Homer by Ankiel in 11th Gives Braves the Win
The Atlanta Braves have done it again.
Rick Ankiel scored a tiebreaking homer in the eleventh inning in the game against the San Francisco Giants. His home run into McCovey Cove was his first postseason homer and left the Braves victorious, 5-4, after being down four points.
Both teams now have one game win per piece in the best-of-five NL division series and are the only playoff series teams in their first round that are even after two games.
This was the Braves’ 47th come-from-behind victory this season, with manager Bobby Cox having to watch from the clubhouse after being ejected from the game, his third postseason ejection, after disputing a call at first in the second inning.
Interesting fact, did you know that Cox has been ejected from a record 158 season games?
Kyle Farnsworth pitched 1⅔ innings and then back for the tenth after Billy Wagner was injured.
The game started with Pat Burrel hitting a homerun to the left and also allowing Freddy Sanchez and Buster Posey to score in the first inning, making the score 3-0, to the Giants.
The second inning left the score at 4-0, with Matt Cain hitting a single to center, allowing Cody Ross to score.
The Giants were confident that their four points would be tough to beat. Or so they thought until the Braves came to bat.
In the sixth inning, Derrek Lee was able to score after Brian McCann singled to center field, making the score 4-1.
The eighth inning gave the Braves three more runs, tying the score at 4-4, with Melky Cabrera safe at first after a throwing error by Pablo Sandoval, third baseman for the Giants. This allowed Lee to score again, and McCann to proceed to second base. A double
to deep left center by Alex Gonzalez allowed McCann and Cabrera to score, leaving the score tied.
In the eleventh inning, Ankiel, who is known for his meltdown in the postseason game against Atlanta in 2000 while playing for the St Louis Cardinals, hit a powerful homer to the right to clinch the win.
Game 3 will take place in Atlanta’s Turner Field on Sunday, October 9, set to start at 4:37 PM ET.
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