Live from the Braves: There’s a wild card to be clinched
This is how it ended last season. It should go better this time. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Three hundred sixty-three days after they last took the field with a chance to make the playoffs, the Braves are here again. The night of Sept. 28, 2011, went badly: They lost 4-3 to Philadelphia in 13 innings while the Cardinals were winning 8-0 in Houston, and the Braves went nowhere but home.
There’s reason to believe tonight will yield a better return. Kris Medlen is pitching, and the Braves haven’t lost a game he has started since May 23, 2010. The opponent is Miami, which quit on the season long ago and is apparently trying to decide who to fire when. But this is baseball, and as the famous philosopher/pitcher Joaquin Andujar once noted: “There is one word in America that says it all, and that word is ‘you never know.’ ”
The magic number for clinching a wild card is down to 1, so even if the Braves lose the deed would be done should both the Brewers and Dodgers lose. (The former is playing in Cincinnati, the latter in San Diego.) But the Braves would like to be able to have their champagne party — that’s correct; even the wild card is occasion to break out the bubbly — without having to wait around until 1 a.m.
Whatever happens, I’d appreciate your company as the night unfolds. And I’d also ask a favor: In between innings, click over and watch my little video chat with Noah Coslov of CineSport. It concerns the Braves, oddly enough, and we do like it when y’all watch our videos.
As ever, I thank you in advance.
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187 comments Add your comment
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
8:43 pm
Braves up 2-1. Chipper sac fly.
Cracker
September 25th, 2012
8:43 pm
Nice to see Jason slide the right way. Braves lead!
Chop 'em braves
September 25th, 2012
8:45 pm
Lohse is 16-3 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.08 whip. not a bad year! Only 3 losses in 32 starts.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
8:46 pm
Mark, is the clubhouse prepared for a celebration?
ACE
September 25th, 2012
8:47 pm
Thanks for the attendance guess estimates
George W. Bush
September 25th, 2012
8:47 pm
Typical Brave offense. Two runs against a hack pitcher. If the Braves lose tonight against this lousy Miami team, with Medlen on the mound, I’m blaming Clinton.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
8:50 pm
Eovaldi hasn’t been a hack pitcher. He’s thrown a nice game.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
8:51 pm
Mark, will you be live blogging during the WC game?
Delbert D.
September 25th, 2012
8:51 pm
“Quaterbacks of the SEC”
How about “Editors of the AJC?”
ACE
September 25th, 2012
8:54 pm
Ouch that one hurt.
Chop 'em braves
September 25th, 2012
8:55 pm
noooooooooo!
ACE
September 25th, 2012
8:55 pm
two homers for a guy whe has no previous homers.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
8:55 pm
Well … that lead went away. Another Solano home run. After a soft Lee single. Fish lead 3-2.
Lakewood
September 25th, 2012
8:57 pm
Someone needs to tell Solano to chill out & quit trying so hard.
bulldogbubba
September 25th, 2012
8:57 pm
We’re gonna lose. Our offense seems weak tonight.Maybe a chance to gain a game on Nationals. Have a bad feeling. Phooey!!!
shelbydawkins
September 25th, 2012
8:59 pm
This looks like a typical playoff game for the Braves! ARGH
bulldogbubba
September 25th, 2012
9:01 pm
Wheres Clusters when we need encouragement? Come on Sonny give us a nugget.
Chop 'em braves
September 25th, 2012
9:02 pm
Yea a playoff game against the AAA marlins!
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:03 pm
Yes indeed help us out brother clusters
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:05 pm
Maybe this is the setup for another Chipper entry into a fairytale season.
OTP
September 25th, 2012
9:12 pm
I blame McCann for that second HR-bad pitch call.
Cracker
September 25th, 2012
9:12 pm
The key at-bat in this inning was Simmons’. Instead of trying to punch the ball to right or right-center and move McCann to 3rd, he flies to left. Standing at home, a batter has 90 degrees of fair territory in front of him. Far too many want to pull the ball, reducing the target area to 30 degrees or so. Prado gets this. Even Freeman hits the ball to left. Uggla is so hard-headed that you’d think he’s trying to hit everything into about 15 degrees worth of the field.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:15 pm
No reason to make an 0-2 pitch that good. I know he missed the location but still it should have been in the dirt.
shelbydawkins
September 25th, 2012
9:19 pm
stick a fork in ‘em
Jo
September 25th, 2012
9:22 pm
If its a big game, the Braves will lose it because thier hitting remains suspect. Making the playoffs is not enough when they lose 2-1 or 3-2 in the one game playoffs. 1 game…what a stupid idea.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
9:28 pm
Bottom of the ninth. Chipper up first.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:29 pm
Let’s get it started.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:30 pm
over 25000 at the Ted tonight.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:31 pm
chop chop chop
Cracker
September 25th, 2012
9:33 pm
Chipper goes the other way! What a hitter.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
9:34 pm
Chipper hits a double. What a player
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
9:34 pm
And now he’s at third after a wild pitch.
ACE
September 25th, 2012
9:35 pm
nice job by chipper. no reason not to tie this up.
Cracker
September 25th, 2012
9:36 pm
Stick a fork in ‘em? The fat lady just sang.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2012
9:36 pm
Clinched. Freeman homer.
OTP
September 25th, 2012
9:37 pm
There ya go!
shelbydawkins
September 25th, 2012
9:37 pm
she damn sure did
Chop 'em braves
September 25th, 2012
9:38 pm
yeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
Felix
September 25th, 2012
9:38 pm
All right!!!
ragnar danneskjold
September 25th, 2012
9:38 pm
Med is the Magic Man.
Quack Quack
September 25th, 2012
9:38 pm
Damn it man!!!
GO BRAVES!!!
Felix
September 25th, 2012
9:39 pm
What a different September.
hackjobs
September 25th, 2012
9:39 pm
I actually teared up a little. That was straight up storybook.
Remley
September 25th, 2012
9:39 pm
Wow! what a finish, the battleax right in the middle of it
RW
September 25th, 2012
9:39 pm
so glad they did it. redemption from last year. chipper is the man!
Chop Chop
September 25th, 2012
9:42 pm
Redemption? There’s more to playoff baseball than just making it. Ask Braves fans from ‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05, and ‘10 what the postseason is like if you don’t win.
sidslid
September 25th, 2012
9:45 pm
It feels like 1992!
Ken Stallings
September 25th, 2012
9:46 pm
I just really had the feeling the whole time (even after the 2-run Marlins homer took the lead) that the Braves were going to win this one. Medlen so often just dominated the opposition single-handedly and gave the team every chance to win. This was so much poetic justice for Medlen that this time his lineup picked him up!
What an awesome way to go into postseason — first walkoff homer by Freeman and it could not have been larger! Chipper certainly set the table and never saw old balky knees move faster for him to get the double.
Now, with the team enjoying their post-game champagne shower in the locker room, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Nats are losing against the Phillies and if that holds up, the Braves are just four games down in the loss column with 8 games left to play for both teams! So, should the Braves shock the world and take the NL East they can enjoy a second such shower.
BTW: typing this as Chipper got cold soaked during his interview! That scene was utterly priceless to witness!
Skeezix
September 25th, 2012
9:46 pm
It’s only fitting that Chipper got that 9th inning rally started. The epic choke of September 2011 has been officially put to rest.
RW
September 25th, 2012
9:47 pm
chop chop. I agree. been a fan since i was a kid. 1974. but last year was pathetic. I seriously contemplated watching them this year.