When was the last time you saw a two-inning game? A Little League game with the mercy rule
invoked, perhaps? Maybe high school? Maybe your nephew's first teeball game, called after two-innings for the betterment of everyone involved. It’s irrelevant to me, really. Anyway, we saw one tonight, kind of the hors d' oeuvre before our main course, and it went well. Here's what happened:
Bobby Parnell
starts things off for the Mets against Ramiro Peña, who starts things off with
a big time baserunning play, reaching second on a ball in shallow CF. This is a
game where small ball is the order of the day for the less powerful component of the Atlanta lineup, and Andrelton Simmons executed
that bunt perfectly. Parnell throws four
straight balls to Heyward, putting runners at the corners for Justin
Upton. Atlanta seems to be taking the
right approach with Parnell, letting him put himself in deep counts. Justin laces the ball up the middle, but the
Mets are positioned perfectly for the double play. Geez, Justin, why do you have to hit the ball
so hard? To the bottom of the ninth we go.
Varvaro is back out there to start the ninth for
Atlanta. Lucas Duda leads off for the Mets, continuing his quest to look as much like Brian McCann as humanly possible. The wind seems to be
making this a bit of an adventure for the outfielders, Duda’s flyout to Justin
Upton being a bit more adventuresome than we’d like. Good quick inning by Varvaro, so quick that I missed the other two outs. To the top of the tenth.
I like this broadcast team of Joe Simpson and Keith
Hernandez. Maybe Keith will ask Joe to
help him move, or take him to the airport.
Great at bat by Freeman to draw the walk to start the inning, coming back from
an 0-2 count. McCann lays down the bunt,
thankfully it goes foul. Keith Hernandez
did a great job calling McCann out for that one. It’s nice when McCann actually swings the bat
and takes advantage of a ball down and in.
Beautiful piece of hitting and putting the ball in the RF corner, giving the Braves runners on second and third with no outs. Once again, a power hitter swinging the bat for a hit goes well, for the bajillionth time in baseball history. I like the decision to PR Jordan Schafer
here, too. Uggla drives one into LF, he did a nice job staying back and waiting on a slider that was up in the zone, Lyon
is lucky he didn’t put that one in the seats. The Braves take the lead 6-5. I’m really enjoying Keith Hernandez’s color commentary, his
analysis of Chris Johnson’s swing on that third strike was spot on. What a sweet squeeze bunt laid down by BJ Upton, luckily Jordan
Schafer remembered he’s a baseball player and needed to break for the
plate. 7-5 Braves. Great play by the CF Lagares on
that ball hit by Peña to get the second out, and Simmons is out number three to end the inning. To the bottom of the tenth we go, here comes Kimbrel.
Sly attempt by John Buck to take first after that ball three pitch, I
can appreciate that. Kimbrel doesn’t
though, and shows Buck by sticking 94 mph right in his ribs. Now poor, woebegone Davis saunters up to the
plate, not unlike the proverbial lamb being led to the slaughter. He’s hitting .028 in his last ten games with
14 Ks. It’s hard not to have pity for a
guy like that, especially one playing in NY.
Kimbrel is all over the place up there. Ike wills one over Simmons’ head to snap his prolonged skid. The baseball gods rectify this miscarriage of justice by
having Ruben Tejada pop out with the bunt attempt, a huge out for Kimbrel. A leprechaun masquerading as Justin Turner
comes up and promptly grounds into a double play, ending the game. Braves win 7-5.
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