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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Mark Teixeira finally ended a classic
extra-innings contest at Turner Field.
Teixeira singled to drive in the game-winning run in the 17th
inning and Chipper Jones homered, drove in two runs and scored
three times as the Atlanta Braves rallied for a come-from-behind
7-6 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Yunel Escobar keyed a two-out, eighth-inning rally by driving in
two runs with a single for Atlanta in the longest game in Turner
Field history.
"If we have to work this hard to win one, man, I don't know if
we're going to have enough gas in the tank," Jones joked.
"Let's enjoy this."
Gregor Blanco ignited the game-winning rally in the 17th with a
single up the middle and Escobar followed with a drag bunt
single off Houston reliever Tim Byrdak (2-1) to bring up Jones,
who loaded the bases with a base hit to right field.
Houston employed a five-man infield to defend against the base
hit, bringing in left fielder Carlos Lee to play third base.
It didn't matter.
Teixeira lofted the 1-1 offering over the head of center fielder
Michael Bourn, who was playing in left, plating Blanco to end
the game five hours and 35 minutes after it began.
"If I hit anything in the air in the outfield, Blanco was going
to score with his speed," Teixeira said. "I was looking for
something in the zone and to hit anything in the air. It was a
big sigh of relief. We have to continue to win if we're going
to get back into it. It was a big win."
"It was a matter of seeing who would last the longest and they
did," Byrdak said. "You have to go out and make your pitches.
The bottom line is that (Teixeira) beat us."
Royce Ring (2-1), who was the last available reliever in the
bullpen, retired the side in order in the 17th to record the win
in a game that began with a one-hour, 50-minute rain delay and
ended 561 pitches later as the clock just passed 9 p.m.
"It was our turn to win an extra-innings game," said Braves
manager Bobby Cox of his club, which was 1-7 in extra-innings
contests entering this one.
The contest was the longest regular-season game for Atlanta in
more than 20 years, when the Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals
combined to play a five-hour, 40-minute, 19-inning game on May
14, 1988, and the third-longest game in Atlanta franchise
history.
The only Atlanta game to last longer was the legendary 19-inning
game between the Braves and the Mets on July 4, 1985, that
lasted six hours and 10 minutes.. That rain-soaked contest
ended around 4 a.m. and was followed by an ill-advised fireworks
show, which startled the residents around the ballpark who
thought their neighborhood was under attack.
The Braves' bullpen shut down the Houston offensive attack in
this one, holding the Astros scoreless over 11 frames, allowing
seven hits, three walks and striking out nine.
"It felt good to get a win," said Atlanta reliever Buddy
Carlyle, who pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
"Especially in a situation with a four- or five-hour plane ride
(to the West coast)."
However, the news wasn't all good for Atlanta. Cox announced
after the game that relievers Jeff Bennett (subluxated right
shoulder) and Manny Acosta (strained left hamstring) and utility
player Omar Infante (strained right hamstring) will all be
placed on the disabled list before the club opens up a
three-game set in Los Angeles on Monday night.
But for one long day's journey into night, the sun finally
shined on the injury-decimated Braves. Atlanta erased a 5-1
deficit and tr
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