Late rally and video replay wins game for Braves, 7-6
After falling behind early to the Florida Marlins the Atlanta Braves capped off an impressive rally with a little help from the replay booth and Brian McCann.
Josh Johnson pitched another solid game for the Marlins holding the Braves hitters to just three hits, three walks, and one run while striking out eight in six innings of work. The Marlins offense appeared to get the job done as well chasing Derek Lowe after just three innings and tagging him for six hits, three walks and five earned runs.
After tacking on a sixth run in the fourth inning the Marlins appeared to have a comfortable lead.
They did until the eighth inning when the rally started. Two hits, a walk, and an error later and the Braves closed the gap down to 6-4 in favor of the Marlins.
The rally continued in the ninth after Matt Diaz hit a two run home run off Leo Nunez to tie the game up at 6-6. It appeared as if the game was set to go to extra inning after Jason Heyward struck out and Martin Prado ground out to short stop. Brian McCann ended up putting those thoughts to rest with a home run just barely over the right field wall.
Initially the umpires ruled McCann’s hit in play after it appeared to hit the wall and roll back onto the field. McCann held up at second base and began to immediately argue his case.
“I heard it hit the back tin (wall), so I knew that wasn’t the sound of the pads,” McCann said. “I knew it was a homer. I was telling Tim McClelland, ‘I promise you it’s a homer, I heard it hit the back.”’
After talking it over, the umpires decided to review the play and headed over to a tunnel next to the Florida dugout to view a replay of the hit. A minute and a half later they told McCann what he knew all along, that he had hit a home run.
The victory was the first time in which a baseball game ended due to a call that was made with the assistance of a video replay.
With the win the Braves record improved to 75-55 on the season. Their lead over the Philadelphia Phillies remains at two games due to the Phillies beating the Houston Astros 5-1 on Sunday.
Atlanta starts a four game series with their division rival the New York Mets on Monday. Scheduled to take the mound for the Braves in the game on Monday is Jair Jurrjens. Pat Misch will try for his first career win in his fourth start since getting called up earlier this month.
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