Final
Conrad slam in 9th gives Braves stunning 10-9 win
May 20, 2010 - 10:40 PMVideo
ATLANTA(AP) -- Brooks Conrad slowed up as he rounded first base, unsure if his drive had cleared the left field wall to give the Atlanta Braves an improbable victory.
Then he saw Laynce Nix swat at his empty glove in frustration.
The ball went over. Game over.
Conrad hit a pinch-hit grand slam Thursday to finish off a seven-run ninth inning that gave the Atlanta Braves a 10-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, who fell out of first in the NL Central and can only hope the stunning loss doesn't leave a hangover on their surprisingly strong start.
"It was a horrible ending," said Reds manager Dusty Baker, who appeared close to breaking down after the game. "Boy, that was a tough one."
The Braves put together the biggest ninth-inning comeback since Cleveland rallied from six runs down against Tampa Bay on May 25, 2009, according to STATS LLC.
"I hit it and I was kind of talking to it to get out of there and I saw (Nix) jump up," Conrad said. "From my angle ... it looked like he kind of brought it back. I put my hands no my helmet and said, 'No way he caught that."'
He didn't.
"I thought I had it," Nix said. "It just bounced out."
Atlanta fell behind 8-0 against rookie sensation Mike Leake and was still down 9-3 heading to the ninth. Four straight hits, including Nate McLouth's two-run single, gave the Braves hope. A walk to David Ross loaded the bases with no outs, bringing the potential tying run to the plate.
Martin Prado hit a grounder to third that looked like a sure double play, but Miguel Cairo couldn't get the ball out of his glove - Cincinnati's fourth error of the game. Jason Heyward struck out against Arthur Rhodes on a 3-2 pitch, and Cincinnati turned to closer Francisco Cordero (1-3) for the last two outs.
Instead, Conrad hit a drive that deflected off Nix's glove as he reached over the top of the wall at the 380-foot sign. Standing near the mound, Cordero ripped out his jersey and looked toward the dugout in disbelief.
The Braves won their third straight game in the final at-bat, beating the Reds 5-4 with Heyward's ninth-inning double Wednesday. Atlanta has won eight of 10 to climb above .500 (21-20) for the first time since April 22.
The remarkable rally overshadowed Joey Votto's first career grand slam, the highlight of Cincinnati's eight-run second inning, and Leake's attempt to improve to 5-0. Craig Kimbrel (1-0) quietly picked up his first major league win with a scoreless ninth.
Leake certainly did his part, allowing only one earned run on five hits in six innings. He gave up three runs in all, but the others could be blamed on a leaky defense that eventually caught up with the Reds. Right-fielder Jay Bruce fumbled away a fly ball at the warning track, and shortstop Orlando Cabrera dropped a throw on a potential double-play grounder.
Cabrera also mishandled a hard-hit grounder in the ninth, a play that was generously ruled a hit.
"We gave them their first three runs, and in the ninth we got two double-play balls," Baker said. "It was shocking, all right."
Leake, one of the few players to jump directly to the majors without any minor league experience, was matched against Tommy Hanson in a showdown between two of baseball's best young pitchers. The Atlanta right-hander didn't hold up his end of the expected duel, giving up eight hits and eight runs in 1 2-3 innings - easily the worst start of his big league career.
Hanson escaped trouble in the first but wasn't so fortunate in the second, even after Ramon Hernandez's leadoff single was followed by two straight outs. Leake helped his cause with a single to center, Cabrera walked to load the bases and Cairo dumped a run-scoring single to center on an 0-2 pitch.
Leake held up at third, leaving the bases loaded for Votto. He got ahead 3-1 in the count, then made Hanson pay for a fastball just above the knees with a towering drive that easily cleared the wall in left-center.
The Reds weren't done, either. Phillips singled, Bruce walked and Hernandez came through with his second hit of the inning to make it 6-0. Nix followed with a two-run double into the right-field corner, finally prompting Braves manager Bobby Cox to call for the bullpen.
NOTES: Troy Glaus had three hits for the Braves. ... Cincinnati 3B Scott Rolen got the day off. Baker described him as "very sore and tight." ... Braves P Kenshin Kawakami developed another blister on his right foot during a start Wednesday night, and he also pitched with a strained back. The Braves are off next Monday, so Kawakami could be skipped if needed.
- ltcmdrdata That's right baby 7 in the 9th to win it! We are here, we will take this division, we are back!
Reds 9, Braves 10 FinalMay 20 4:19 PM - Braves 10, Reds 9 - FINAL
CINCINNATI ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
O Cabrera ss 4 1 2 0 1 1 1 .271
M Cairo 3b 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 .182
J Votto 1b 4 1 1 4 0 0 2 .311
B Phillips 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 .258
J Bruce rf 3 1 0 0 2 2 2 .264
R Hernandez c 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 .280
L Nix lf
May 20 4:09 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
GRAND SLAM BY BROOKS CONRAD (3) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 9TH OFF FRANCISCO CORDERO SCORED MARTIN PRADO, DAVID
ROSS AND NATE MCLOUTH.
FINAL SCORE: ATLANTA 10, CINCINNATI 9
Reds 9, Braves 10 Bot 9, 0 OutsMay 20 4:07 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY MIGUEL CAIRO ALLOWED YUNEL ESCOBAR TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, M PRADO ON FIRST, D ROSS ON SECOND, N
MCLOUTH ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 9
ATLANTA 6 BOTTOM,9TH
DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: J HEYWARD (.279, 0-FOR-4, RBI)
Reds 9, Braves 6 Bot 9, 0 OutsMay 20 3:59 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NATE MCLOUTH SCORED ERIC HINSKE AND TROY GLAUS
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, N MCLOUTH ON FIRST, Y ESCOBAR ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 9
ATLANTA 5 BOTTOM,9TH
DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: D ROSS (.200, 0-FOR-1)
Reds 9, Braves 5 Bot 9, 0 OutsMay 20 3:48 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CINCINNATI 0 8 0 0 1 9 10 3
ATLANTA 0 0 1 0 2 3 5 0 (TOP 6)
CURRENT PITCHERS: CIN - MIKE LEAKE
ATL - JESSE CHAVEZ (OUT)
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: M CAIRO (.156, 1-FOR-3, RBI)
J VOTTO (.315, 1-FOR-2, HBP, HR, 4 RBI)
B PHILLIPS (.261, 1-FOR
Reds 9, Braves 3 Top 6, 0 OutsMay 20 2:49 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY ORLANDO CABRERA ALLOWED MARTIN PRADO, MELKY CABRERA
AND NATE MCLOUTH TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J HEYWARD ON FIRST, J HEYWARD ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 9
ATLANTA 4 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: C JONES (.229, 0-FOR-2)
Reds 9, Braves 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsMay 20 2:46 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CINCINNATI 0 8 0 0 1 9 10 2
ATLANTA 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 (BOT 5)
CURRENT PITCHERS: CIN - MIKE LEAKE
ATL - JESSE CHAVEZ
DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: N MCLOUTH (.203, 0-FOR-1)
J CHAVEZ (.000, 0-FOR-1)
M PRADO (.321, 1-FOR-2)
Reds 9, Braves 1 Bot 5, 0 OutsMay 20 2:35 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY MIKE LEAKE ALLOWED MARTIN PRADO TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J HEYWARD ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 8
ATLANTA 1 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR ATLANTA: C JONES (.231, 0-FOR-1)
Reds 8, Braves 1 Bot 3, 0 OutsMay 20 2:13 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY LAYNCE NIX SCORED RAMON HERNANDEZ AND JAY BRUCE
SITUATION: 8 RUNS IN, L NIX ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 8
ATLANTA 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: D STUBBS (.198, 0-FOR-1)
Reds 8, Braves 0 Top 2, 0 OutsMay 20 1:47 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RAMON HERNANDEZ SCORED BRANDON PHILLIPS
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, R HERNANDEZ ON FIRST, J BRUCE ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 6
ATLANTA 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: L NIX (.167, 0-FOR-1)
Reds 6, Braves 0 Top 2, 0 OutsMay 20 1:46 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
GRAND SLAM BY JOEY VOTTO (10) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN THE
2ND OFF TOMMY HANSON SCORED MIGUEL CAIRO, ORLANDO CABRERA AND
MIKE LEAKE.
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 5, ATLANTA 0
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: B PHILLIPS (.258, 0-FOR-1)
Reds 5, Braves 0 Top 2, 0 OutsMay 20 1:39 PM - NL
AT ATLANTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIGUEL CAIRO SCORED RAMON HERNANDEZ
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M CAIRO ON FIRST, O CABRERA ON SECOND, M
LEAKE ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CINCINNATI 1
ATLANTA 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: J VOTTO (.313, 0-FOR-0, HBP)
Reds 1, Braves 0 Top 2, 0 OutsMay 20 1:36 PM
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