With the Braves and Brewers both having stacked rotations — particularly at the top end — runs have been difficult to come by in the NLDS. The two teams went into Monday’s Game 3 with six total runs scored between them in the series.
So, yeah, every opportunity to score a run could be a make-or-break moment in the series. And if the Braves don’t come away with a win in Game 3, it’ll be impossible to overlook what Adam Duvall did on the base path.
The Braves were threatening in the second inning against Freddy Peralta with one out and runners on first and third. All they needed was a deep fly ball from Travis d’Arnaud to bring home Austin Riley and give Ian Anderson a much-needed early lead. And guess what!? They got that fly ball from d’Arnaud and still managed to end the inning without scoring.
What a BRUTAL base-running mistake!!
Run doesn’t count as Duvall is thrown out at second before the runner touches home
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) October 11, 2021
Only the Braves could do that.
d’Arnaud pulled a fly ball to Christian Yelich in left field with more than enough distance for Riley to tag from third and score. But in a complete lapse of awareness, Duvall tagged from first on the throw and was thrown out at second. Because Duvall was called out before Riley crossed home plate, the run didn’t count, and the inning ended.
It was a brutal turn of events for the Braves — a totally unnecessary mistake too. Duvall had to know that Yelich wasn’t going home with the throw, and there was no reason to even try to tag from first. If he stays put, the Braves get a run and continue the inning.
Good teams can’t make mistakes like that. Leave the errors to Chipper Jones in the stands.