House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves post-season history: why Sam Holbrook is a villain

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 5: Manager Fredi Gonzalez #33 of the Atlanta Braves disputes an infield fly ruling with umpires against the St. Louis Cardinals during the National League Wild Card Game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 5: Manager Fredi Gonzalez #33 of the Atlanta Braves disputes an infield fly ruling with umpires against the St. Louis Cardinals during the National League Wild Card Game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 5: Dan Uggla #26 of the Atlanta Braves is unable to reach an errant throw by Chipper Jones #10 against the St. Louis Cardinals during the National League Wild Card Game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 5: Dan Uggla #26 of the Atlanta Braves is unable to reach an errant throw by Chipper Jones #10 against the St. Louis Cardinals during the National League Wild Card Game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Piling On

Medlen righted the ship in the 5th with another 1-2-3 innings, but Matt Holliday got to him for a solo shot in the 6th… 4-2 Cardinals.

But it was once again the Braves’ defense that betrayed matters in the 7th:

  • Throwing Error on Uggla – batter-runner David Freese to second base.
  • Sac bunt to move Freese to third.

A pitching change happened here – Chad Durbin came into the game.

  • Immediately thereafter, Andrelton Simmons also made an error – in his anxiety to make a play, he airmailed a throw home on a grounder.
  • That scored Freese and put Pete Kozma on second.  5-2.

Another pitching change:  enter Johnny Venters.

An infield single off Venters got away enough for Kozma to come all the way around and score.  6-2.

A double play ended this nightmare… or so we thought.

Bottom of the 7th

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse was out of the game, have been replaced by Lance Lynn during the bottom of the prior inning.  After the festivities in the top of the 7th, Lynn was also out and Edward Mujica now replaced him on the mound.

Simmons popped out the shortstop… really.  In truth, he did this a lot… 17.5% of the time that season and slightly higher in 2013 before he got that figured out a bit.

After that, Jose Constanza of all people (hitting for Venters), tripled.  A Bourn grounder scored him to make it 6-3.

Prado then singled to start the merry-go-round over again.  Exit Mujica and enter ‘Scrabble’ – Marc Rzepczynski.

Heyward doubled, but Chipper Jones was unable to capitalize on the 2-out chaos and grounded out to end the best sustained threat the Braves had mustered.

Happily, the Braves’ defense rallied in the 8th:  2 singles against Eric O’Flaherty were mitigated by a double play.

That brings us to the fateful end of the 8th inning… with a 6-3 deficit.

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