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The Braves can thank Austin Riley for pulling Monday evening’s win out of a hat within the late innings. His two-run homer off Jeff Hoffman within the backside of the eighth inning of NLDS Recreation 2 gave the Braves their fifth unanswered run and a 5–4 lead. His heads-up throw to first base to double up Bryce Harper on the tail finish of a wild, spectacular play secured the sport’s remaining out, serving to the Braves escape Truist Area with a cut up after spending many of the evening trying like they’d be heading to Philadelphia on the point of elimination.
That game-ending double play occurred with Nick Castellanos on the plate and Harper, representing the tying run after drawing a leadoff stroll towards nearer Raisel Iglesias, on first. Castellanos swatted a towering 101-mph drive an estimated 392 toes to deep middle discipline. Heart fielder Michael Harris II bought on his horse to run down the ball, making a leaping catch on the wall to remove a positive extra-base hit that might have tied the sport. Harper, who had been working on contact, needed to flip again after passing second base, and although Harris’ relay throw bounced previous cutoff man Ozzie Albies, Riley alertly backed up the play, backhanding the ball and side-arming a peg to first baseman Matt Olson in time to nab Harper for one of many craziest endings to a postseason recreation in latest reminiscence.
Not solely was that was the primary 8-5-3 double play in postseason historical past, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, however Harris additionally made historical past by turning into the primary outfielder to begin a game-ending double play in postseason historical past, according to OptaStats.
The play capped an distinctive Braves comeback. For a lot of Monday evening, it was honest to marvel if they’d ever get on the board towards the Phillies. After being held scoreless by Ranger Suárez and a six-pack of relievers in the Division Series opener, the crew that gained a serious league-high 104 video games was held hitless for five.2 innings by Zack Wheeler and fell right into a 4–0 gap as Max Fried struggled.
Wheeler, who led the majors in fWAR (5.9) however didn’t get a lot love in Cy Younger conversations, both right here or elsewhere, regarded like one of the best pitcher on the planet within the early going. Together with his fastball persistently round 97-98 mph, he dominated the Braves from the outset, placing out the facet within the first inning; he punched out Ronald Acuña Jr. swinging at a 98-mph fastball on the outer third, then bought each Albies and Riley with 97-mph excessive cheese. It was a fastball-heavy food regimen — 10 four-seamers and two sinkers — towards a crew that dealt with fastballs 97 mph or greater nearly in addition to some other; their .325 wOBA towards such pitches ranked fourth within the majors.
Wheeler bought all three outs within the second through strikeouts, however solely after Trea Turner kicked an Olson grounder to guide off the inning. The 33-year-old righty picked up his shortstop by placing out Marcell Ozuna ( a 97-mph fastball on the higher outer nook), Travis d’Arnaud (swinging at a excessive 97) and Eddie Rosario (chasing a low curve). He struck out just one hitter apiece within the third and fourth and didn’t strike out anybody within the fifth, however simply the identical, he held the Braves hitless; d’Arnaud’s one-out fly ball within the fifth was the primary contact off him that even reached the outfield.
By that time, the Phillies had constructed a 4–0 lead towards a shaky Fried. The 29-year-old lefty was restricted to 14 begins within the common season, posting a 2.55 ERA and three.14 FIP however lacking three months from early Could to early August as a consequence of a forearm pressure, then making only one begin after September 12 as a consequence of a blister on his left index finger. It had been 18 days since that begin, and whereas he threw a simulated recreation final Tuesday, he merely wasn’t sharp.
The Phillies collected 4 first-inning hits off Fried’s fastballs, making him throw 30 pitches. After seeing 5 straight curveballs, Turner smacked a low 97-mph fastball into the right-center hole for a one-out hustle double. Alec Bohm adopted with a 79-mph jam shot over shortstop Orlando Arcia and into no-man’s land in shallow middle, giving the speedy Turner ample time to attain. After Harper struck out, J.T. Realmuto and Castellanos every singled, loading the bases. That drew pitching coach Rick Kranitz out to go to Fried, who escaped by getting Bryson Stott to floor out to first base.
Fried had a barely simpler second inning however nonetheless wanted 21 pitches to work round a one-out stroll of Johan Rojas, who took second on a wild pitch. He bought into deeper bother within the third, when Harper lined a one-out single after which Realmuto punished a dangling slider, sending it 411 toes to proper middle for a two-run homer.
After Fried walked Castellanos on six pitches, the Braves’ bullpen started to stir; Fried had gotten seven outs and was approaching 70 pitches. He survived that body however discovered bother once more within the fourth with a pair of walks, and whereas he escaped by getting Harper to floor out, with 95 pitches by 4 innings, his evening was accomplished.
In all, Fried allowed six hits, walked 4 and struck out simply three. He went 2–0 to 9 of the 22 batters he confronted and netted simply 51 strikes from amongst his 95 pitches. He did get eight whiffs in 15 swings towards his curveball however simply seven extra towards the remainder of his arsenal, ending with a 28% CSW charge; the Phillies chased simply 24% of his pitches out of the zone. The Braves will want higher from him in the event that they’re to make a deep October run.
Kirby Yates changed Fried to begin the fifth, and the Phillies manufactured a run out of fine details. With one out, Castellanos hit a broken-bat single to proper discipline, stole second — the Phillies’ sixth steal of the sequence — and took third when d’Arnaud’s off-line throw bounced into middle discipline, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Stott to run the result in 4–0. The Phillies continued to run wild, with Cristian Pache strolling after which stealing earlier than Yates struck out Rojas.
Wheeler had thrown simply 71 pitches by 5, placing out eight with out issuing a stroll or permitting successful. However the Braves lastly confirmed indicators of life within the sixth as they confronted him for a 3rd time. After Arcia and Harris each grounded out to show over the lineup, Acuña labored a two-out stroll, and Albies smacked a excessive fastball into proper discipline for the Braves’ first hit. Acuña was already going first to 3rd, however he scored when Castellanos’ relay throw skipped away from Turner after hitting the lip of the infield grass; the shortstop was charged with one other error. Wheeler snuffed out the nascent rally when he caught Riley a sinker on the skin nook — a beneficiant name primarily based on all visible proof.
Wheeler started the seventh by giving up his second hit, a 111-mph scorcher to middle from Olson, on his 87th pitch of the evening. Supervisor Rob Thomson might have pulled him there, with the bullpen heating up, however with a three-run cushion and a sense that Wheeler’s stuff “was nonetheless fairly good” (as he said afterwards), he let his workhorse keep in. Wheeler briefly rewarded Thomson’s religion by placing out Ozuna with a sweeper within the dust, however his subsequent pitch — one other sweeper — hung in the course of the strike zone, and d’Arnaud crushed it to left discipline for a two-run homer, trimming the Braves’ deficit to 1 and ending the righty’s in any other case sensible evening on a bitter notice.
Wheeler struck out 10 and issued only one stroll. Like Fried, he registered only a 28% CSW charge and generated 15 swings and misses; in his case, he bought seven through his four-seamer and 4 apiece together with his sweeper and curve. The Braves chased 40% of his pitches exterior the zone, and solely two of their eight hard-hit balls went for hits. Nonetheless, these have been two large ones.
Fireballing lefty José Alvarado relieved Wheeler, notched a pair of strikeouts, then retired Harris to begin the eighth earlier than giving method to Hoffman. He’s been the Phillies’ simplest righty reliever this yr, however he grazed Acuña with a pitch; the Braves outfielder superior to second on a groundout, then stole third. Hoffman then bought forward of Riley, 1–2, however the slugging third baseman laid off a pair of pitches within the dust earlier than connecting on a low slider. This one was all launch angle at 35 levels.
In some way Riley ranked simply fourth on the Braves this yr together with his 37 homers, behind Olson (54), Acuña (41) and Ozuna (40) because the crew tied the Twins’ 2019 file of 307 homers. Most of them traveled additional than this one’s projected distance of 376 toes, however this was larger than any of them for its affect.
As for that unimaginable remaining play, MLBcom’s David Adler posted a few Statcast 3D animations that assist illustrate the position of the important thing gamers. Right here’s the drive:
Statcast 3D monitoring: Michael Harris II saves the Braves with an unimaginable catch ?? game-ending double play pic.twitter.com/PPGQHe8Dzi
— David Adler (@_dadler) October 10, 2023
Right here’s Harper, who was about midway between second and third when Harris caught the ball; as he needed to re-touch second base in an effort to return to first, it’s no marvel he was out.
Monitoring Bryce Harper’s baserunning on the Braves’ game-ending double play
You may see the place he’s when Harris makes the catch pic.twitter.com/tohXeFCG72
— David Adler (@_dadler) October 10, 2023
And right here’s Riley, who defined his uncanny positioning to reporters by saying, “I feel the one motive I used to be within the place that I used to be as a result of I used to be screaming ‘One!’ and momentum simply saved pulling me that manner. And it ended up simply being the precise spot on the proper time.”
Braves win — Austin Riley cam
Sees Harris make the catch and the place Harper is, begins signaling to throw to 1st and leads to the proper spot to again up the throw and make the play pic.twitter.com/3q9ofXowPK
— David Adler (@_dadler) October 10, 2023
Whether or not or not the Braves handle to win this sequence, that one was a play for the ages.
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