The Giants end Bobby Cox’s career to go forward in the Playoffs (Part 2)
The San Francisco Giants were a long way from home when they went up against the Atlanta Braves at the Turner Field on Monday. The post season has been going in to high gear and with the hunt for October over, the top teams
from the National League faced off for a neck-to-neck contest to decide the best squad in the table to go up against the American League ball club in the final, World Series competition. For the visitors, the task was all but done to go forth in the playoffs.
However, a victory was all that kept them from availing that feature.
The series was all that Atlanta Braves had left to secure the management tenure of Bobby Cox for a bit longer in the postseason. The 69 year old was facing a possible last encounter in the year and that inkling put the hosts
on edge as they went into the fixture, looking for a victory. The side was trailing in the series 1 – 2 and the Braves were required to win the match in order to push the contest into Game 5.
However, that was a tough task at hand, given the odds stacked against them in history. The home team never had won the deciding fixture at Turner Field in the post season and this meant there was no great record to support
the team with, during the game. Derek Lowe was pitching for the Braves and it was a game to make his efforts count as the chance to go into the National League Championship, held in the business. San Francisco however, produced a young pitcher to star in the
game and it was none other than Madison Bumgarner who came on to the mound to pitch for the Giants. The 21 year old left arm ball thrower was up against a determined Braves side and for him to feature in the match was an amazing sight as well.
The Giants were the first ones to start off the game and it was Derek Lowe delivering the pitches against the side from the Braves mound. The fast ball thrower was quick and slick in keeping San Francisco pinned down in the
strike zone. The case to dispel their attack was hard on the cards and venturing into the bottom 3rd, it was Atlanta that drew first blood.
Omar Infante was the man to start on the batting plate for Atlanta and he made his way to the first base with a simple single to the left. He then proceeded to the second base when Matt Diaz chipped an infield single to the
right. The action was far from over and with the first two bases occupied; Derrek Lee came in to work the diamond in the team’s favour. The hard hitter flied out to the right and got Infante to third. Omar finally scored when Brian McCann came on. The base
occupant ran clear off to through the last base when McCann hit a sacrifice fly to the right.
The move was good enough to get the Braves their first run on the board and put the Giants on the edge. While the visitors were bombarded by effective deliveries from Lowe, the Atlanta side was on mark to try and get more
runs on the board. The hitters were trying their level best to hit some knock in the later innings but their single run from the bottom 3rd stood strong to keep the game in a winning position.
Derek Lowe was on the right note and he made sure that the opponents didn’t gain an advantage in the game. His strong display worked wonders but the effect was wearing off. The game went out of the 5th inning
and the Giants were still quite in the game.
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