On July 31, the Atlanta Braves traded the Houston Astros a bunch of spare parts for center fielder Michael Bourn. Two days prior, the Astros traded right fielder Hunter Pence to the Philadelphia Phillies. Though most Phillies fans agreed Pence was a better fit for their team, there was little debate that Atlanta got the better player and swung the better deal.
In the Braves' 4-3, 13-inning, season-ending loss Wednesday night, the two most critical plays involved those two trade deadline acquisitions.
In the bottom of the third, Bourn was caught stealing third base. Except he wasn't. Replay showed he reached the bag before the tag was applied. Moments later, Dan Uggla hit a two-run homer to give the Braves a 3-1 lead that should've been a 4-1 lead. That extra run could've ended the game after nine innings. I'm not even complaining. These things happen.
In the top of the 13th, Pence farted out a broken-bat drooper just out of the reach of Uggla's glove, scoring Brian Schneider. It turned out to be the winning run.
What does this mean? It doesn't mean anything. Mildly interesting to me that the two most important plays in the final game of one of baseball's biggest collapses, a Braves season and an annual edition of a rivalry featured two high-profile additions to said rivalry.