The Atlanta Braves hit a five-run, four-run home run one night, hitting three home runs and seeing seven different players score. That wasn’t enough.
The Arizona Diamondbacks responded with their offensive runs and took advantage of several Braves’ mistakes to win 16-13 on Tuesday in one of the fiercest games of the MLB season.
The Diamondbacks opened the game with a first run lead. The Braves saved five runs in the bottom half. Then it was really chaos in the top of the second, as the most unusual play of the night arrived courtesy of Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll.
3-The base hit puts Arizona in the lead
With the game tied 5-5 in the second half, Carroll faced a 2-2 one-on-one against Braves starter Bryce Elder. He swung and missed the 83 mph slider for the strike.
But the pitch evaded catcher Shaun Murphy, who chased the ball down the third base line. He tracked her down and shot her first, trying to get Carol out. Instead, the ball went past first baseman Matt Olson and bounced off the wall. By the time the Braves had control of the ball and situation, Carroll had reached third base safely.
Ketel Mart scored on the play to give the Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead. Elder was charged with a wild pitch, and Murphy was charged with a throwing error. Carroll ended up scoring a single off Christian Walker to extend the lead to 7-5. Walker’s RBI capped off a five-run Arizona home run that started with a home run by Emmanuel Rivera.
Costly mistakes for Atlanta
Defensive errors were a sign of things to come for the Braves, who committed three errors. The third was probably the most expensive. With the score tied 13-13 in the top of the ninth, Diamondbacks’ elusive center fielder Alec Thomas hit toward first base with Jake McCarthy on first and a no-out. But Olson sniffed as he tried to pass the ball.
Instead of a possible double play, McCarthy ended up in third place and Thomas was a safe winless second. Geraldo Perdomo doubled to center field on the next batter to score both and give Arizona a 15-13 lead. Marte added an RBI single that scored Perdomo on the lockout that was unnecessary. The Braves did not score in the bottom half of the inning, and the Diamondbacks emerged with a decisive victory.
Before the Diamondbacks secured the final, the game featured six key changes and three ties. Austin Riley, the Braves’ third baseman, hit not once, but twice. Zack Davis’ three-run home run gave Atlanta a 9-8 lead in the fourth. That pitch ended Davis’ night.
Riley then hit a two-run home run off center wall off reliever Austin Adams in the sixth inning to give the Braves a 13-12 lead.
But an unknown newbie is confronted by Riley’s heroics. With the Braves still ahead 13-12 in the eighth, Diamondbacks rookie Dominic Canzon gets his career in baseball. cast down. The 25-year-old designated hitter lined up an 85-mile-per-hour shortstop from Braves reliever Kirby Yates in right field. Canzone’s first career hit scored Walker from third to tie the game at 13-13.
Only a diving catch from left fielder Kevin Pillar on Rivera’s line saved the Braves from further damage in the inning. But it didn’t save them from losing the match.
In the end, the teams combined for 19 runs and 27 strikeouts (Diamondbacks, 16; Braves, 11). The Diamondbacks have used six pitchers, while the Braves have used seven. Each team scored three home runs. Walker compared Riley to two of his companions. He finished 3-for-5 at the plate with 2 home runs, 1 walk, 5 RBI and 3 home runs. Riley finished 3-for-5 with 2 home runs, 3 runs scored and a game-high 7 RBI.
The teams in the game are played in the foul column. While the Braves posted three, the Diamondbacks committed none. They left the game with a valuable win to advance to 53-42, which was good at the time for third place in the narrow NL West race, 2.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. By the end of the game, they were safe in the wild card field, half a game ahead of the 53-44 Miami Marlins.
The Braves remain firmly in control of the NL East with baseball’s best record at 61-32. But they certainly want to play a cleaner game the next time they take to the field.
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