Braves' Division Series tickets went on sale Monday. Now they have to get there.
What had been a virtual lock remains precarious after the Braves lost 5-4 to the Marlins in the 12th inning Monday night, their ninth loss in 12 games. The Braves got some help from Pittsburgh, though, where the Pirates rallied to defeat the Cardinals 6-5 and keep the Braves' wild-card lead at 4 ½ games, with 14 games to play.
“We’ll keep fighting,” said Michael Bourn, who was stranded at third in the bottom of the ninth despite getting there with one out. “We played hard. Some breaks just didn’t fall our way. What else can you do about it? The good thing is we didn’t lose any ground. We’re still right where we were when this game started.”
In the 12th, the Marlins used a leadoff walk off rookie Anthony Varvaro and a sacrifice bunt to get the winning run in scoring position for pinch-hitting Mike Stanton. The slugging right fielder, who’d been out for the better part of a week with a hamstring injury, connected for the game-winning single off reliever Cristhian Martinez.
The Braves still have a clear shot to make the playoffs, but their frustration level is running high.
They rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to tie it up, but failed to get the key hit despite getting the leadoff man on in the last four innings. They went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-4 in a ninth-inning opportunity. Martin Prado had what would have been a walk-off hit erased in the 11th on a great diving play by Marlins shortstop Donnie Murphy.
Maybe the most frustrated Brave was Brian McCann, who struck out with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth.
“I came up tonight with the game on the line twice, and I put together two horrible at-bats,” said McCann, who also struck out with a runner at second in the 11th. “I feel like that was the outcome of the game.”
McCann appeared to favor his side after taking a pitch in the first inning but he said after the game he was fine.
The Braves have not led in a game since Friday night, when they were up 3-1 on the Cardinals and Craig Kimbrel blew his first save since June 8. The Braves have lost four straight since then, while going 7-for-40 with runners in scoring position.
“They’re trying their hearts out,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Sometimes we get a little excited.”
The ninth inning was a good example. Bourn started it with a leadoff double, and advanced to third after an intentional walk to Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla's one-out infield hit. But with the bases loaded, McCann struck out looking and Prado grounded out on the next pitch.
Bourn might have had a chance to score on a ball McCann checked his swing on that went that got to the backstop, but he hesitated.
“I actually thought he foul-tipped it, but I didn’t know,” Bourn said. “I was leaning forward, but when I saw him check I leaned back. It happened so fast. I think if I would have gone, I would have been out. It bounced back right to him, and I didn’t have the great jump I normally would have had.”
Jones reached to lead off the 11th and left for a pinch-runner after he collided with first baseman Gaby Sanchez. Gonzalez said he was planning to pinch run for Jones anyway, and Jones said after the game he was fine.
The Braves had rallied on clutch hitting from Alex Gonzalez, who had two hits with two outs and runners in scoring position despite hitting .105 (6-for-57) in those situations entering Monday. His two-out single to left tied it 4-4 in the eighth, scoring Jason Heyward who’d reached on an infield hit and throwing error by Murphy.
For a while, the Braves looked like they’d brought home a little malaise from a 2-6 trip, getting foiled on two seemingly routine plays.
Gonzalez couldn’t get to a pop-up on a play in which he’d been covering second base on a hit-and run, nor could Prado, and it fell in for a hit. The Marlins cashed in for a 4-2 lead on Matt Dominguez’s RBI single and a wild pitch by reliever Arodys Vizcaino.
The Braves failed to cover first base on a botched bunt play in the seventh but Eric O’Flaherty pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.
Brandon Beachy gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings but struck out 10 for his third double-digit strikeout game.
The Marlins beat him down the lines, setting up a 2-0 lead on Omar Infante’s triple down the third-base line in the first inning and Emilio Bonifacio’s triple down the first-base line in the third. Infante entered the game hitting only .135 (5-for-37) against his former team but went 3-for-5 with a sacrifice fly Monday night.
