Last night in game one of the NLDS in Atlanta, the Braves held a commanding 3-1 lead. Moreover, they just needed six more outs to go up 1-0 on the St. Louis Cardinals.
Then it happened.
Newly acquired reliever Chris Martin came in to presumably set up the eighth inning. Without throwing a single pitch, he came out of the game with an oblique injury. Now, Atlanta has to replace him on the playoff roster in the middle of the season. They do so with Julio Teheran, which probably doesn’t excite anyone.
Julio Teheran Replaces Chris Martin On Braves’ NLDS Roster https://t.co/vxIpaVzf7v
— Tim Dierkes (@mlbtrbraves) October 4, 2019
However, let’s get back to what happened to Atlanta. Reliever Luke Jackson came in cold to salvage things for Martin and Atlanta. To be frank, Paul Goldschmidt took kindly to the first offering from Jackson.
Goldy says, "Not so fast!" pic.twitter.com/dUt9k1DIW3
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 4, 2019
Then, it was 3-2. From there, St. Louis basically went hit, hit, hit in succession and tied the game 3-3.
While everyone piles the loss on Ronald Acuña Jr. for his perceived lack of hustle – this was the moment that swung the game. Equally important, Atlanta is staring down the barrel of this series in a must-win game two against Jack Flaherty and the Cardinals. And they will need to do it without one of their best relievers in Martin.
Martin was acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline. Moreover, Martin had 65 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched between Texas and Atlanta during the regular season. All of this came with a solid 3.40 ERA, which means Atlanta has to replace a really good back-end bullpen arm.
Finally, winning three out of four against the pesky Cardinals is always an uphill battle. While Atlanta has a talented roster and will definitely go down swinging, one has to wonder if this isn’t the latest and greatest Cardinals’ Cinderella team.
Game two is Friday afternoon at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
