Dustin Pedroia makes Braves pay for embarrassing defensive blunder
How poorly are things going for the Atlanta Braves right now?
On a night where they had two legitimate reasons to celebrate — Freddie Freeman’s drought-ending home run and A.J. Pierzynski’s 2,000th career hit — they still managed to lose in convincing fashion. In fact, they weren’t even competitive, dropping Wednesday’s game 9-4 to the Boston Red Sox to fall to a league-worst 4-17 on the season.
[Related: Chip Caray channels Harry Caray as Braves home run drought ends]
As always, the numbers help tell story. The Braves four wins are the lowest in baseball. Their four team home runs are the lowest in baseball. Their 18 errors are the second most in baseball. However, the numbers don’t always tell the whole story either. Sometimes you have to watch the games to get a full understanding of what’s going on, and one play during Wednesday’s game really captured what the Braves are going through.
In happened in the eighth inning with the game already decided. In fact, the man batting, Dustin Pedroia, helped decide it with his second-inning grand slam.
This time, veteran Jason Grilli had the battle won. He got Pedroia out in front of a pitch and got him to pop up in foul territory. It should have been an easy final out to the inning, but Pedroia’s pop up never landed in a glove. It landed harmlessly, and some might say hilariously, between the catcher Pierzynski and third baseman Daniel Castro.
It was no laughing matter to the Braves. One pitch later, Pedroia hit one of his patented laser’s over the Green Monster for a solo home run that adding insult to injury.
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Of course, Castro’s name is probably fresh in your mind from Tuesday’s incredible barehanded grab. Here though, he was just a bystander when he should have been taking charge of the play. On a play like this, the third baseman has the better angle to make the catch, and based on the replay it looks like he had plenty of time to get there. He just backed off, thinking Pierzynski had a play too.
It’s a rookie mistake, and that’s something the Braves will have to get used to as they mix younger talents on the roster. But it’s no less painful or frustrating to watch if you’re a Braves fan.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
