The Braves and Phillies might have played the most memorable game of the 2012 regular season on Wednesday night. You would think a pitching matchup that featured Roy Halladay and Tommy Hanson would be closely contested, but that was not the case as the Braves somehow won 15-13 in the 11th inning.
With the Phillies up 6-0 in the fifth inning, the Braves rallied for six runs of their own, capped off by a Brian McCann grand slam to tie the game up. Jason Heyward then followed in the sixth inning with a two-run pinch-hit single to right to give Atlanta a 8-6 lead.
Philadelphia came right back in the seventh. Carlos Ruiz belted a three-run homer, giving his squad a 9-8 lead. Ruiz came up again with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, this time hitting a bases-clearing double to make the score 12-8.
Atlanta rallied in the bottom of the eighth. Tyler Pastornicky drove in a run with an RBI-single, Michael Bourn brought home a run by drawing a walk, and Martin Prado tied the game at 12-12 with a two-RBI single up the middle. Freddie Freeman drove in the go-ahead run with a deep sac fly to left, giving the Braves a 13-12 lead once again.
Craig Kimbrel blew the save in the 9th inning. A leadoff walk to Juan Pierre eventually did him in, as Shane Victorino drove in the game-tying run with an infield single. Atlanta loaded the bases in the bottom half of the ninth, but a pop out from Bourn ended the threat.
Fast forward to the 11th inning. Dan Uggla led off the inning with a single, bringing up 40-year-old Chipper Jones. Chipper belted a ball deep down the right field line that went home run distance, but went foul by a few feet. With the large crowd at Turner Field in dismay, Jones stepped back into the batters box. He took a 3-2 fastball and slammed it to right-center field, giving the Braves their first walk-off victory of the season.
It was an incredible night for baseball around the league, and you would be hard pressed to find a game played at Turner Field with more drama than this one.
Wow.
That's about all I've got tonight.
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