Braves dropped lead late, but two sets of web gems and Michael Harris II rescued the day

admin | April 25, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

The game very nearly got away from them, but Atlanta proved their mettle against the Marlins with key plays late on Wednesday.

When the Atlanta Braves led 3-1 in the ninth inning with Raisel Iglesias on the mound, it felt very safe because the Marlins had done little to challenge the Braves up to that moment. However, the game quickly went downhill as Iglesias gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases, and then a bouncer to Matt Olson took a strange hop, bounced off of him, and then went directly into the camera well, allowing a pair of runs to score. Miami had runners on first and third with no outs, and the game was tied.

The Braves would not be denied, however. After some critical defensive plays and heroics from Michael Harris II in extra innings, the Braves defeated the Marlins 4-3.

Braves salvage win over Marlins thanks to late game web gems and clutch hit from MH2

The Braves were clearly in a jam following that tragic sequence of events in the ninth inning. Iglesias plainly did not have his best stuff, and the Marlins had a perfect scoring opportunity with Jesus Sanchez at the plate, who had previously smashed a home run. Sanchez, on the other hand, hit a check swing bunt to the mound, which Iglesias fielded cleanly, held the fast Jazz Chisholm at third, and then recorded the first out.

The second out was even more amazing, as a ground ball directly to Orlando Arcia enabling him to send a fast strike home to score Chisholm and keep the game tied. The sequence resembled Dansby Swanson’s play against the Diamondbacks in 2018 (but their next web treasure on Wednesday will be even more similar). After a strikeout halted the threat and the Braves blew a chance to win the game in the ninth when Ronald Acuna Jr. grounded into a double play, the Braves’ defense needed to come up with one more major play.

The Marlins were able to move their ghost runner (still a poor rule) to third, and former Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt delivered a sizzling shot grounder to Austin Riley. Riley retrieved it neatly, twisted and threw from his knees, and hit Nick Gordon at home. The Marlins would load the bases, but a Jazz Chisholm strikeout gave the Braves the opportunity to end the chaos.

They ended it. Ronald Acuna Jr. began the inning at second base, and Michael Harris II, who had a fantastic game with three hits, lifted the second ball he saw into the left-center gap. The ball somehow ended up on grass, and the Braves were able to walk the Marlins off. Sure, the Braves should have won easily without the heroics, but where’s the joy in that?