Well, that took a while!!! For the first time all year, the Braves won a game after trailing in the 8th inning, with a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners Saturday night. Coupled with a Phillies loss, that brings the Braves to within five games of the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies.
Trailing 4-1 entering the 8th, Ruben Gotay hit his first HR of the year, a solo shot, to cut the lead to 4-2. Then, after a Gregor Blanco 1B and a two-base throwing error by SS Yuniesky Betancourt, Chipper Jones, pinch-hitting on essentially one leg, drove the first pitch from Arthur Rhodes up-the-middle, to cut the lead to 4-3.
Miguel Batista entered in the bottom of the 9th, subbing for injured closers J.J. Putz and Brandon Morrow, and probably shouldn’t be put in that position again. Batista walked Kelly Johnson, then gave up the lead on a double from former Mariner Greg Norton. He then intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and beaned Jeff Francoeur, before giving up the game-winning, broken bat single to Brian McCann, without recording a single out. The celebration erupted around McCann near first base, as the Braves got the monkey off their backs.
Barrett Sallee has worked professionally in the Atlanta sports market in various aspects for over 7 years. He can be reached at barrettsallee@hotmail.com
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