Brave’s Rain Soaked Celebration
June 17, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates a walk off two-run home run with teammates in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Turner Field. The Braves won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
They say that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. I’m certain that phrase may be bouncing around like an well-hit line drive in the collective minds of the New York Mets this morning. After coming off a 4 run 9th inning, including walk-off win in their last game against the Chicago Cubs, the Mets had to be feeling confident. Add to that the pitching performance from the Met’s Dillon Gee, and the blow the Atlanta Braves delivered last night had to feel much like a sword through the heart for the struggling team from New York.
To say it was raining in Atlanta for game 1 would be an understatement. It was pouring, and after an almost four hour rain delay, game 1 finally got underway close to 11 PM EST, and wasn’t over until almost 1:30 PM EST. The Mets had to be wondering at the start of the game whether or not there was some new curse underway for them, as they’ve had six games postponed due to bad weather this year.
Through almost all of the game, things looked bleak for the Braves, as Dillon Gee pitched a gem, allowing only two men on base. Tim Hudson pitched a good game as well, going seven innings, and with good defensive help from his teammates limited the Mets to just one RBI single, and that to the opposing pitcher Gee.
Justin Upton was able to deliver a single late in the game, and Freddie Freeman, who has been so clutch lately that words aren’t adequate to describe it, delivered again with a 2 run shot to give Atlanta the walk-off, last and very late minute win. In a post game interview, Freeman said,
"I knew I hit it good enough. I didn’t know if it was going to stay fair, actually, because it was an inside pitch. I didn’t know if I was able to get my hands inside. But once I saw it get up to its highest peak, I knew it was gone."
As you can imagine, it was a wild celebration at home plate after the walk-off. After the trial of a four hour rain delay, and the patience of fans where numbers started the game fairly high, but had dwindled to about 10K fans by 1st pitch, the victory gives the Braves a great deal of momentum going into today’s double-header. The Mets will be trying to wipe last night’s bitter blow off the books.
Of Note
The Braves continue with their plans to give Alex Wood (0-0, 3.53 ERA) the hill in game one of the double-header today, where the rookie ace will make his first start in the Big Show against Met’s Ace Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.04 ERA). It should be a good pitching matchup, and will be interesting to see how well Wood does under the pressure. The Braves have also reportedly brought up righ-handed pitcher Cory Rasmus to help in the remainder of the five game set against the Mets. The Mets have also brought up highly celebrated prospect Zack Wheeler who will make his Big Show debut as well in game 2 of today’s double-header against veteran Paul Maholm (7-5, 3.65 ERA)
Double-header Game Times 6/18
Game 1: 1:10 PM EST
Game 2: 7:10 PM EST