the designated runner, and after an intentional walk to Swanson from Anthony Bass, he advanced to 3rd on a fly ball from Heredia. Arcia was walked intentionally to bring Kevan Smith to the plate, with the pitcher’s spot on deck.
It looked like all the maneuvering would be moot as Riley apparently scored on a wild pitch to end the game, but at some point during the season it looks like the replay powers determined that it is necessary to touch the plate. To be fair, this is probably best in the long run.
With 2 out as a result of the replay, and the Braves out of position players, the Marlins elected to go ahead and walk Smith to load the bases. Fried was selected to pinch hit, and after a weak swing and miss on the first pitch, he took 3 consecutive balls. With Bass needing to throw 2 strikes to avoid walking in the winning run, Fried ambushed the 3 – 1 pitch and lined it into center field for the game winner.
The Braves got on the board first in the bottom of the 3rd, as Charlie Morton and Acuna got Adam Duvall surrounded. Morton’s bloop into right field in front of Duvall, followed by Ronald’s blast over Adam’s head and into the seats gave the Braves their first 2 runs.
Unfortunately, Duvall surrounded us back. Adam’s sacrifice fly in the 4th cut the Marlins deficit to 2 – 1, and his 3 run homer in the 6th gave the Marlins the lead. Dansby cut the lead to 4 – 3 in the bottom of the inning, doubling in Freddie Freeman. It stood that way until the 9th, when Sandy Leon and Jesus Aguilar concluded the Marlins scoring with solo and 2 run homers respectively, off Greene.
Morton lasted only 5 1/3; 3 of his 5 hits allowed came in the 6th. He struck out 7. A.J. Minter struck out both batters he faced. Will Smith pitched a perfect 10th, appropriately snagging the Independence Day win.
Swanson, Heredia, and Arcia led the Braves with 2 hits a piece. As I noted in May, in 6 MLB seasons Arcia’s career slash line is remarkably similar to those of Swanson, Heredia, and Ehire Adrianza, to give you a baseline of expectations. However, as Ryan also noted in May, Orlando has made some swing changes that resulted in a .303/.380/.553 line at AAA Gwinnett, with 13 homers in 201 at-bats. Arcia turns 27 next month, and should be close to his offensive prime, giving us one more rationalization to hope that he can carry over the kind of hot streak from Gwinnett that we’ve seen from Duvall and Riley in recent years. Anyway, if Arcia, Swanson, and Heredia all get 2 hits per game, that is the kind of similarity I can get behind.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 36 years since the start of the “Rick Camp” game. When I first did the math, I came up with 26 years, which made a lot more sense to me. (Among my understandings: no math.) Some of you probably have some memory of this game; most others have likely heard of it (see also the July 4th game, the fireworks game, the 3:55 a.m. game, the 19 inning game.)
Others may just know it as the game where the relief pitcher hit a home run at 3 in the morning to tie the game in the bottom of the 18th. The one thing I’d like to emphasize about this game is that I’m not sure everyone understands exactly how bad a hitter Rick Camp was. Camp came into the game as an .060 career hitter. In 1982 he was 1 for 41, or .024, however you want to look at it. Between ’82 and ’83, Rick went 4 for 80. Rick Camp’s home run was truly startling. Max Fried, not so much.
The Braves take the series 2 games to 1. At Pittsburgh Monday; Fried vs. Chase De Jong scheduled.
We’ve been busy this week – probably just as well, but we can precis
In Max we trust…
“Outdueled” – chapeau, Rusty
Mattingley – pretty much in the rarefied atmosphere of completely despised human being (Putin wants his number for tips)
And sorry for inflicting this on you wonderful followers, but we have reached that point (Phil Collins wants a weekend off as he has a Euro semi final to prep for)
This, sir, is journalism. Thank you.
Marlins pitchers issuing 5 IBB in a game (actually in just the 9th & 10th) seems unusual. I guess the ghost runner makes it a little more likely, especially for visiting teams that didn’t score in the top half of the inning. Under Mattingly the Marlins have consistently been near the top of MLB in IBB.
Also, I watched a replay and rewound it back and forth, and it certainly didn’t look like Fried touched first. Couldn’t be 100% sure because of the camera angle, but it looked like at the key moment his left foot was on the ground behind (from the camera’s point of view) the base, not touching it. Heredia and his swords also interfered with Fried running to first, though I guess you can’t penalize someone for interfering with his own teammate.
@3 I thought the same thing
Rusty, brilliant work!
To me a game like this shows we should carry an extra hitter instead of an extra pitcher. We ran out of position players in the 10th and I don’t think Snitker did a bad job with substitutions. With the 3 batter minimum it’s harder to waste pitchers.
Rick Camp, by Sansho1.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2013/04/25/rick-camp-r-i-p-by-sansho1/
The 1985 game truly one for the Ages GARY CARTER caught the entire game and Ron Darling picked up the METS WIN, We Lived out in the Country so Cable wasn’t available, Since my radio station Carried the game and I had sold all the local ads on Braves Radio Si I listened to it on my Back deck in a lawn chair with a Transistor Radio. After Dozing off numerous times I woke up feeling like a rusty gate with the overnight dew, Walk up and John Sterling was doing the game on Braves Radio when the game finally ended. Went to bed following the 10th inning show and on July 5th went to work as our morning man told me when he got to the station to do show prep and the all-night jock was running the broadcast which was still going on. A Night to remember for sure, today’s Braves Marlins game had to be a 4th of July game with all the oddities of winning the extra-inning game. Happy 4th of July everybody! MikeMangan_2000@Yahoo.com
Thanks guys. It’s fun to write when you’re in a good mood.
Thanks, Rusty. One of the great opening lines of all time.
Turns out that 5 IBBs in a game isn’t as remarkable as I thought it might be. The record for IBBs by both teams in a game is 11 by the Giants (7) and Cubs (4) in 17 innings on 5/2/56. I can’t find the record for IBBs by one team, but it’s got to be 7, 8, 9, or 10. The record for IBBs of one player is 5 to Andre Dawson of the Cubs by the Reds on 5/22/90 in 16 innings. Two of Dawson’s teammates and one Red also received IBBs in that game.
This Is Bill Edwards EDITOR OF THE PALM COAST 🌴Tribune . I REMEMBERED THAT GAME . THr Dodgers Played the Braves . Right now The Braves General Manager needs Adam Duval vet him now . Because He will Haunt the Braves for the Remainder of 9 games I would rather have Adam Duval on the Braves The Braves need a Left Fielder. .where Adam Duval normally Plays .He can diffently add Hitting and Home Runs to the Lineup which is full of Holes. Marcel Ozuna is The Current Left Fielder but Will lose his Job through suspension due to the League Rule of Violence on A Spouse or Girlfriend .unless The Police drops their case. However that’s not going to happen since an Atlanta police officer Witnessed the In fraction I knew Marcel Ozuna was In trouble when his Batting average was Declining. Before he Broke His Hand playing. The Braves should also go After Craig Kimbral strike While the Iron is 🔥Hot before July 31st. They should have not let him go to be Traded For Toukie Tosant They Traded Toukie to The Los Angeles Angeles. 🙄 what a stupid move by The General Manager who later became the Advisor to The president of The Boston Red Sox. He got His ring in 2018 . What did The Braves get Heart ❤ ache.
Bill Edwards 😊
Thank you, Rusty. How is it even possible that the recaps are getting even better?
And now do it on the mound, Max!
Great job, Rusty.
A few notes:
It doesn’t quite rise to the level of Chipwatch, but Chip and Glavine mentioning three times how important the foul ball Chisholm couldn’t get to in the 9th was a little annoying, given that the play made virtually no difference at all.
It has been commented on before, but the Braves bench is shorter than most because of the immobility of the Panda. But if Snit hadn’t sent in Ender to pinch-run in the 9th, it would have been Ender, not Fried, in the 10th at the plate. (More likely, Kevan Smith’s at bat would have continued.) It’s probably just me, but I’m marginally more confident with Fried than with Ender or with KSmith. But it’s pretty marginal.
Another seller might be emerging.
If the Braves acquire the “bat”, I hope they keep Almonte and send Ender on his way.
I was sure Max was taking on that 3 – 1 pitch. I guess Bass was too.
I like the possibility of Arcia in the super sub role after we get an outfielder. Given his ability to take a walk, I also think Almonte has value off the bench. Pablo as a bench coach and Ender’s time in Atlanta coming to an end is looking better and better.
There’s no way we win that game if we didn’t call up Arcia. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Arcia is some huge answer to our problems. But Almonte probably doesn’t get 2 hits and a walk if he’s in the lineup, and whoever we would have PH instead of Almonte in the 9th wouldn’t have gotten that hit.
The Rockies Home-Road split is insane. At home 31-17 and on the road a crazy 6-31 record.
Yeah, I was downplaying Arcia a bit yesterday, but I’m certainly glad to have him as a bench piece, at worst. He’s definitely better than who we’ve been running out there, I think. Just as long as folks don’t think he’s the savior of the season or anything…heh.
@15, pinch-running for Panda with Ender in the 9th wound up working, since Ender scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly that I doubt would’ve scored Panda. I assume Snit thought that increasing the chance of tying the game outweighed any hypotheticals about future innings. Maybe he could’ve found a random reliever to pinch-run who would’ve been faster than Panda too, but the RR probably wouldn’t have been as fast as Ender.
I vaguely remember Smoltz and Glavine pinch-running a few times in the early 1990s when they were young & reasonably athletic. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to risk frontline starters like that in ordinary games, but if you’re going to have a short bench so you can carry a million relievers and a couple of the members of that short bench have their sprint speed measured with a sundial, it might be a good idea to have two or three of the young and fungible relievers practice pinch-running. Maybe even have some of them do it at Gwinnett while they’re on that stop of the shuttle.
How much longer will the team carry Panda?
There’s a common fan trope of, “If the team doesn’t do XYZ thing that I want them to do, then there are not serious about winning!” And it’s usually because the people running the team are, well, smarter than they are. However, Pablo Sandoval has had one hit in his last 27 PAs dating back to May 26th. He’s hitting .179/.303/.232 since he hit those 3 home runs in the first couple weeks. You can’t possibly tell me you’re truly serious about contending if you’re carrying him on the roster.
Let’s just say his value is based on him working a walk in the late innings when you really need a baserunner. Sure, I guess that’s some situational value. But he can’t run. So if he does work a walk (10 BBs in 76 PAs is not bad and basically his only skill at this point), you have to pinch-run him. So even if he walked with even more frequency, at his best he is still being a half of a player that you have to supplement with another player. And so if you PR Ender for him anyway, then why not let Ender try to work the walk? He has 7 BB in 84 PAs; certainly worse but not that much worse that it’s worth burning a roster spot before you put Ender in the game anyway.
The reality is that Pablo knows he’s toast, and he knows that the only thing he brings to the table is being a good teammate and working a walk every now and again. The standards for a major league player on a contending team are a lot higher than that.
@23: Oh, it definitely ended up working out, not only because Ender scored fairly easily, but because it meant Ender (or Kevan Smith) wasn’t batting in the 10th. As to Snit’s reasoning, a team that was 1-6 in extra innings (up until yesterday, and a pitiful 1-6 at that) is a team that is obviously configured to win in regulation and then acknowledge its exhaustion if the game continues.
Not to re-hash the Acuna HBP situation, but you know what’s really awesome about Mattingly being an idiot? None of his pitchers can pitch Acuna and maybe even anyone else on the inner half. Even if Lopez didn’t intend to hit Acuna (I really don’t think he did, but Nick and others made great arguments for why it was intentional), but the end result was the same: he got ran. So basically Mattingly has gotten in his own pitchers’ heads that if they pitch inside and miss to ANY Brave, they might get ran. Dumb, Mattingly. Dumb.
I’m still surprised that they didn’t send Lopez out the next day and back everybody else up a day. If they sincerely believed that the Lopez pitch was a pure accident, then the clearest sign of good faith would have been to pitch him the next day.
Introducing a new writer and Game Thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/07/05/braves-minor-league-report-drew-waters-and-bryce-elder-explode-and-game-thread/