There were several good nine-inning games yesterday, and one extra-inning game.
And the winner is... the extra-inning game! Braves 4, Marlins 2 (10), with Miami's Tom Koehler taking on Atlanta's Julio Teheran (also known as the one healthy Braves starting pitcher).
Christian Yelich led off the top of the first by reaching second on a single/error combo, but the next three Marlins failed to advance him from there. Koehler also put the leadoff man on, walking Jason Heyward, but recovered to strike out the side. Garret Jones became the third consecutive hitter to open an inning by getting on base, but he did it slightly more emphatically than his predecessors; his home run put the Marlins in the lead. A Jarrod Saltalamacchia walk and a Koehler single put two runners on before Yelich struck out to end the inning without further scoring.
Atlanta threatened seriously in the bottom of the second, as Dan Uggla reached on an error and Evan Gattis singled (Uggla went to third, and Gattis took second on the throw). Andrelton Simmons lined out and Teheran whiffed to leave the runners in scoring position. Marcel Ozuna singled and was picked off in the top of the third, while Koehler retired the Braves in order. Teheran and Koehler were both spotless in the fourth as well.
Donovan Solano led off the top of the fifth with a single, and advanced a base on each of two outs before being stranded at third. That allowed Simmons's homer in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 1. Teheran was fully settled in at this point, retiring six straight Miami hitters in the sixth and seventh, while Koehler was starting to struggle; he walked BJ Upton, allowed a single to Justin Upton, and hit Chris Johnson in the sixth, escaping with the game still tied in part due to a double play.
Koehler got a groundout from Gattis to open the seventh, but then allowed a single to Simmons and threw a wild pitch that moved the runner to second. Pinch hitter Ryan Doumit singled, moving Simmons to third and chasing Koehler from the mound. The Marlins double switched, with Jeff Baker taking over second base and the ninth spot and Mike Dunn taking the mound; Dunn quickly got an 0-2 count on Heyward, then allowed a go-ahead RBI single. BJ Upton walked to load the bases, Freddie Freeman fouled out, and AJ Ramos came on to strike out Justin Upton and keep Miami within a run.
The Marlins had a great chance to get that run in the eighth against Jordan Walden. Yelich singled with one out, then stole second. Ozuna walked, and Giancarlo Stanton reached on an Uggla error (his sixth of the year in 18 games played, a 54-error pace over a full season) after an initially ruled out at second was overturned on replay, thus loading the bases. But Casey McGehee struck out looking and Jones grounded out to leave all three runners on.
Ramos worked around a walk in the bottom of the eighth, giving his lineup one more shot against Craig Kimbrel. Saltalamacchia led off with a walk, and was lifted for pinch runner Reed Johnson. Adeiny Hechevarria reached on catcher's interference (!) from Gattis. Derek Dietrich hit for Ramos and worked Kimbrel for nine pitches, the last of which was hit for a double to left, scoring Johnson with the tying run. That double also put the go-ahead runs in scoring position with nobody out, but at that point, Kimbrel did what Kimbrel does and struck out the next three hitters.
Carlos Marmol relieved in the bottom of the ninth and started the inning by allowing a Jordan Schafer pinch hit double. Heyward popped up a bunt attempt, and the Upton brothers sandwiched walks around a Freeman flyout, loading the bases with two outs. Chris Johnson grounded to second to force extras.
Anthony Varvaro entered for the tenth (taking Justin Upton's cleanup spot in the order, with Schafer remaining in the game in left); he allowed one-out singles to McGehee and Jones before coaxing a double play from Jeff Mathis. Arquimendes Caminero relieved Marmol in the bottom of the inning and immediately yielded a single to Uggla, followed by a two-run walkoff homer by Gattis.
People I did not know (or had forgotten) were Marlins who played roles in this game: Casey McGehee, Garret Jones, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Reed Johnson, Jeff Mathis, Jeff Baker, and Carlos Marmol. (This is a separate category from "Marlins of whose existence I was previously unaware," and there were a few of those in this game too.)
Despite the number of newcomers and castoffs, the Miami team put on a show yesterday, especially in the late innings: bases loaded with one out while down a run in the eighth, second and third with nobody out while tied in the ninth, and first and second with one out while tied in the tenth. The Braves' 10 at bats with runners in scoring position and 12 men left on base were almost sleepy by comparison.
The late scoring, persistent threats, extra inning and walkoff homer combine to make this the tenth-best game of 2014 to date, and deservedly so.
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