The Phillies were done.

They had runners at 1st & 2nd down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. Chris Coste hit a pop-up to shallow right near the foul line, and as Braves 2nd baseman Kelly Johnson was jogging back tracking it for the win, the ball somehow (I’m still not sure how), hit the heel of his glove and dropped on the grass. Pinch runner Eric Bruntlett scored easily from 2nd and Pedro Feliz was out by 10 feet at home, but it didn’t matter, the damage had been done. The Phillies tied a game that was – for all intents and purposes – over.

Here’s the improbable fielding gaffe by Johnson:

Predictably, the Braves went down in the ninth at the hands of Tom Gordon and the Phillies wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the 10th. Pinch hitter Chris Snelling led off with a scorching double to right-center. Following a Rollins sac bunt, Shane Victorino hit his 2nd triple of the night to take a 3-2 lead. Utley followed with an RBI double, making it 4-2 headed into the bottom half of 10.

Lights out Lidge came in from the pen and took the ball for the save. He struck out Brian McCann with his usual filth before surrendering back-to-back singles to Josh Anderson(?) and Gregor Blanco(??). Greg Norton whiffed for the second out, but not before Blanco stole 2nd base to put both Braves runners in scoring position…

For the climactic ending, I’m gonna have to ask you go click the ‘Read More’ hyperlink…

Anything I write here cannot possibly describe how beautiful this is:

Red Lasso of home feed HERE.

These plays were huge, don’t get me wrong, but there were so many incredible efforts tonight that kept the game within a miscue away from tying it. Most notably, Pat Burrell’s snipe of Yuney Escobar at the plate to complete an inning-ending double play when the bases were loaded in the 7th. And the bullpen, who seem to keep us in every single game.

It was sort-of fitting for the Braves, as they drop their 17th 1-run game of the season. It’s really getting laughable at this point.

Without a doubt, this was my new favorite win of the young season.

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