Well, you can’t beat fun at the old ballpark.  When Austin Riley knocked his go-ahead three run homer in the 8th inning, that was as much fun as I ever remember at a game—and I’ve spent a lot of time at the old ballpark.

I was there today, and it was as fun as it looked on tv.  But if I’m honest, the events leading up to that moment were so tense that “fun” may not be the right word.  Playoff baseball is indeed different than the regular season.  As several of us noted in comments before today’s game, we prefer the large sample and daily routine of the regular season to the randomness of the postseason.  As Earl Weaver said, “This ain’t football; we play every day.”  In regular season, you don’t get too high or too low about one game.  You play again tomorrow, and there is time to work things out.

The playoffs, on the other hand, are intense; that’s the thrill and the agony of this time of year.  Losing today’s game (to the Phillies, with Chris Sale on the mound) would have been deeply disheartening.  But winning as they did, with the added note of redemption for Austin Riley, rivals my favorite moments in 60 plus years of Braves fandom.

You don’t need me to recount what happened in this game up to the decisive bottom of the 8th.  Just a few observations (enough to justify the large expense receipts I’ll be submitting to JonathanF):

–Chris Sale is an absolute delight.  His pitching line shows that he surrendered 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings.  But if you watched you know he pitched better than that.  He struck out 9, walked only one and gave up just 4 hits.  He only made a couple of mistakes, but got a little unlucky with those.

–Didier Fuentes gave up the triple that gave the Phillies the lead, but he is going to be fine.  He was the right guy for that moment.

–Dylan Lee had a rough September, but he was the guy Weiss called on for the 8th.  There are only two really dangerous hitters in the Philly lineup—Schwarber and Harper—and you’ve got to use your best lefty to face them.  Lee is still that guy, and he came through brilliantly.

–The Braves have had a top heavy lineup for most of the year.  The top 3 in the lineup today (Baldwin, RAJ, and Olson) went 0 for 11.  The 5 through 8 hitters were 6 for 12, with all 5 rbi’s and all 5 runs scored.  In the postseason, unexpected heroes emerge.  Weiss started Yaz against a lefty starter (for the first time this year?) and he drove in the first run off Luzardo with a big two out hit.  Ozzie had a big triple, after he had a pretty miserable September.  And Riley’s entire year has been pretty miserable, so of course he had the big blow.

–You’ve probably heard that this team leads MLB in runs scored in the 8th inning or later.  It may be that is just random; although some might say their character or personality is such that they handle pressure better than others.  I don’t know, but I do enjoy watching them in tight games knowing that they have such a penchant for coming from behind late. 

–We had some discussion about negativity in comments today.  JonathanF is right that it takes all kinds to make a community.  That said, it’s really just one particular commenter who stands out for the constant pessimism and criticism.  A few days ago JF quoted several of that person’s predictions of doom during this season that did not come true.  That did not faze him.  I won’t quote the doom predictions from today, but I will say that I was delighted that that commenter’s predictions were proven wrong once again.

–Tomorrow is a huge game.  It’s good that they don’t need to win 2 in a row, but it would be even better not to face an elimination game on Thursday.  Tyler Mahle just needs to pitch as he has since the Braves acquired him, and more unexpected heroes need to come through in the clutch.

Let’s get it done tomorrow.