How is this game not still tied: Phillies 5, Braves 1

Most nights when I recap the game, I write as I go, making note of significant happenings along the way. When the game is over, I use those to write my recap.

Tonight, I had two things noted at the end of nine innings.

Odubel Herrera: hell yes.

Nick Pivetta: super torqued.

That was it. By the end of nine innings, the Phillies and Braves were tied 1-1. And it was nine of the most boring innings you could imagine. And it wasn’t all that great, either. The Phillies danced on the edge for most of the game, with the edge being “barely passable baseball” and the void below being pretty shitty baseball. It was a miracle that the Phillies were tied, and the seventh inning felt like the eleventh inning, and there was no end in sight.

As the tenth inning began, the Phillies remembered how to hit, and finally got down to business. Scott Kingery led off with a walk, and then had a very dramatic steal of second where he was hanging onto the base with literally two fingers. Cesar Hernandez singled and moved Kingery to third, and Cesar eventually stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Rhys Hoskins came to the plate. And with a mighty swing, he sent a bullet to right field.

God yes. That scored two, and Aaron Altherr joined Hoskins on base with a walk. Then Maikel Franco delivered the decisive blow with a well placed double to a completely vacant part of deep left center.

You might be fooled into thinking that the run scoring was the best part of the Phillies 5-1 win. But the actual best part was the profane Braves fan that was sitting right near the press box and the broadcast booth.

Inject the misery of Braves fans directly into my veins. It’s all I want forever.