Baidu_MLB/MLB_Braves at Nationals 91319 MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube.mp4

Another

big

series.

Seems

like

the

NL

East

is

not

going

to

let

up,

and

I

promise

you.

We're

going

to

the

playoffs

this

year.

I

don't

want

to

overlook

what

Anthony

Rendon

has

done.

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

has

played

his

way.

Scherzer

will

still

vie

for

the

NL

Cy

Young

Award.

Look

no

further

than

All-Star

pitcher

Mike

Soroka.

Did

he

just

turn

out

the

lights?

He

did!

What's

up

and

welcome

to

Washington,

D.C.,

the

nation's

capital,

Nationals

Park,

the

site

of

the

latest.

MLB

Game

of

the

Week

live

on

YouTube.

The

Washington

Nationals

are

hosting

the

Atlanta

Braves.

And

what

a

pitching

matchup

we

have

tonight.

Max

Scherzer,

Mike

Soroka.

p.m.

Eastern

is

the

scheduled

time

for

first

pitch.

I

like

that.

You

can

steal

that

H

if

you

want.

I'm

stealing

that

for

sure.

We're

not

in

D.C.,

clearly.

This

is

a

great

series.

Listen,

I

know

there's

eight-and-a-half

games

separating

these

two

teams

in

the

division

standings.

Eight

and

a

half

games,

Atlanta

in

front

of

Washington.

Washington

is

three

and

a

half

in

front

of

the

Cubs

and

Brewers

for

home-field

advantage

in

the

wild-card

game.

But

there's

still

a

ton

of

intrigue

to

this

one

because

of

the

pitching

matchup.

Well,

I

think

there's

two

things

about

it:

the

pitching

matchup

and

the

Nationals'

pitching

overall,

they've

always

had

the

praise,

so

to

speak,

and

the

Braves

have

not.

And

even

though

the

Braves

are

eight

and

a

half

up,

it's

almost

like

you

look

and

say

'nice',

but

the

Nationals

are

better.

That's

right.

It

does

seem

that

way.

Yeah.

The

Nats

are

the

bigger

threat

to

the

postseason.

Well,

I

honestly

believe

this.

The

Braves

are

a

fantastic

club,

and

I

think

they're

going

to

continue

to

be

for

many

years.

But

I

look

at

the

Nationals

as

the

only

team,

I

think,

in

the

National

League

that

can

beat

the

Dodgers

because

of

the

pitching.

That's

what

separates

them

from

everybody.

No

one

else

in

the

National

League

has

the

three-headed

monster

at

the

top.

And

with

Scherzer,

Strasburg,

And

Patrick

Corbin.

So

those

three

guys.

I

think

they

are

separators

and

give

them

a

chance;

maybe

that's

why

they're

viewed

the

way

they

are.

They

are

dynamite

pitchers.

The

starters

tonight

are

Soroka

and

Scherzer.

They're

facing

really

tough

lineups

on

both

sides.

Let's

start

with

this

for

the

Atlanta

Braves.

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

at

the

top.

Followed

by

Ozzie

Albies.

Freddie

Freeman.

Josh

Donaldson.

I

mean,

You

have

a

few

MVP

candidates.

I

like

this

lineup.

I'll

get

into

lineup

construction

a

little

later

and

how

important

it

is

to

set

your

table

properly.

I

think

the

Braves

and

the

Nationals

are

the

two

best-constructed

teams

in

baseball.

I'll

throw

the

Astros

in

there

as

well.

Three

teams

I

think

have

set

themselves

apart

from

everybody

else

in

the

big

leagues,

and

we're

watching

two

of

them

tonight.

In

the

five

spot,

Nick

Markakis

welcome

back

to

the

lineup.

He's

playing

left

field

tonight.

Behind

him,

Josh

Donaldson.

Acuna

possibly

going

is

special.

But

I

felt

Freddie's

been

the

rock

that's

kept

everything

together

in

our

lineup

this

year.

To

be

able

to

consistently

do

it

for

as

long

as

necessary

to

win

the

MVP

award,

That's

really

tough

to

do,

and

I

feel

like

he's

done

that.

Acuna's

had

a

great

year.

If

he

gets

to

that's

going

to

probably

overshadow

that.

You

can't

ignore

that.

I'm

not

saying

it's

as

comparable

as

Miguel

Cabrera

winning

the

Triple

Crown.

It's

a

special

feat.

If

anybody

knows

anything

about

MVP

campaigns,

It's

Josh

Donaldson.

Here's

a

handful

of

the

hot

hitters

in

the

Braves

lineup.

Acuna

Jr.

at

the

top.

followed

by

Albies.

then

Freeman

and

Donaldson.

It

just

does

not

get

much

better

than

that.

If

you're

going

to

win

a

division

and

be

a

playoff

team,

you're

going

to

have

two

or

three

guys

who

stand

out

in

your

lineup

and

are

MVP

conversation

all

the

time.

But

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

I

know

he's

chasing

but

at

his

age,

that's

what's

so

impressive.

Let's

take

a

look

at

it

because

he

does

so

many

things.

What

is

that?

home

runs.

steals.

Just

the

ability

of

this

kid,

He'll

hit

home

runs

to

left

field,

to

center

field,

to

right

field.

It

doesn't

matter

the

pitch.

That

was

a

fastball

in.

Watch

this

right

here.

Let

me

dance

over

to

the

other

side.

This

is

a

breaking

ball.

Boom.

Dead

center

field.

So

that's

telling

me

he's

staying.

reading

the

ball,

And

his

swing

stays

consistent

as

he

shoots

that

one

to

center

field.

And

then

being

able

to

go

to

right

field.

So

now

a

pitcher

doesn't

really

have

a

zone

to

throw

to.

You're

always

looking

for

a

place

to

get

an

out

as

a

pitcher.

I've

got

the

outside,

maybe

the

middle

or

the

end,

depending

on

where

he's

standing.

And

this

guy's

taking

everything

away.

Then

he

gets

on

base,

and

now

he

takes

a

walk

and

turns

it

into

a

single

or

a

double.

And

now

he

puts

himself

in

scoring

position.

That's

why

the

is

so

special.

How

about

still

in

third?

Just

at

his

age,

to

understand

the

explosiveness

and

the

way

to

do

this

is

really

impressive.

Stephen,

That's

why

we're

talking

about

a

possible

MVP

with

his

abilities,

his

talents,

and

he's

so

young

to

be

able

to

do

what

he's

doing.

This

is

the

company

he

would

join.

He's

one

dinger

and

four

bags

away

from

joining

Soriano

and

A-Rod.

We'll

have

one.

What

do

they

call

that?

Asterisk?

I

didn't

even

say

asterisk

when

you

say

it.

Do

you

qualify

it?

Put

it

this

way.

Willie

Mays

said

to

me

one

time,

He

goes,

I'm

name

dropping.

Yeah,

Watch

your

feet.

Don't

let

the

name

drops

hurt

you.

Yeah,

Don't

let

them

know.

Willie

Mays.

Mickey

Mantle.

Excuse

me.

But

Willie

said

to

me,

You

think

the

meant

something

we

couldn't

do

that,

me

and

Mickey?

And

he's

probably

right.

But

after

guys

started

doing

it,

then

it

became

a

thing.

And

even

to

have

that

few

guys

still

be

able

to

accomplish

it

is

amazing.

But

I

really

wonder

if

Willie

was,

like,

in

his

prime.

If

he'd

have

thought

about

he

probably

could

have

done

it.

So

we've

highlighted

the

big

superstars

in

Atlanta's

lineup.

Tonight,

they're

getting

the

return

of

one

of

the

unsung

heroes

of

that

group

in

Nick

Markakis.

It's

the

first

time

since

July

he's

going

to

be

suiting

up

for

the

Braves.

He's

actually

moving

to

left

field

because

Matt

Joyce

is...

Kind

of

stepped

into

the

lineup

and

he's

more

comfortable

in

right.

What

Markakis

does

is

allow

them,

in

a

National

League

game,

to

have

that

bench.

Yeah.

And

because

you're

going

to

be

pinch-hitting,

you

make

double

switches,

things

like

that.

Nick's

a

guy

who,

a

year

ago,

was

an

All-Star

for

the

first

time.

Yeah.

And

he's

had

an

amazing

career,

but

he

plays

every

day.

You

know,

so

I

think

that's

why

the

injury

was

so

surprising.

But

he

plays

every

day,

makes

great

adjustments

against

left-handers,

whatever.

But

I

think

the

one

thing

that

stands

out

more

than

anything

else,

Talking

to

Buck

Showalter,

is

he's

probably

one

of

the

best

base

runners

in

all

of

baseball.

You

know,

maybe

not

as

explosive

as

maybe

Acuna

or

somebody

like

that,

but

knowing

to

go

first

to

third,

understanding

situations.

Yeah,

absolutely.

You're

smart,

man.

You

get

there

real

quick

with

a

little

word.

I'm

stretching

it

out.

We

complement

each

other

well.

So

we've

talked

about

the

Braves

lineup.

The

Washington

Nationals

at

the

top.

You

want

a

dynamic

leadoff

man?

Trea

Turner

is

that.

Playing

shortstop,

followed

by

Adam

Eaton.

And

then

Washington's

MVP

candidate,

Anthony

Rendon,

the

youngster.

Bambino,

Juan

Soto,

Asdrubal

Cabrera,

Ryan

Zimmerman,

Victor

Robles,

Yan

Gomes,

and

then

Max

Scherzer

in

the

nine

hole.

I

mean,

you

think

about

Soto,

Albies,

and

Acuna.

These

guys

aren't

even

years

old

yet.

They

are

babies.

Ridiculous.

Trea

Turner,

he's

been

in

the

league

for

a

few

years,

but

he's

still

got

the

baby

face,

and

he's

sitting

next

to

Heidi

Watney

now.

Thank

you,

Anthony

Rendon.

He's

a

guy,

kind

of

a

quiet

guy,

He

really

should

be

in

the

MVP

race.

He

certainly

is

there

in

numbers.

Make

his

case

for

why

you

think

he

should

be

an

MVP.

I

think

if

he

had

Twitter,

He

would

be

an

MVP.

My

honest

opinion.

If

he

was

on

social

media

and

people

knew

about

him,

He

would

be

in

the

conversation

more.

I

think

for

the

last

three

or

four

years,

He's

been

an

unbelievable

player.

He

does

everything

well,

But

he's

quite

a

humble

guy,

And

he

doesn't

market

himself

well

enough,

But

the

numbers

are

certainly

there,

And

I

think

this

year

people

should

definitely

take

a

long,

hard

look

at

it

because

I

think

he's

every

bit

as

good

as

those

guys

up

there,

and

that's

saying

a

lot

because

there's

definitely

some

good

players

throughout.

the

NL,

But

you

know

his

numbers

don't

lie

and

they're

very

impressive.

Tough

competition,

But

just

focus

on

the

numbers.

Okay,

I

like

that.

All

right.

I

like

that

little

sound

bite

from

Trey

Turner.

If

Anthony

Rendon

had

Twitter,

If

he

was

on

social

media

and

more

people

knew

about

him,

he'd

be

more

entrenched

in

the

MVP,

maybe

leading

the

MVP

conversation.

That's

what

Trey

Turner

is

saying.

But

he

may

not

have

those

good

numbers

because

he

may

not

have

the

sanity

of

not

worrying

about

what

everybody's

saying

about

you.

Social

media

can

drag

you

down.

We're

trying

to

build

The

Nats'

hitters.

Quality.

Quality.

Every

time

the

Nats'

lineup

comes

out,

you're

kind

of

looking

at

the

construction

of

the

lineup.

Well,

you

heard

earlier

that

Josh

Donaldson

was

talking

about

the

Braves,

about

how

they

have

the

lead,

and

about

Albies

as

a

switch-hitter

and

all

the

things

he

can

do.

But

I

want

to

take

you

through

the

Nationals.

The

construction

of

the

lineup

is

so

important

that

there

is

a

role

for

each

position.

So

let's

take

the

leadoff

hitter,

Trea

Turner.

Can

he

do

a

lot

of

things

for

you?

He

can

still

put

the

ball

in

play.

I

love

that.

It's

a

count.

He

can

take

a

walk

for

you.

He

doesn't

clog

the

bases

when

he's

on.

And

he

can

steal

a

bag.

That's

what

you

want

from

the

leadoff

guy.

Not

only

can

he

steal

a

bag

and

score

on

balls

in

the

gap,

But

he

can

hurt

you

with

a

long

ball.

Let's

go

to

the

two

guy.

Adam

Eaton.

He's

going

to

pull

a

ball

through

the

hole

when

you've

got

a

man

on

first

base.

You

want

that

left-hander.

Shoot

a

ball

there.

Then

again,

Trea

Turner,

I

talked

about

leading

off.

He

can

score

from

first

base.

But

Adam

Eaton's

a

guy

who

also,

being

the

two-hitter,

is

that...

When

there

is

a

man

in

the

hole

right

there,

You

pull

it

this

side.

You

go

first

and

third.

It

opens

it

up.

The

other

thing

he

can

do,

He'll

extend

an

inning.

He

can

drop

a

bunt.

They

play

a

National

League

game.

Love

the

hustle

right

there.

By

the

way,

he'll

go

ahead

and

drop

a

bunt

on

you.

It's

either

a

hit

or

a

sacrifice.

In

this

case,

He

gets

the

double

bonus,

in

my

mind.

He's

got

a

hit

and

a

bunt

single.

And

there

are

still

no

outs

in

that

inning.

The

other

thing

he

can

do

as

well,

Still

a

base

for

you.

There's

one

out;

the

inning's

not

over.

He's

not

going

to

clog

that

base.

He'll

keep

that

rally

going.

Everybody

wants

a

long

ball.

He

can

do

that

as

well.

Let's

go

to

the

three

guy.

The

three

man

can

just.

Hits

for

a

high

average,

Drives

in

runs,

and

has

power.

He

does

it

all.

And

that

is

Anthony

Rendon.

Even

in

the

rain,

You

see

that?

They

have

their

own

brand

of

rain,

Steve.

But

he

can

drive

balls

everywhere

for

you.

And

the

biggest

thing

to

me,

He's

on

first

base.

He

doesn't

clog

the

bases.

Or

on

second,

He'll

score

on

a

ball

hit.

Now,

With

two

outs,

It's

like

having

a

man

in

scoring

position.

He

could

shoot

a

ball

in

the

gap,

And

he's

going

to

drive

that

guy

in

at

first

base,

keep

the

inning

going,

and

drive

in

big

runs.

That's

how

you

drive

in

big

runs.

All

right?

And

then

the

last

thing

is

When

you're

at

home

plate,

You

are

actually

in

scoring

position

because

of

your

power.

And

then

the

four-hitter,

The

cleanup

guy,

This

kid

is

unusual

because

I

think

he's

one

of

the

best

hitters

in

all

of

baseball.

But

he

drives

in

runs

and

is

in

scoring

position

when

at

the

plate,

All

right,

I

brought

that

up

already.

When

he's

at

the

plate,

He's

in

scoring

position

because

of

his

power,

The

ability

to

drive

it

to

all

fields

at

any

pitch.

That's

why

I

think

the

Nationals

are

so

unique,

balanced,

and

talented;

he

completes

the

club.

Steven,

You

said

that

I

completed

your

sentences.

I

had

you

at

hello.

Well,

He

had

me

when

he

got

in

the

box,

and

he's

only

He

turns

pretty

soon.

But

it's

really

amazing

what

he's

been

able

to

do.

And

that,

To

me...

That

is

the

difference

with

the

Washington

Nationals.

They

can

hurt

you

so

many

different

ways,

There's

a

weapon

for

each

position

in

the

lineup.

Harold,

That's

what

can

happen

here.

That's

it.

Listen,

Whatever

the

Nats

have

been

doing,

That

lineup

leads

the

National

League

in

runs

scored

since

the

All-Star

break.

Only

the

Astros

and

the

Yankees

have

scored

more

in

the

big

leagues

coming

out

of

the

festivities.

The

Midsummer

Classic.

More

than

the

Nats.

I

didn't

know

that.

That's

a

good

nugget.

Listen,

The

race

to

October

is

here.

Let's

get

you

an

update

from

the

Cubs

and

Pirates

game

at

Wrigley

Field.

First.

It's

four.

Just

like

nine

shot.

Hope

Castellanos.

Game

on.

Here

we

go.

as

a

Cub

in

games.

It's

going

to

be

a

one

run.

Wilson

Contreras

With

number

he

sends

one

deep

to

center.

And

he's

homered

twice

today.

Top

of

the

batter's

eye

at

center.

It's

a

fair

ball,

picked

up

by

Contreras.

He

had

lots

of

time.

Pirates

are

going

to

get

two

runs

out

of

this.

Sloppy

Cubs

defense

today.

Giving

the

Pirates

too

many

chances.

And

they're

not

done

yet.

Game

Lester

just

picked

up

a

pebble

and

fired

it

down.

Bounced

up

the

middle.

Runs

will

score.

Corner

has

his

second

career.

It's

It's

the

bottom

of

the

fifth.

A

lot

of

runs

scored

in

that.

No

doubt.

NL

Central

clash.

Here's

the

wild

card

standings

in

the

National

League.

Chicago

even

up

with

Milwaukee.

Despite

losing

Christian

Yelich,

Milwaukee

has

won

seven

straight

games.

So

they're

tied

for

the

second

wild

card

spot.

If

the

season

ended

today,

They'd

play

a

tiebreaker

to

get

in,

and

the

winner

would

go

to

Washington.

D.C.

And

then

the

Mets

and

Phillies

are

two

games

back.

Arizona,

after

a

tough

week,

three

and

a

half

back.

I'd

worry

about

the

Mets

and

the

Phillies.

Yeah,

I

mean

the

Mets

for

sure.

The

Mets

are

playing

great

ball.

They're

hot

right

now

and

the

Phillies

keep

hanging

around.

If

you

look

at

what

they've

done

from

about

mid

to

late

June

to

early

July.

Yeah.

It's

a

whole

different

team.

Totally.

This

is

what

they

had

planned

and

pictured.

They're

better.

They're

more

versatile.

They

catch

the

ball

better

this

year.

And

the

pitching's

great.

And

they've

come

up

with

big

plays.

I

said

earlier,

I

think

they're

the

only

team

that

can

match

up

with

the

Dodgers

and

beat

them.

Now,

we'll

see

how

the

matchups

end

up.

Will

it

be

first

round

playing

the

Dodgers

or

will

it

be

in

the

championship

series?

But

I

think

they

get

there.

Wow.

I

mean,

the

Braves

are

eight

and

a

half

games

in

front

of

the

Nats.

The

Braves

are

nine

wins

away

from

victories

in

a

single

campaign

for

the

first

time

in,

what,

years?

Yeah.

Harold.

The

Braves

will

win

a

World

Series

in

the

next

three

years.

Win

a

World

Series?

Yes,

not

just

get

there.

No,

I

think

so.

I

really

do.

I

think,

yes,

thumbs

up.

They've

got

the

nucleus

to

do

it.

There'll

be

some

turnover.

Obviously,

you're

going

to,

in

three

years'

time,

you

don't

know

what's

going

to

happen

with

Donaldson

and

Freddie

Freeman.

But

you're

going

to

have

a

Coon.

You're

going

to

have

Albies.

You're

going

to

have

all

the

young

talent

in

the

middle

of

what

they're

doing.

And

they're

going

to

sign

some

free

agents

as

well.

And

the

pitching

staff

is

young.

They

will.

What

I

love

about

playing

this

game

with

you

is

that

if

you

were

to

put

those

four

questions

in

front

of

everybody,

I

think

the

ones

you

said

yes

to,

they

would

all

say

no

to.

And

the

one

you

said

no

to

was

the

for-sure

yes

that

Max

Scherzer

would

win

the

Cy

Young.

But

you

know

what?

That's

good.

That's

why

we

play

the

game.

I'm

seeing

it

differently.

As

we

get

set

for

the

MLB

Game

of

the

Week,

let's

check

in

with

the

members

of

our

broadcast

booth,

Justin

Maxwell

and

Matt

Dias.

They'll

be

with

Scott

Braun.

Hey,

thanks,

Steven.

We're

here

at

Nationals

Park.

We

got

a

great

night

for

baseball.

We

got

Scherzer.

We

got

Soroka.

We

got

the

wind

blowing

out

to

left,

though,

so

we're

going

to

focus

on

the

offense

a

little

bit.

Let's

start

with

the

unsung

hero

of

Nationals

teams

for

years

gone

by,

finally

getting

some

recognition

this

year,

Anthony

Rendon.

Superstar,

but

not

the

loudest

guy

in

the

dugout.

All

right,

the

homegrown

transition

from

Ryan

Zimmerman

at

third

base

has

been

nothing

but

spectacular

during

his

time

here

in

D.C.

And

like

you

said,

Matt,

he's

very,

very

humble,

very

quiet,

and

he

just

goes

about

his

business

in

a

very

professional

manner.

Yeah,

you

think

about

him,

you

think

about

the

Braves,

Freddie

Freeman,

very

similar

in

their

personalities,

their

leadership

styles,

and

their

production.

They're

both

really

good.

Two

guys

that

we

can't

forget

about

are

the

two

young

guns

on

both

these

teams

who

will

be

compared

for

years

to

come.

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

This

weekend

is

just

like

last

weekend.

The

top

two

in

the

National

League

East

are

squaring

off,

but

this

time

the

series

shifts

to

Washington,

D.C.

on

a

cooler

Friday

night.

It

feels

like

fall

in

a

region

rich

with

national

landmarks

and

a

ball

club

usually

playing

meaningful

games

this

time

of

year.

Same

story

on

Friday

the

It's

the

Atlanta

Braves

and

the

Washington

Nationals

in

our

nation's

capital.

I'm

Scott

Braun.

Thank

you

so

much

for

joining

us

tonight

for

the

top

two

in

the

National

League

East.

The

Braves

looking

to

lock

down

this

division.

The

Nationals

would

love

to

host

the

wild

card

game.

They're

both

in

line

for

that

at

the

moment.

After

today,

You'll

also

hear

from

former

Atlanta

Brave

Matt

Diaz

and

former

Washington

National

Justin

Maxwell

joining

us

tonight.

And

we

have

a

premier

starting

pitching

pairing.

Mike

Soroka,

the

rookie,

matching

up

against

Max

Scherzer.

Soroka

doesn't

seem

like

a

rookie,

Does

he?

No.

Calling

Soroka

a

rookie

is

hard

at

this

time

of

year.

The

Braves

wanted

Foltynewicz

to

be

the

one,

Teheran

to

be

the

one.

No.

Soroka

is

their

number

one.

Make

no

mistake

about

it,

and

you'll

see

here

his

WHIP,

He

has

pretty

much

guaranteed

himself

a

season

WHIP

under

Max

Scherzer

did

not

do

that

until

he

was

years

old,

but

he's

been

doing

it

ever

since.

He's

had

a

pretty

good

run,

Huh,

Justin?

Since

the

Nationals

signed

Max

Scherzer

in

to

be

their

ace,

he

has

led

MLB

in

innings,

pitched,

and

strikeouts.

So

he's

done

exactly

what

Mike

Rizzo

asked

him

to

do

when

he

signed

him

from

the

Detroit

Tigers.

So

this

is

a

great

matchup.

I

look

forward

to

watching

it.

They're

both

fantastic,

but

they

are

facing

two

of

the

most

dangerous

offenses

in

Major

League

Baseball,

and

they

are

led

by

some

superstars.

There

are

plenty

on

both

sides,

but

two

very

young

ones

who

will

be

compared

for

years

to

come

because...

They

both

broke

out

in

the

same

season

last

year.

That's

Juan

Soto

and

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

What

makes

Acuna

Jr.

the

Beast?

Matt?

Yeah,

he's

the

beast.

His

nickname

is

the

beast.

We

need

to

get

that

through

our

heads.

He's

asked

to

be

called

the

beast,

and

he's

been

playing

like

a

beast.

We're

on

watch,

people.

home

runs,

stolen

bases.

He's

on

pace

for

home

runs.

And

something

tells

me

if

he

gets

to

home

runs.

we'll

see

that

stolen

base.

He

is

a

super

sophomore

and

certainly

the

best.

And

what

stands

out

about

Juan

Soto

is

he

is

patient

beyond

his

years,

Justin.

Justin.

Yeah,

The

reigning

rookie

of

the

year

from

last

season

has

definitely

not

had

a

sophomore

slump.

He's

been

nothing

short

of

phenomenal

this

sophomore

campaign.

He's

only

gotten

better

as

the

season's

gone

on.

He's

been

very

patient

at

the

plate.

He

can

hit

righties.

He

can

hit

lefties.

He

sees

a

lot

of

pitches

per

at-bat.

It's

been

great.

Soto

finished

second;

Acuna

finished

number

one

last

year

for

NL

Rookie

of

the

Year.

They

were

neck

and

neck.

And

we're

seeing

it

again.

Both

of

them

are

producing

superstar

seasons.

Like

Matt

mentioned.

This

could

be

for

Acuna

Jr.

And

Soto

leads

the

team

with

home

runs.

He

hit

number

yesterday.

The

sky

is

truly

the

limit

for

these

two.

And

both

teams

are

better

than

last

year.

The

NL

postseason

picture:

features

the

Braves.

Looking

like

they're

going

to

lock

up

this

National

League

East

very

soon.

In

the

Central,

The

Cubs

trail

by

four

games.

So

do

the

Brewers.

They've

caught

up.

They've

won

seven

in

a

row.

The

Dodgers

have

the

West

locked

down.

And

then

the

Washington

Nationals

as

it

stands

today

have

a

three-and-a-half-game

edge

for

that

first

wild-card

position.

It

means

they

would

host

the

wild-card

game.

But

it

is

a

muddled

mess

for

that

second

spot.

And

we

love

it.

Shift

your

attention

all

the

way

to

the

right

side

of

the

screen

for

the

American

League.

The

best

race

is

that

wild-card

race.

The

A's.

The

Rays.

And

the

Indians.

But

guess

what,

Matt?

Only

two

of

these

teams

get

to

make

it

to

the

postseason.

It's

hard.

Do

you

take

the

best

team

or

the

hottest

team

right

now?

The

Cleveland

Indians

might

be

the

best

team.

The

A's

are

certainly

the

hottest

team

of

that

mix.

And

Tampa

Bay

has

just

been

steady

Eddie

all

year

long.

It's

going

to

be

a

fun

race

to

the

finish

line.

And

then

there's

October.

And

Atlanta

knows

all

about

it.

Their

lineup

starts

with

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

tonight.

And

then

his

buddy

Ozzie

Albies

bats

second.

Freddie

Freeman

hits

third.

Josh

Donaldson

hits

fourth.

Those

four

have

been

playing

just

about

every

game

all

year.

Then

welcome

back

Nick

Markakis.

Matt

Joyce

in

right

field.

Tyler

Flowers

is

catching

tonight.

Dansby

Swanson.

the

eight-hitter

at

shortstop.

and

Mike

Soroka

will

round

out

the

starting

nine

for

the

Atlanta

Braves

this

evening,

going

up

against

Max

Scherzer.

Scherzer's

start

of

the

year.

His

ERA

is

He

has

been

a

perennial

Cy

Young

contender.

and

an

all-star.

He's

won

the

Cy

Young

Award

three

times

in

his

career.

Dave

Martinez,

his

manager,

told

us,

'He

is

officially

back.'

Yep.

The

breaks

are

off.

Mad

Max

is

ready

to

go.

We

saw

a

little

bit

last

week

when

he

got

to

face

the

Braves

on

Sunday,

and

Davey

Martinez

told

us

the

same

thing

today.

He's

full

go.

Let's

see

what

he's

got

tonight.

And

we

are

officially

underway.

Max

Scherzer

fires

above

the

zone

to

Acuna

Jr.

It's

a

ball

and

no

strikes.

Team

leader

in

home

runs.

National

League

leader

in

stolen

bases

and

runs

scored.

That's

filthy.

Max

is

going

to

be

very

careful

with

Acuna

Jr.,

even

though

he's

a

leadoff

hitter.

Acuna

Jr.

has

a

OPS

against

him.

He

hasn't

had

that

big

a

struggle

against

Max

Scherzer,

as

nasty

as

he

is.

Max

beat

the

Braves

on

Sunday.

So

there

was

a

four-game

series

between

these

two

teams

last

weekend.

The

Braves

took

the

first

three.

The

Nats

salvaged

a

game

on

Sunday

thanks

to

Scherzer.

Six

innings,

two

hits,

two

walks,

nine

strikeouts.

And

there's

another

strike

to

Acuna

Jr.

The

only

blemish

against

Scherzer

on

Sunday,

Matt

Joyce

hit

a

home

run.

Joyce

had

both

of

the

hits

against

Max;

no

one

else

could

figure

him

out.

It

happens

like

that.

Sometimes

guys

have

another

player's

number,

and

most

of

the

other

lineup

doesn't.

That's

a

good

push

hit

there

with

two

strikes.

And

this

is

what

we're

talking

about.

From

this

past

Sunday:

tonight

is

his

fifth

start

off

the

injured

list;

that

was

his

fourth,

and

he

looked

like

Max

pitches,

he

said

he

could

have

gone

up

to

Six

innings,

two

hits,

two

walks,

nine

strikeouts.

The

Nationals

took

down

the

Braves,

and

Acuna

Jr.

stays

alive;

it's

two

and

two.

It's

big

and

bad

for

him

working

Max

right

out

of

the

gate.

I

know

Acuna

Jr.

doesn't

necessarily

love

to

work

counts.

He's

not

his

counterpart,

Juan

Soto,

in

terms

of

working

walks.

No,

he's

not.

I

mean,

he's

up

there.

He's

ready

to

hit.

I

think

that's

why

Snit

moved

him

to

the

top

of

that

lineup

because

he's

an

aggressive

hitter.

When

guys

miss

in

the

zone,

he

makes

them

pay.

And

as

you

can

see,

when

he

is

leading

off

for

this

team,

that

is

when

he

is

most

dangerous.

In

fact,

that's

when

the

team

took

off.

On

May

of

this

season,

Atlanta

decided

to

place

Acuna

Jr.

at

the

top

of

the

lineup

for

the

rest

of

the

season.

And

this

Braves

team

has

been

one

of

the

best

in

baseball

since

then.

wins,

losses

for

Atlanta.

Already

better

than

last

year.

That's

a

great

changeup

there.

It's

tough.

I

don't

know

how

he

laid

off

of

that.

I

don't

think

he

knows

how

he

laid

off

of

it;

you

can

see

from

his

reaction

there.

He

kind

of

jumped.

Oh.

I

didn't

swing.

Yes.

I

get

another

chance.

There

it

is.

There's

a

little

jump.

We've

all

done

that.

Haven't

we?

Oh.

Man,

I've

done

it.

And

usually

I'm

headed

the

other

way.

Ninth

pitch

of

the

at-bat,

And

it's

right

to

the

glove

of

Rendon.

Up

for

out

number

one.

Just

a

little

cut,

a

little

out

in

front.

We're

going

to

talk

a

lot

about

these

third

basemen

in

this

game

today.

But

one

thing

we

don't

focus

on

enough

is

how

good

defensively

they

are.

They're

ready

every

play.

They

make

some

phenomenal

defensive

plays.

He

got

up.

I

mean,

We

saw

him

dance

in

the

dugout

earlier

this

week

after

a

home

run.

And

now

we've

seen

him

jump.

He's

showing

his

athleticism

and

his

movement.

He's

showing

all

facets

heading

into

free

agency

here.

Ozzie

Albies.

Now,

When

you

look

at

last

weekend's

series,

this

guy

had

a

great

series

against

the

Nats.

We're

coming

in

after

their

Mets

series.

The

Nats

were

looking

to

try

to

catch

the

Braves

in

the

standings.

And

this

guy

did

a

great

job.

Towards

the

right

side,

it

gets

past

Cabrera.

It's

a

base

hit

for

Albies.

There

he

goes

again.

Yeah,

the

Nats

were

only

a

few

games

back,

and

they

were

hoping

that

four-game

series

in

Atlanta

they'd

be

able

to

catch

them,

but

it

didn't

happen.

Great

piece

of

hitting

here.

Shoots

to

the

four-hole.

The

Braves

are

on

the

board

with

a

base

hit.

He

homered

yesterday

in

Philadelphia

and

is

on

with

one

out

for

Freddie

Freeman.

Team

leader

in

batting

average

and

OPS.

We're

going

to

take

a

cool

look

here

at

Freeman

and

how

he

and

Scherzer

have

battled

over

the

years.

Scherzer

has

certainly

had

his

number.

But

you

can

see

from

this

graphic

exactly

how

Scherzer

wants

to

pitch

Freddie.

You

can

see

Freddie's

hot

zone

is

actually

up

compared

to

most

lefties.

Scherzer

tries

to

go

away.

Every

time

he

misses

in,

though,

Freddie

makes

him

pay

big

time.

Freddie

has

had

some

epic

matchups,

and

he

mentions

Max

as

one

of

the

best

in

the

sport,

of

course.

A

quote

from

the

other

day,

if

he

throws

a

ball

to

you,

you

know

he's

setting

you

up

for

something

else.

That's

the

hardest

thing.

on

Sunday

against

Scherzer.

And

Max

went

with

a

first

pitch.

Fastball

on

the

first

at-bat.

Changeup

on

the

second

at-bat.

Cutter

on

the

third

at-bat.

Freddie's

already

seen

the

fastball.

Fouled

it

off

and

then

got

that

nasty

changeup.

Like

we

said

in

that

graphic,

he

tried

to

work

him

away

with

that

changeup.

Freddie

laid

off

it

this

time,

though.

That

miss.

He

turned

years

old

yesterday.

He

goes...

Now

the

sabermetricians

aren't

going

to

like

me

anymore.

There's

a

three

in

front

of

my

age.

Yeah,

baseball's

a

funny

sport.

I

mean,

some

guys

get

better

as

they

get

older

and

some

peak

early.

But

Freddie's

one

of

the

guys

who

seems

to

be

getting

better

as

he's

gotten

older.

Steady

Freddie,

they

call

him

the

'one-two'.

Lifted

to

right

center.

Eaton

is

there

for

the

second

out.

How

did

he

put

that

ball

in

play?

It

looked

like

it

bounced.

That's

incredible.

Well,

when

he

turns

and

the

sabermetricians

really

hate

him,

he's

going

to

take

up

cricket

because

that

ball

almost

bounced.

You'll

see

here,

this

is

that

unbelievable

changeup

by

Max,

just

diving

down

on

Freddie

with

some

of

the

best

hand-eye

coordination,

quite

frankly,

in

all

of

baseball,

just

able

to

flick

his

wrist.

This

ball

gets

to

the

outfield.

I

mean,

he

has

too

much

power.

If

I

hit

that

ball,

I

might

get

a

knock

because

I

can't

carry

it

all

the

way

to

the

outfielder.

Well,

we

know

Freddie

always

chokes

up

with

two

strikes,

but

what

I

like

there

is

that

he

sacrificed.

And

tried

to

put

the

ball

in

play

to

give

his

team

a

chance.

Because

if

that

ball

drops,

that's

first

and

third,

one

out.

Or

two

outs.

Or

one

out,

rather.

Easy.

And

that

leads

us

to

Josh

Donaldson.

Players

on

this

roster

who

realistically

should

get

to

home

runs

this

year.

Acuna

Jr.

at

Freeman

at

And

Donaldson

up

to

He

did

not

like

this

call.

And

he

might

be

right.

It's

a

tough,

tough

spot.

Max

just

dotted

that

down

and

outside

corner.

As

a

hitter,

I'm

saying

it's

a

ball.

In

tight

on

the

Yeah,

I

mean

that

was

the

ultimate

pitcher's

pitch

there.

The

previous

pitch

was

down

and

away.

And

you

see

how

Max

likes

to

work

both

sides

of

the

plate.

Down

and

away,

followed

by

a

nasty

sinker

inside.

Let's

see

what

he's

got

next.

You

can

see

the

six

homers

and

RBIs

for

Donaldson

this

year

against

the

Nationals.

He's

been

punishing

the

entire

league.

But

especially

since

June

Joe

Musgrove

of

the

Pittsburgh

Pirates

hits

him

with

a

pitch.

He

was

ejected,

and

his

numbers

really

escalated

to

the

next

level

after

that.

They

call

it

the

pre-

and

post-Musgrove

numbers.

The

umbrella

started

coming

out

about

that

time,

too,

when

he

hit

a

home

run.

I

want

to

know

if

the

umbrella

makes

the

road

trips,

and

if

so

who's

in

charge

of

packing

it.

This

is

what

I'm

talking

about.

Post-Musgrove:

home

runs

and

a

dazzling

home

run

celebration

that

Matt

is

alluding

to.

There

is

an

actual

umbrella

in

the

dugout

after

he

hits

home

runs.

And

he

carries

it

with

him

through

a

little

conga

line.

Wow.

They're

showering

with

seeds

and

water.

That's

why

you

need

the

umbrella.

It

definitely

goes

on

the

road.

I

have

seen

it

on

the

road.

Who

came

up

with

the

idea?

Was

it

Mike

Poltenevich?

He

gets

the

credit

for

it.

So

I'm

going

to

give

him

the

credit

for

it.

He's

definitely

the

one

who

runs

down

in

the

tunnel

on

days

he's

not

starting

and

gets

it

and

hands

it

to

Donaldson

as

he

comes

down

the

steps.

That'd

be

great

if

he

was

starting.

Just

grab

it

next

to

him

while

he's

getting

ready

between

innings

and

just

stand

up.

Hand

it

over.

in

the

air

to

right.

He

comes

in

looking

for

it.

It

was

hanging

for

a

while

as

he

tried

to

find

it

in

the

lights

and

then

settled

down

the

side.

So

Scherzer

gives

up

the

Albies'

hit.

But

that's

all

for

the

Braves'

offense.

And

we'll

get

to

the

bottom

of

the

first

inning.

Turner,

Eaton,

And

Rendon

is

due

up

for

the

Nationals

when

we

get

to

the

last

of

the

first.

In

a

year

when

home

runs

are

leaving

the

ballpark

at

a

historic

rate.

MLB

just

set

a

new

record

for

the

most

home

runs

hit

in

a

single

season.

And

we

still

have

two

and

a

half

weeks

to

play.

We're

treated

to

a

matchup

tonight

of

two

of

the

best

pitchers

at

limiting

home

runs.

Two

of

the

best

pitchers

at

limiting

the

home

runs.

In

fact,

Mike

Soroka

has

the

lowest

home

runs-per-nine-innings

average.

Max

Scherzer

just

behind

him,

but

ironically,

Soroka's

numbers

are

not

quite

as

good

against

the

Nationals.

Of

the

home

runs

he's

given

up

this

season,

five

of

them

have

come

against

this

Nationals

team.

Three

of

those

home

runs

were

hit

in

just

his

last

start

this

past

weekend

against

the

Nationals.

He

gave

up

four

runs,

three

of

them

were

homers

in

a

loss

here

to

the

Nationals.

But

one

of

the

things

about

Soroka

that

is

so

good,

his

road

ERA

is

the

best

in

all

of

baseball

at

just

Guy

right

behind

him,

Max

Scherzer,

in

road

ERA.

So

Soroka

now

on

the

road.

Scott,

is

his

ERA

on

the

road

the

best

we've

seen

from

a

pitcher

since

Roger

Clemens

in

More

on

that

in

a

moment.

This

is

the

lineup

that

he's

going

up

against.

It's

Speedy,

Trey

Turner,

and

then

Adam

Eaton.

Anthony

Rendon,

an

MVP

candidate.

Juan

Soto

and

Cabrera,

a

great

addition

for

this

team.

Ryan

Zimmerman

is

back

and

feeling

good.

Victor

Robles,

another

young

star.

Yan

Gomes

catching

and

Max

Scherzer

in

the

ninth

spot,

but

he

can

hit.

Let's

start

with

Trey

Turner.

Last

year

he

led

the

National

League

in

stolen

bases.

Dealt

with

some

injuries

this

year,

but

he's

up

to

stolen

bases.

A

hitter.

He

brings

speed.

He

brings

power.

The

ideal

leadoff

hitter

for

Washington.

And

the

first

pitch

from

Mike

Soroka

is

in

there

for

a

strike.

So

And

Heidi

mentioned

a

ERA.

Last

time

we

saw

a

number

lower

than

that

on

the

road.

from

Roger

Clemens

back

in

What

he

does

is

just

phenomenal.

You

see

the

first

pitch.

It's

miles

an

hour,

moving

straight

sideways.

And

then

he

comes

over

with

Uncle

Charlie

straight

to

right

there.

Trey

Turner

is

batting

career

off

him.

I

have

no

idea

how.

The

way

Soroka

attacks

hitters,

he

is

in

the

zone

until

he's

way

ahead.

And

then

you

see

there,

he

tries

to

get

you

to

chase.

He

doesn't

give

up

many

home

runs

because

he

keeps

the

ball

down

in

the

zone.

He

just...

Poise

like

Heidi

said,

poise.

He

looks

like

a

veteran

out

there

on

the

mound.

He's

only

years

old.

Scouts

use

the

word

"pitchability."

He

is

elite

in

that

category.

Yeah,

when

I

watch

him

pitch

it's

the

sinker

for

me.

I

mean

the

ball

runs

So

much

that

first

pitcher

Turner

moved

about

six

inches

sideways,

like

you

said,

Matt.

And

in

an

era

where

we

talk

about

launch

angle

and

all

that,

having

the

ball

sink

that

much

down

into

a

hitter's

hands

keeps

that

ball

out

of

the

air.

It

really

does.

He

doesn't

have

the

stereotypical

sinker

either.

It's

more

of

a

power

fade.

He

uses

that

sinker

about

of

the

time

and

gets

ground

balls

on

the

pitch.

It's

been

a

good

count

to

see

one

here.

Two

breaking

balls

away,

Follow

up

with

the

sinker.

There

it

is.

Helps

the

backdoor

variety.

And

this

is

wide.

And

just

like

Acuna

Jr.,

Trea

Turner

working

a

good

at-bat

to

lead

off

the

game.

with

the

sinker.

And

then

the

money

slider,

fastball,

and

a

changeup.

And

that

shift

to

left,

Backing

up

Markakis

to

the

track.

He's

got

it.

So

welcome

back,

Nick

Markakis.

You've

got

the

first

out.

Yeah,

Of

course.

I

mean,

Anytime

you

miss...

Anytime

for

an

injury,

The

ball

will

always

find

you,

Matt,

you

can

attest

to

that.

The

times

when

you're

not

expecting

the

ball

to

come

your

way.

Here

it

comes.

Yeah,

Sometimes

when

you're

not

expecting

it,

you

look

up

and

see

Nick

Markakis

in

left

field.

This

is

a

long-range

play

by

Brian

Snitker,

Having

him

play

left

instead

of

right.

Matt

Joyce

has

been

phenomenal

for

the

Braves.

Talk

to

Markakis.

Markakis

told

him

he

would

play

wherever

needed.

And

if

Inciarte

comes

back,

he

would

get

Acuna

Jr.

over

to

right

field,

which

would

give

them

a

really

stellar

outfield.

Number

two

hitter

Adam

Eaton

in

the

air.

And

who's

got

a

little

Bermuda

Triangle

action.

Swanson

makes

the

call.

Another

close

call

from

Markakis

out

there

in

left.

But

the

Braves

shortstop

hauls

it

in

for

out

number

two.

This

is

where

the

fly-ball

communication

comes

in.

I

was

always

yelling

'you,

you,

you'

in

that

situation.

What

were

your

thoughts

on

that

ball?

Well,

It's

hard

to

see

right

now

during

this

twilight

phase,

the

sun

just

set.

It's

really

hard

to

see.

The

ball

will

actually

blend

in

with

the

clouds.

And

you

saw

that

with

Eaton

in

that

first

half-inning.

He

couldn't

see

the

baseball.

And

Dansby

Swanson,

he

had

a

good

beat

on

it.

I

know

Markakis

probably

couldn't

see

that

ball

off

the

bat

very

well,

especially

in

this

twilight

phase

that

we're

experiencing.

Listen

to

the

chant

for

Anthony

Rendon.

We

talked

about

it

earlier

when

Freddie

Freeman

came

up

to

bat.

Acuña

Jr.

is

in

the

MVP

chase

this

guy

has

to

be

in

the

conversation.

Yeah,

I

think

if

he,

at

the

end

of

the

season,

if

he's

leading

the

league

in

average

and

RBIs,

he

has

to

be

considered.

I

know

what

Bellinger's

doing

out

west

is

great.

He's

leading

the

league

in

homers.

But

what

Yelich

has

done

is

great,

but

he's

now

injured.

So

no

one

has

a

chance

to

catch

him

in

a

few

categories.

And

you're

right.

He

leads

the

league

right

now

in

both

those

categories.

Average

and

RBIs.

The

only

guy

he's

tied

with

for

those

RBIs,

tied

for

first

right

there,

Freddie

Freeman.

Right,

exactly.

And

they're

both

playing

here

tonight.

If,

you

know,

if

it's

all

said

and

done,

if

he

has,

like

I

said,

the

average,

if

he

has

the

RBIs,

he

has

to

be

considered.

I

know

what

the

Dodgers

are

doing.

It's

great.

But

when

you

look

at

his

body

of

work,

Hitting

for

average,

to

me,

because

you've

got

to

hit

the

ball

hard

every

at-bat,

and

we've

seen

that

from

Anthony

Rendon

throughout

the

entire

season.

He's

hitting

and

playing

great

defense.

He's

not

giving

a

call.

Good

baserunner.

Great

baserunner

and

very

humble

as

well.

Yeah,

I

thought

that

was

the

line

of

the

day.

He's

not

going

to

slam

his

bat.

When

we

were

talking

to

Davey

Martinez,

the

line

of

the

day

was,

"Why

isn't

he

getting

more

attention?"

Davey's

answer

was

he

doesn't

want

it.

I

think

that

speaks

volumes

to

his

personality.

Freddie

Freeman

looking

for

it;

Dansby

Swanson

called

off

by

Albies.

He

found

it

in

the

lights.

Soroka

sits

the

side

down

in

order.

Yeah,

You

can

see

Freddie

there.

His

arms

were

out;

he

had

no

idea

where

that

ball

was.

It's

a

tough

time

of

night.

Like

you

mentioned.

Also,

that

ball

earlier

from

Trea

Turner

might

have

left

the

yard

if

it

was

three,

or

four

hours

ago,

the

way

the

wind

was

swirling

out

to

left

field.

But

no

score

after

one.

Scherzer

against

Soroka.

Really

feels

like

a

fall

evening

for

Major

League

Baseball.

Clouds

throughout

the

day.

But

never

any

precipitation.

Great

news

for

both

teams

because

they

were

dealing

with

rain

in

different

places

yesterday.

The

Washington

Nationals

were

in

Minnesota

taking

on

the

Twins.

They

took

two

of

three

in

that

series.

The

game

started

about

minutes

late.

They

ended

up

arriving

to

D.C.

Around

in

the

morning.

We

had

our

manager

meeting

with

Dave

Martinez

today.

First

pitch

up

the

middle,

base

hit.

And

welcome

back,

Nick

Markakis.

That

was

a

bullet.

That

was

a

bullet.

We

were

sitting

up

here

before

the

game.

Justin,

you

showed

me

Nick

Markakis'

numbers.

You

kind

of

highlighted

them

to

me

off

Scherzer.

Scherzer

just

got

ambushed

right

here.

He

was

trying

to

get

ahead

in

the

count

with

the

fastball.

And

thinking

maybe

Markakis

would

take

a

pitch.

Since

he's

been

on

the

IL

so

long.

Nope.

Just

going

to

shotgun

it

right

back

up

the

middle.

Yeah.

Before

that

hit,

he

was

hitting

off

Max

in

plate

appearances.

So

now

make

it

and

obviously

that

batting

average

jumped

up

a

little

bit

as

well.

A

fractured

wrist

in

late

July

for

Markakis.

He

makes

his

return

this

evening.

He

was

activated

from

the

injured

list

about

a

week

ahead

of

schedule.

And

he

moves

to

left

field,

as

we

mentioned.

Not

much

experience

there.

So

that

Matt

Joyce

can

remain

in

right

field.

In

his

last

games,

he's

produced

a

batting

average.

He's

been

great

for

Atlanta.

I

thought

he

said

strike.

Sounded

like

it.

Didn't

it?

Yeah,

This

has

been

a

great

pickup

for

the

Braves.

Matt

Joyce.

Experienced

veteran.

Had

a

lot

of

success

in

the

big

leagues.

Started

with

Tampa.

A

consummate

professional.

And

the

guy

who

homered

off

the

Max

last

week.

Yeah,

When

I

saw

that

pickup

by

the

Braves

this

offseason

heading

into

spring

training,

it

was

a

really

good,

sneaky

move.

He

was

actually

doing

a

video

shoot

for

Florida

Southern

College

in

Lakeland,

Florida

Southern's

Hall

of

Fame

when

he

found

out

that

his

spring

training

home

was

going

to

be

moved.

So

he

was

out

in

Arizona,

I

think

with

the

Angels,

and

was

sent

to

the

Braves.

I

thought

it

was

a

great

move

for

depth,

and

he

has

certainly

provided

that.

The

Moccasins

at

Florida

Southern?

That's

right.

The

Moccasins.

You

don't

forget

that

one.

No.

The

Mocs.

Lance

Niekro,

former

major

leaguer.

is

their

baseball

coach.

He's

at

in

his

last

games,

driven

in.

OPS

north

of

This

is

the

time

of

year

when

guys

have

numbers

like

that.

You

find

ways

to

get

them

in

the

lineup.

You

want

to

keep

their

bats

hot.

You

want

them

to

help

carry

your

club

to

a

postseason

berth.

And

with

Matt

being

so

experienced,

you

know,

he's

not

going

to

get

fazed

by

anything

in

the

moment

because

he's

been

in

all

these

different

scenarios

as

a

player.

I

just

think

about

the

selflessness

of

the

guy

on

first

base

there.

Nick

Markakis

told

Snitker,

"No,

ask

Joyce

where

he's

more

comfortable."

I'll

play

anywhere.

And

Joyce

said,

"I'm

definitely

more

comfortable

in

right."

And

Markakis

is

going,

and

that's

ball

four.

So

a

base

runner

reaches

to

start

off

the

second

inning

for

Atlanta.

Now

Tyler

Flowers

is

getting

the

start

tonight

at

catcher.

Yeah,

back

to

your

point

about

Markakis

moving

over

from

right

to

left

field.

Matt,

you

played

a

little

left

field.

What

do

you

think

is

the

easiest

outfield

position?

Center

field's

the

easiest

by

far.

I

got

to

play

one

big-league

game

there,

so

I'm

going

to

claim

that

one.

Right

field's

actually

the

second

easiest,

and,

to

me,

left

field

was

always

the

hardest.

Justin,

what

do

you

think?

I

think

I'd

go

just

in

that

order

as

well.

Center

field

first,

right

field

second,

and,

you

know,

left

field

last.

Because

the

ball

does

all

sorts

of

weird

things

in

left

field.

Think

about

the

amount

of

topspin.

More

pull

Balls

will

go

to

left

field

more

than

right

field

simply

because

there

are

more

righties

than

lefties

in

the

game.

So

you're

going

to

get

more

topspin

hit

at

you.

One

of

my

first

games

in

left

field

in

the

big

leagues

was

at

Choppikana

Field.

Alex

Rodriguez

hit

a

screaming

missile

at

me

that

got

in

that

bank

of

lights

where

you

couldn't

see

it.

It

went

right

by

my

head.

Lou

Piniella

pulled

me

and

said,

hey,

kid,

I'm

saving

your

life.

Yeah.

That's

the

thing:

some

fans

don't

realize

outfielders

will

lose

balls

in

the

lights,

and

they're

like,

'What's

wrong

with

that

guy

out

there?

He's

got

to

make

that

play.'

I

can

see

the

ball

the

whole

way.

I

pointed

it

out

to

Scott

today.

We

almost

didn't

have

Mike

Sirocco

on

the

mound.

He

was

warming

up

and

his

bullpen

catcher

kept

throwing

the

ball

in

the

lights

and

one

went

right

by

his

face.

It

went

all

the

way

to

the

wall.

So

thank

goodness

it

missed

him,

and

after

that

he

made

sure

to

bounce

every

ball.

Incredible.

I

mean,

you

never

see

that

happen

either.

The

to

Flowers.

Misses

wide.

You

see,

Max,

I

think

he's

definitely

healthy.

That

last

pitch

came

in

at

miles

an

hour.

Yeah.

The

velocity

was

up

in

his

last

start

compared

to

the

first

few

off

the

injured

list.

Averaged

with

the

fastball

on

Sunday,

up

one

mile

per

hour,

and

he

hit

And

he's

got

his

first

strikeout

of

the

night.

Splits

the

plate,

center-cut

right

there.

Max

is

so

nasty.

I'm

not

going

to

blame

Tyler.

Tyler

was

guessing

there,

sitting

on

a

pitch

as

people

would

prefer

me

to

say,

but

he

obviously

was

not

looking

fastball

there.

Center-cut

right

down

the

middle.

Sometimes

it's

your

best

pitch

because

the

guy's

not

looking

for

it

with

two

strikes.

Dansby

Swanson,

the

eight-hitter

with

two

on,

doesn't

bite.

It

was

Mark

Kekis

starting

us

off

with

a

first-pitch

single.

And

then

Joyce

walks.

Flowers

strikes

out.

And

now

a

shortstop

with

home

runs

on

the

year.

And

it's

his

best

offensive

season.

Battled

injuries

throughout

much

of

Yeah,

when

I

used

to.

I

faced

Max

when

I

was

with

the

Giants

in

In

my

whole

approach.

I

was

looking

middle.

I

couldn't

really

hit

that

slider

down

and

away.

So

I

just

eliminated

that.

If

he

threw

it

three

times.

Good

job.

But

I

was

looking

hard.

Middle.

Looking

for

a

fastball.

Elevated.

Middle

of

his

own.

And

if

he

missed

that

spot,

Trying

to

put

the

ball

in

play.

He

went

one

for

two

with

a

double

against

Max.

It

worked.

There

you

go.

Yeah.

I

mean.

Also.

Too.

A

little

history.

Too.

I

also

faced

him

in

the

Fall

League

in

when

he

was

coming

out

of

the

pen.

And

he

was

throwing

to

miles

an

hour.

That

fastball

was

rising.

My

foul

balls

were

going

off

my

knuckles

almost.

When

he

first

came

up

in

Arizona.

I

squared

the

bunt

against

him.

He

stared

me

down;

the

next

pitch

was

off

my

ribs.

I

still

feel

it

to

this

day.

He

was

a

rookie.

He

did

not

care.

I

loved

it.

I

mean.

It

hurt

like

crazy.

That's

the

kind

of

guy

you

want

to

play

behind.

You

went

one

for

five.

A

couple

strikeouts

against

Scherzer.

You

got

one

pitch.

Though.

With

it,

by

pitch.

That's

the

OPS.

Right?

That

counts.

Dansby's

struggling

a

little

bit.

You

mentioned

that

he

was

hurt

a

lot

in

In

He

came

off

the

IL.

It's

been

the

tale

of

two

seasons

for

him.

He's

only

batting

in

the

games

he's

been

back.

So

he's

back

and

dropped

down

in

the

tonight.

He's

looking

to

get

his

mojo

going

here,

with

two

strikes

and

runners

in

scoring

position.

toss.

He's

got

his

second

strikeout.

Yeah.

That

changeup

is

just

devastating.

It

just

falls

right

off

the

table.

What

makes

him

so

special

is

that

he

throws

so

hard

that

guys

have

to

cheat.

He

can

follow

up

with

this

nasty

changeup.

All

of

a

sudden

the

bottom

just

drops

out

of

it.

He's

also

one

of

those

few

pitchers

that

has

that

extra

level.

When

he

gets

a

runner

in

scoring

position

with

nobody

out,

He

just

struck

out

the

next

two

batters

to

get

to

the

pitcher.

Right.

What

I

like

best

about

him

is

his

competitive

fire.

He

threw

a

pitch

to

Dansby.

That

he

missed

middle

and

you

can

see

on

his

face

he

shook

his

head;

he

was

upset

because

he

missed

his

spot

and

then

he

came

back

and

executed

a

great

changeup.

Speaking

of

pitchers,

Patrick

Corbin

went

yesterday

for

the

Nationals

and

he

is

going

Scherzer,

Strasburg,

Corbin,

and

Anibal

Sanchez

has

had

a

nice

year

too

in

the

four

slot.

They're

one

of

the

few

teams

that,

if

they

win

a

wild

card

game,

you'd

have

to

seriously

consider.

Their

first

round

of

the

playoffs

now,

granted,

if

they're

in

the

wild

card

game

they'd

have

to

play

the

Dodgers,

but

the

Dodgers

don't

want

any

part

of

that

starting

rotation;

for

me,

postseason

baseball

comes

down

to

pitching,

and

the

Nationals

have

three

of

the

best

here

in

D.C.;

the

question

will

be

that

bullpen,

which

was

a

disaster

early

in

the

year

but

has

improved.

Two

on,

Two

outs.

count,

coming

from

Scherzer

to

Soroka.

And

he

strikes

out

three

in

a

row

to

get

through

the

inning.

A

base

hit

for

Markakis.

A

walk

for

Joyce.

And

then

Flowers.

Swanson.

And

Soroka

was

a

strikeout

victim.

Braves

and

Nationals

scoreless.

It's

Scherzer

against

Soroka.

Pitching

supreme

on

a

Friday

night.

And

that's

taken

in

tight

by

Cabrera.

We

just

saw

Soto

walk

before

a

three

-wheel

came

to

the

plate.

The

youth

and

experience

in

the

batter's

box

just

baffles

me.

Yeah

this

is

why

Snit

wants

him

in

here.

Donaldson

plays

great

defense

in

addition

to

great

hitting.

And

I

think

it

has

to

do

with

anticipation.

He's

anticipating

the

ball

coming

his

way

with

Zimmerman

at

the

plate.

And

especially

with

Soroka

on

the

mound

with

all

those

ground

balls

that

he

gets.

Matt,

do

you

think

that

helps

guys

to

know

they've

got

a

sinker-ball

pitcher

and

that

the

ball

is

more

likely

to

be

on

the

ground?

Absolutely.

I

remember

when

Tim

Hudson

pitched,

Chipper

would

go

stretch

a

lot

because

He

knew

he

was

going

to

get

six,

Seven,

Eight

balls

in

a

ball

game

because

Hudson

was

famous

for

being

able

to

get

people

to

beat

it

into

the

ground.

We

talked

about.

We

talked

about

Rendon

and

his

ability

to

play

both

sides

of

the

ball.

The

bringer

of

rain

can

bring

some

offers

as

well.

He

can

pick

it

over

there

at

third

base

in

an

amazing

way.

Manager

Brian

Snitker

said

that's

been

one

of

the

best.

Parts

of

Donaldson's

game

this

year

have

been

one

of

the

most

pleasant

surprises

because

he's

had

a

few

hiccups.

It

looks

like

those

were

based

on

injuries

the

past

couple

seasons.

He

is

healthy

and

this

year,

and

one

of

the

defensive

metrics

you

can

use,

defensive

runs

saved,

has

Donaldson

tops

in

the

league

at

third

base

this

year.

Health

has

a

lot

to

do

with

it,

doesn't

it?

He's

putting

up

numbers

similar

to

what

he

did

when

he

won

the

MVP

with

the

Blue

Jays.

OPS

is

up

in

that

area.

He

could

potentially

have

as

many

home

runs.

This

is

just

a

phenomenal

bounce

back.

Great

pickup

by

Alex

Anthopoulos.

If

Snitker

didn't

do

it,

It'll

cost

Alex

a

little

more

money.

Snitker

wants

him

back

for

next

year.

He'll

be

in

December

this

season,

getting

paid

million

on

a

one-year

contract.

Yeah,

He's

one

of

those

guys

who's

been

getting

better

as

he's

been

getting

older.

If

the

injuries

hold

off,

He

can

still

continue

to

improve.

Soroka's

ahead

of

Robles

Weakly

to

first

base.

That's

for

Freeman

to

scoop

up.

And

we're

done

with

the

second.

So

Soroka

allows

two

base

runners

to

reach

to

start

off

the

bottom

of

the

frame.

Just

like

Scherzer

did

at

the

top

of

the

second.

And

no

damage

done.

No

score

from

Nationals

Park.

First

time

that

we

really

had

what

you

would

call

a

playoff

atmosphere

at

Nationals

Park.

The

Nats

were

under

they

had

lost

five

of

their

last

six

games.

They'd

lost

seven

of

their

previous

nine.

They

were

playing

a

Pirates

team

that

wasn't

a

great

team,

but

I

tell

you,

there

was

a

buzz

in

this

ballpark

like

we

had

never

had

before.

This

crowd

is

crazy.

Strasburg

strikes

out

the

side.

So

he's

got

four

strikeouts

after

two

innings.

We're

thinking,

okay,

we

got

something

going

on

here.

And

then

in

the

sixth

inning,

this

is

when

it

all

kind

of

went

crazy.

He

went

bang,

bang,

bang

in

the

sixth

against

McCutchen,

Walker,

and

Millridge.

He

goes

bang

bang

bang

in

the

seventh

against

Garrett

Jones,

Delmon

Young

and

Adam

LaRoche's

brother,

Andy

LaRoche.

So

through

seven

innings

he's

got

strikeouts.

Strasburg

got

the

win

in

the

game,

five

to

two.

As

Strasburg

walked

off

the

mound

toward

the

dugout,

I

distinctly

remember

saying

at

some

point

he

couldn't

be

this

good.

Now

Stephen

Strasburg

has

plus

stuff.

The

key

is

keeping

him

on

the

mound,

and

so

far

so

good

in

It's

been

one

of

his

healthier

years.

Max

Scherzer

has

dealt

with

injuries

as

he

fires

to

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.,

and

that's

lifted

to

center.

Robles

looking

for

it

and

he

found

it

for

the

first

out.

Acuna

Jr.

really

worked

a

good

at-bat

in

the

first

inning.

Probably

giving

himself

permission

to

swing

at

the

first

pitch

after

he

saw

all

these

different

pitches

from

Scherzer.

He

realized

he

didn't

want

to

swing

at

any

of

them.

He

went

after

him

there,

missed

over

the

middle.

Scherzer

was

upset.

Acuna

was

upset.

He

missed

that

one,

then

kept

pounding

the

zone

down

and

away,

and

finally

got

Acuna

out

in

front.

Rendon

with

a

nice

jump.

Showing

bunt

and

pulling

back

is

Albies.

It's

a

strike.

Scherzer

made

only

two

starts.

From

July

through

August

dealing

with

a

back

issue

that

also

connected

to

the

shoulder.

He

returned

on

August

This

is

his

fifth

start

since

then,

and

he

brings

some

nasty

breaking

stuff

to

make

it

It's

his

pitch

of

the

game.

Cunha

did

him

a

favor

by

popping

up

Out

on

the

first

pitch

of

his

at-bat;

they

had

him

deep

in

the

count,

and

he's

just

attacking.

He's

in

attack

mode.

And

that's

Phil.

Two

hits

off

Max

Albies

had

one

of

them

back

in

the

first

inning.

There

are

a

few

different

schools

of

thought.

Ambush.

Get

him

early.

Or

make

him

work.

Make

him

work

and

get

tired,

if

he

ever

does.

But

this

is

a

key

at-bat.

If

Albies

is

able

to

work

the

count.

Get

him

up

over

pitches.

Then

I

think

Brian

Snitker

will

sit

back

in

the

dugout

and

be

pretty

happy

with

how

they're

attacking

him

so

far

this

game.

Making

him

work

and

creating

these

long,

Lengthy

innings.

And

that's

something

that

will

happen

in

a

hitters'

meeting.

You're

talking

about

a

pitcher

and

a

weakness

in

the

staff.

And

there's

strikeout

number

four

of

the

evening

for

Scherzer.

The

weakness

of

the

Washington

Nationals'

staff

is

known.

It's

their

bullpen.

And

you'd

like

to

get

into

it.

But

you're

right.

Max

Scherzer

sometimes

does

not

let

the

manager

get

to

the

bullpen.

You

can

try

to

take

the

ball

from

him.

But

he's

not

going

out.

And

his

pitch

is

like

that.

We've

seen

it

a

couple

of

times

in

his

career

where

he'll

look

at

Davey.

He'll

be

on

the

top

step.

And

he'll

be

like,

No,

No,

Go

back.

Go

back.

I

want

the

ball.

When

you're

a

fan,

When

you

see

that...

You

want

to

come

out

and

cheer

for

a

guy

like

that.

He

just

passed

David

Cone

on

the

all-time

strikeout

list.

He's

in

the

spot

now,

climbing

up

the

charts.

Second

matchup

against

Freeman

tonight.

First

time

he

produced

a

fly-ball

out;

now

he

has

a

swing-and-miss.

It's

one

and

one.

Yeah,

that's

probably

the

pitch

that

gives

Freddie

fits.

I

mean,

that's

like

a

slider-cutter

right

underneath

the

hands.

Tough

pitch

to

hit;

I

know

Freddie's

trying

to

get

on

to

get

something

going

with

two

outs,

but

if

you're

Max

Scherzer

and

you've

got

Freddie

Freeman

bunting,

you

have

him

right

where

you

want

him

that

shows

how

uncomfortable

these

at-bats

are

for

Freddie

Freeman;

he

has

one

career

bunt

hit,

back

in

bunt

bases

today

he

probably

would

have

got

it

down

if

he

was

out

there

To

no

one's

surprise,

Billy

Hamilton

was

working

on

his

bunting.

To

my

surprise,

Ozzie

Albies,

everyday

player

plays

every

day,

was

out

there

working

on-field

bunting

for

base

hits.

Yeah,

I

asked

you

about

Albies

earlier

because

you

spent

a

little

bit

more

time

with

the

Braves,

Matt,

but

you

said

he's

out

there

with

Ron

Washington

almost

every

single

day

working

on

his

defensive

game.

They

have

their

drills

they

do

every

single

day,

Albies

and

Ron

do.

He

does

them

rain,

shine,

day

game,

night

game,

it

doesn't

matter.

That's

a

foul

tip,

and

it

hit

the

dirt.

Yeah,

That

was

that

changeup

again.

Good

piece

of

hitting.

Stay

in

the

fight.

Just

nicked

it.

Probably

used

all

inches

that

bat

has.

Yan

Gomes

took

a

good

shot

to

the

ribs.

We'll

call

those

ribs,

Scott.

It's

a

family

broadcast.

Absolutely.

My

kids

are

at

home

watching.

Yeah.

Actually,

I

think

he

got

inner

thigh

on

that.

On

that

foul

ball,

that

pitch

starts

looking

like

a

strike

all

the

way

in

and

then

almost

hits

Freeman

in

the

back

leg

that's

how

much

break

he

has

on

it.

That's

that

little

slider-cutter

he

throws

to

lefties.

He

punched

out

the

side;

he

retired

the

Braves

in

order

the

first

time

through,

one-two-three,

as

we've

reached

the

bottom

of

the

third,

scoreless

from

Nationals

Park.

And

the

Nats

had

little

in

their

first

two

tries

against

Mike

Soroka.

Yan

Gomes,

Max

Scherzer,

Trea

Turner

are

up

in

the

last

of

the

third

for

the

Nationals

against

Soroka.

And

that's

a

nice

stop

by

Freeman.

Soroka

covering

first,

one

down.

Max

is

a

pretty

good

hitting

pitcher.

Julio,

Who's

the

best

hitter

on

the

Braves

staff?

This

has

been

an

argument

since

Hudson

and

Smoltz

used

to

go

after

it

all

the

time.

Well,

Right

now,

I

would

say

that

it's

Max

Fried.

The

way

he

prepared

for

the...

He

goes

in

the

box.

He's

just

like

a

regular,

Like

a

normal

hitter.

We

don't

really

see

it.

I

know

the

guy

that

goes

in

there

and

grinds

every

bat

like

he

does.

Fried's

done

some

pinch

running

too,

Hasn't

he?

Yeah,

He's

an

athlete.

He's

an

athlete.

He

can

do

everything.

I

mean,

running-wise,

pitching-wise,

Everything

he

does.

He's

got

four

doubles,

hits

this

season.

He's

been

great.

Trea

Turner

up

with

two

outs

here

for

Soroka.

He

is

a

key

to

their

success.

Their

hot

start

since

he

came

back.

They

sent

him

down

this

year.

Mike

Foltynewicz.

They

sent

him

down

and

recalled

him.

He

came

back

handling

his

business.

So

I

picked

on

Foltynewicz.

But

I'm

happy.

I'm

happy

he's

happy

now.

Yeah,

I

had

a

chance

to

play

with

Foltynewicz

when

I

was

rehabbing.

Double-A

Corpus

Christi,

when

he

was

in

the

Astros

system,

he's

a

great

guy.

It's

nice

to

see

him

have

such

great

success

at

the

big

league

level.

Donaldson

is

so

smooth

turning

around

and

making

the

play.

Mike

Soroka

has

sat

down

the

Nationals

in

order

in

two

of

his

first

three

innings.

No

hits

for

Washington

through

three

and

no

score

tonight.

From

Washington,

D.C.

so

far,

the

MLB

Game

of

the

Week,

Scott

Braun,

Matt

Diaz,

and

Justin

Maxwell.

Back

to

you,

Scott.

That's

awesome,

Heidi.

And

in

our

manager

meeting,

Heidi

was

asking

him

about

any

superstitions.

And

he

said

he

was

especially

superstitious

during

his

playing

days,

maybe

not

as

much

as

a

manager,

but

there

you

go.

She

found

something.

Yeah,

she

sure

did.

I

mean,

baseball

players

are

weird

with

all

the

little

quirks

that

they

have.

And,

you

know,

What

better

day

to

talk

about

that

than

Friday

the

Yeah,

he

was

a

teammate

of

Wade

Boggs,

perhaps

the

most

superstitious

player

of

all

time.

He

didn't

want

to

talk

about

his.

That's

a

strike

to

Donaldson.

Donaldson

to

a

diving

Turner

for

out

number

one.

Trea

can

move.

He

can.

He's

very

fast.

Very

fast.

Elite

speed.

This

Nationals

team

has

three

guys

who

can

actually

pick

them

up

and

put

them

down

very

well.

There's

Josh.

Josh

loves

elevating

the

ball.

He's

mad

at

himself.

He

found

a

barrel

there.

He's

actually

found

more

barrels

this

year

than

any

time

in

his

career,

according

to

StatCast.

I

don't

think

that

one

quite

qualifies

as

a

barrel,

but

he

has

hit

the

ball

hard

more

consistently

this

year

than

he

ever

has,

according

to

StatCast.

So

let's

talk

about

StatCast

for

a

little

bit.

Because

sometimes

fans,

especially

casual

fans,

if

you're

not

an

everyday

fan,

if

you're

not

watching

MLB

Network

all

the

time,

some

fans

really

don't

understand,

the

StatCast,

the

whole

launch

angle

thing.

So

when

you

say

he's

barreled

the

most

balls,

is

it

the

velocity

thing

off

the

bat?

Yeah,

that's

part

of

it.

The

StatCast

uses

certain

measurements

To

find

out

what

a

barrel

is:

when

a

bat

finds

the

barrel.

He's

got

over

barrels

on

the

year.

And

there's

one

from

Markakis

that's

going

to

roll

to

the

wall.

And

he's

got

himself

a

double

and

two

hits

in

two

plate

appearances.

Back

from

the

injured

list,

Nick

Markakis

contributing

and

figuring

out

Max

Scherzer

tonight.

Yeah,

I

know

Snickers.

Definitely

happy

to

have

him

back

in

the

lineup.

That's

two

at-bats

now,

Two

laser

beams.

This

ball

actually

took

off

on

Robles.

If

you

check

it

out

here,

Robles

kind

of

didn't

get

a

good

jump.

I

think

if

he

went

off

the

bat

right

away,

he

might

have

had

a

chance

on

that

ball,

but

it

looks

like

he

didn't

see

it

very

well.

Nick,

His

career

hit

against

Scherzer,

most

all-time.

Nobody

has

his

number

more

than

Markakis.

And

here's

Matt

Joyce

taking

a

strike

low

in

the

zone.

Now,

If

I

found

out

that

stat,

if

I'm

in

the

same

clubhouse

as

him,

I'm

going

up

to

Nick.

If

I'm

Freddie

Freeman,

I'm

like,

Nick,

what

is

the

difference?

What's

the

key?

What

is

going

on?

Because

I

think

for

me,

My

guy

was

Kershaw.

I

was

a

righty.

I

faced

lefties

all

the

time.

I

think

I

was

for

in

my

career

against

Kershaw.

Couldn't

figure

that

guy

out.

Yeah,

I

wouldn't.

I

had

a

similar

situation.

I

was

for

my

career

against

Billy

Wagner,

and

as

a

right-handed

pinch

hitter,

I

got

to

face

him

all

the

time.

I

ran

into

another

bench

guy

who

hit

him

quite

well.

I

asked

him

what

he

did.

He

gave

me

his

secret

and

I

started

to

hit

Billy

Wagner

much

better.

So

what

was

the

secret?

The

secret

was

you

let

him

strike

you

out

on

the

inside

pitch

because

you're

not

going

to

get

to

it

anyway.

But

he

will

miss

out

of

the

plate

on

occasion.

Don't

miss

that

one.

I

was

so

trying

to

get

to

the

inside

pitch

off

him

because

I

knew

that's

where

he

was

trying

to

go

that

I

would

chase

inside.

I'd

jam

myself.

I'd

swing

at

pitches.

I

had

no

business

hitting.

So,

yeah,

So

I

started

to

hit

him

a

little

bit.

You

went

three

for

ten

in

your

career

against

him;

your

last

two

at-bats,

both

hits

against

Wagner.

Nice.

And

who

was

that

teammate

who

gave

those?

I

don't

know

if

Billy

wants,

I

don't

know

if

I

want

Billy

to

drive

up;

I

think

he

lives

near

here

in

Virginia

somewhere,

and

I

think

he

may

drive

to

find

this

person.

And

take

him

to

lunch?

No.

No,

Matt,

I

can

attest

to

that.

I

faced

Wagner

in

when

I

got

called

up

as

a

rookie,

and

his

slider

was

so

nasty

that

I

couldn't

actually

react

to

it.

It

broke

so

late

that

I

couldn't

swing

at

it.

I

would

only

swing

when

I

was

looking

for

the

fastball

in.

And

that's

when

he'd

throw

that

back-foot

slider

and

I'd

chase

it.

When

I

started

looking

for

the

fastball

away,

The

slider

wasn't

nearly

as

effective.

to

Joyce.

Count's

full.

Well,

This

is

where

Max

goes

to

work.

He

hates

earned

runs

like

all

pitchers

do,

and

we

saw

earlier

in

the

game.

He's

going

to

start

bearing

down

here.

Keep

an

eye

on

that

pitch

count.

We

know

he

doesn't

believe

in

pitch

counts.

But...

He's

still

coming

back

from

that

injury.

They're

going

to

need

him

in

the

postseason.

So

they're

not

going

to

let

him

go

pitches

tonight.

That's

fouled

back.

I

love,

love,

love

midgame

interviews.

Well,

Guess

what?

We

have

one

more

coming.

Brian

Snitker

after

this

half.

Last

four

starts

for

Max:

And

that

one

on

the

very

bottom

was

his

finest

and

his

most

recent

start.

And

it

came

against

this

squad

on

Sunday.

This

is

the

rematch.

Soroka

versus

Scherzer.

And

so

far

it's

living

up

to

its

name.

Joyce

makes

contact

through

the

hole.

He's

got

a

knock.

And

Markakis

is

being

waved

around.

It's

fumbled

in

right

field.

A

run

comes

across.

It's

Braves.

Matt

Joyce

with

an

RBI

single.

A

lot

of

Braves

fans

are

wondering

what's

going

to

happen

to

Matt

Joyce.

He's

been

so

hot

with

Nick

Markakis

coming

back.

Brian

Snitker

rides

the

hot

hand.

And

it

certainly

pays

off.

He

hits

the

ball

hard

enough

to

get

through

the

infield.

That

would

be

where

a

straightaway

second

baseman

would

play.

So,

Max

might

be

a

little

frustrated

with

the

shift

right

there.

Yeah,

I

know

when

fans

see

the

guys

shifted,

They

have

so

many

numbers

and

metrics

that

measure

where

guys

consistently

hit

the

baseball.

You

know,

The

defensive

alignment.

They

were

definitely

in

the

right

place

at

the

time.

But

Joyce

just

found

the

hole.

Tyler

Flowers

goes

after

the

first

pitch

and

lofts

it

to

right-center.

Victor

Robles

calls

for

it.

And

there's

out

number

two

on

pitch

from

Scherzer.

Jason,

Have

you

ever

hit

the

eight

hole

in

your

life?

Dansby

Swanson

is

hitting

in

the

eight

hole.

He's

done

it

quite

a

bit,

but

this

is

a

situation

as

an

eight-hole

hitter.

You

don't

know

exactly

how

they're

going

to

handle

you

with

a

guy

like

Max

Scherzer.

He's

probably

going

to

come

after

you.

A

lot

of

teams

pitch

around

the

eight

hole

in

this

situation

just

so

they

have

the

pitcher

and

don't

risk

any

more

damage.

Yeah,

I

hated

it.

It

was

awful.

I

remember

one

time

we

were

playing

here

playing

against

the

Orioles.

and

I

was

hitting

the

eight

hole.

I

think

I

came

up

with

two

outs.

In

a

situation

like

this.

They

didn't

give

me

any

pitches

to

hit.

I

wanted

to

hit

really

badly,

so

I

ended

up

chasing.

They

got

out

of

the

inning

so

they

could

lead

off

the

next

inning

with

the

pitcher.

There's

a

lot

of

strategy.

I

actually

think

it's

the

hardest

place

to

hit

for

a

National

League

batter

because

you

never

know

what's

going

to

come.

They

definitely

are

coming

after

you

here

in

this

situation.

They

do

not

want

to

lead

off.

They

want

to

lead

off

the

inning

with

the

pitcher

in

the

next

inning.

I

mean,

Even

if

there

is

a

count.

Dansby

Swanson's

thinking

that's

a

hitter's

count

and

then

he

throws

a

slider

that

starts

looking

like

a

fastball

and

breaks

so

late;

now

he's

at

back

to

an

even

count.

So

that's

why

it

makes

it

so

tough.

You

have

to

be

patient.

It

takes

a

certain

kind

of

mentality

to

be

an

eight-hole

hitter.

You

really

have

to

be

kind

of

selfless

and

be

patient.

I

was

not

a

very

patient

hitter.

Bobby

Cox

loved

that

spot

in

the

lineup.

He

said

that

because

you

swing

at

everything

anyway.

And

if

you

do,

you

just

say,

I

was

trying

to

expand

the

zone

to

get

a

hit,

so

they

didn't

pitch

to

the

pitcher.

So

I

was

able

to

play

it

off

a

little

bit.

I

was

not

that

selfless

eight-hole

hitter

that

you're

talking

about.

Dansby

has

chased

two

out

of

the

zone

now.

Max

has

thrown

three

pitches

all

out

of

the

zone,

yet

he

has

a

count.

Right,

Now

this

is

where

Max

could

just

blow

a

fastball

right

by

him

because

Dansby

is

all

crossed

up

here.

He

has

no

idea

what's

coming.

Fastball

hard

in.

That's

right.

Foul

ball,

so

we'll

come

back

and

do

it

again.

A

one-two

count

to

Swanson.

Yeah,

it's

one

of

those

things

when

you're

a

player

and

you're

scuffling,

baseball

is

a

funny

game;

if

I

wanted

to

lift

heavy

weights,

I

would

have

to

try

harder.

Right.

Right.

But

for

baseball

you

actually

kind

of

have

to

do

less

and

step

back,

and

then

things

will

start

to

come

together.

But

if

you

go

out

there

and

try

to

grip

that

hard

and

swing

hard,

the

ball

doesn't

go

anywhere.

And

if

you

really

want

to

try

to

get

a

hit

you

end

up

chasing.

He's

for

in

his

games

off

the

injured

list

with

strikeouts.

I

once

had

a

high

school

baseball

coach

who

said,

"Your

body

doesn't

know

how

to

get

a

hit.

Your

body

knows

how

to

keep

your

hands

inside

the

ball,

your

body

knows

how

to

wait

back,

but

your

body

doesn't

know

how

to

get

a

hit."

That

was

the

best

advice

I

was

ever

given

about

it.

Stay

right

center.

It's

a

nice

piece

of

hitting

to

right,

and

here

comes

Joyce

and

the

throw.

Too

late.

RBI

double

for

Dansby

Swanson

with

two

strikes

off

Scherzer.

And

it's

Atlanta.

That

has

to

feel

good

for

Dansby

there.

You

can

see

the

excitement.

Look,

when

you're

scuffling

as

a

hitter,

everybody

knows

it.

Mom

knows

it.

She's

calling.

Dad

knows

it.

He's

calling.

Fans

know

it.

You

want

to

turn

your

phone

off.

But

this

is

a

great

piece

of

hitting.

Two

strikes.

He's

battling.

Max

went

back

to

the

fastball.

And

Dansby

stayed

on

it

and

laced

a

line

drive

to

right-center

field.

Scott,

Dustin

makes

a

point.

I

don't

know

what

the

equivalent

would

be

of

calling

a

game.

But

when

your

mom

calls

and

says,

You're

more

than

your

profession,

That's

the

worst

phone

call

to

get.

That

means

you

know

you're

struggling

at

the

plate.

I

understand,

from

my

high

school

playing

days

through

Soroka.

Yeah,

I

didn't

realize

how

hard

baseball

is

until

I,

like,

really

watched

my

first

game

when

I

retired.

I

remember

sitting

up

in

the

stands.

I

have

a

good

friend,

Steven

Souza

Jr.;

he

was

on

Tampa

Bay

at

the

time.

And

they

were

playing

the

Orioles.

And

I'm

sitting

in

the

stands.

And

he's

playing.

And

I'm

watching

the

ball

go

to

home

plate.

And

I'm

like,

I

can't

even

see

the

ball.

How

in

the

world

did

I

hit

that?

That's

insane.

You

guys

are

good.

I

got

to

give

it

to

you,

Soroka.

That

was

a

hot

shot

to

Zimmerman.

He'll

take

it

himself.

And

that's

it

for

the

Braves

portion

of

the

fourth.

A

hard

charge

from

the

bottom

portion

of

the

order

against

Max

Scherzer.

They

cracked

the

code.

Matt

Joyce

with

Nick

Markakis

at

second,

making

it

Atlanta.

And

then

Dansby

Swanson,

at

times

in

that

At

bat,

Looking

like

he

was

searching

for

something.

Well,

He

found

it,

going

the

other

way

and

bringing

home

Joyce,

making

it

Braves.

The

first-place

club

in

the

National

League

East.

Led

by

Brian

Snitker,

Manager

of

the

Year

in

It's

his

year

in

the

organization.

He

knows

these

players.

He

knows

this

organization

as

well

as

anyone

that

has

ever

been

a

part

of

it.

And

they

love

him

leading

the

way.

wins

last

year.

They're

already

up

to

wins

in

And

look

like

they're

on

their

way

to

a

division

crown.

And

he's

got

to

be

happy

after

what

he

just

saw

from

the

bottom

portion

of

the

order.

Scoring

a

couple

of

runs.

And

Mike

Soroka

pitching

so

well

on

the

mound

this

late

in

the

season.

Mike

Soroka

ready

to

go

for

the

fourth

inning

against

the

Nationals.

No

more

Freddie

Freeman

for

the

rest

of

this

game.

It

sounds

like

some

elbow

discomfort.

And

Mr.

Do-it-all,

Charlie

Culberson,

At

first

base.

That

would

be

worth

keeping

an

eye

on

if

you're

a

Braves

fan.

If

you're

a

baseball

fan,

We

saw

Yelich

go

down

the

other

day

in

a

terrible,

terrible

way.

That

can

change

MVP

race

and

a

wild

card

race.

Freddie

Freeman

certainly

could

do

that

for

the

Braves,

but

Snitker

seemed

to

think

he'd

be

okay.

Eaton,

Rendon,

Soto,

of

the

Nationals'

order,

and

Soroka

pitches

upstairs

a

ball

and

no

strikes.

Culberson,

hitting

this

year,

had

a

big

filling

in

for

the

Braves,

including

for

Dansby

Swanson

at

times

at

shortstop,

and

he

can

play

everywhere

and

he's

had

some

big

hits.

Nats

fans

know

him

as

Spanky.

I

want

to

know

how

that

nickname

came

about.

But

Spanky

spanked

that

baseball

in

the

gap.

That

was

nice.

First

hit

of

the

night

for

the

Nationals.

And

there

goes

your

no-no,

Soroka.

I

know

somebody

in

the

dugout

was

screaming

that

because

that

was

my

favorite

thing

to

scream.

Well,

Let

me

tell

you

something.

This

right

here

is

absolutely

blistered

by

Adam

Eaton.

The

sinker

comes

back

over,

catches

too

much

of

the

plate.

He

hits

a

laser.

And

right

now,

Brian

Snitker

is

going,

Why

did

Heidi

Watney

tell

me

that

my

pitcher

had

not

given

up

a

hit

yet?

Blame

it

on

Heidi.

I'm

not.

I'm

sure

Snitker

is.

That's

what

I'm

saying.

That's

all

I'm

saying.

That

was

a

great

piece

of

hitting.

Now,

middle

of

the

order.

Anthony

Rendon,

as

good

as

anybody.

Tied

for

the

league

lead

in

RBIs,

he

has

a

chance

to

take

that

right

now

on

the

year.

And

a

first

pitch

strike.

Superstitions

on

Friday

the

No

way.

Who

would

have

thought

it?

Yeah,

I

know

the

Nats

are

definitely

happy

to

have

a

healthy

Adam

Eaton.

He

missed

some

time

in

the

last

week,

so

that's

a

good

sign.

He

was

moving

very

well

in

that

double.

He

got

drilled

in

the

back

of

the

leg

and

missed

some

time.

Yeah,

A

deep

bone

bruise

on

the

side

of

his

right

knee.

and

he

was

day-to-day,

pinch-hitting,

Now

back

in

the

starting

lineup

the

last

few

days.

Yeah,

He's

a

key

cog

in

that

outfield,

in

addition

to

Robles.

He

can

make

some

highlight

plays,

but

I

think

the

thing

they

enjoy

about

having

him

the

most

is

his

plate

appearance.

He

works

pitchers.

He

can

put

the

ball

in

play.

He's

got

some

power.

The

Nats

are

dealing

with

a

couple

of

injuries

to

their

position

players.

Matt

Adams

left

yesterday.

He

tweaked

his

triceps.

And

Rendon

going

long

to

the

warning

track.

Markakis

has

it.

Well,

that's

why

you

have

the

Gold

Glove

out

there.

Deep

part

of

the

ballpark

there

in

left

center.

And

Rendon

gave

that

one

a

long

ride

and

Markakis

ran

it

down.

This

ball

just

ran

in

just

a

little

more

than

he

thought

it

would.

Jammed

him

a

little

bit.

Couldn't

quite

pull

his

hands

all

the

way

inside

that

ball

and

caught

it

a

little

thick

as

we

used

to

call

it.

Markakis

runs

that

ball

down.

Acuna.

Oh,

that

would

have

been

bad.

Yeah,

watch

out.

It

was

funny.

You

could

see

the

look

Markakis

gave

him,

like,

hey,

look,

Acuna.

I've

been

doing

this

a

while,

buddy.

I

got

this.

I

got

it.

I

got

it.

But

his

answer

might

be,

you

haven't

been

doing

the

left

field

thing

for

a

while.

That's

true.

I'm

going

to

hustle.

It's

just

his

career

appearance

in

left

field.

Over

appearances

in

right

field.

Yeah,

usually

going

to

your

left

like

that.

And

right

field,

the

only

things

to

your

left

are

fans.

So

he's

not

used

to

maybe

hearing

the

voice

coming

from

left

field

towards

center

field.

I

don't

think

so.

Acuna

Jr.

is

going

to

tell

Markakis

what

Andrew

Jones

used

to

tell

me

on

balls

like

that.

What

was

that?

Just

get

out

of

the

way.

I

got

this.

I'd

call

that,

and

Andrew

Jones

was

like,

even

before

I

could

catch

it,

he'd

run

in

front

of

me.

He

goes,

no,

you

don't.

And

he'd

catch

it

and

just

run

on

in.

So

it's

funny

you

talk

about

Andrew

Jones.

During

my

time

in

the

Yankees

organization,

he

was

there.

And

I

remember

seeing

his

shoes,

and

he

had

this

glove

on

the

heel

of

his

shoe,

and

it

had

in

it.

And

it

took

me

a

while

until

I

realized

that

the

glove

was

gold.

And

then,

oh,

okay,

he's

got

ten

gold

gloves.

Okay,

that

makes

sense.

I

put

the

two

together.

He's

pretty

phenomenal.

And

he

made

it

look

effortless.

He

was

a

guy

who

also

came

into

the

league

years

old

during

his

time

with

the

Braves.

Yeah.

Bottom

of

the

fourth,

Juan

Soto

walked

in

his

first

trip.

Soto

has

a

count

and

Eaton

is

in

scoring

position.

This

is

where

Juan

has

been

so

good

all

year

for

the

Nationals.

Men

in

scoring

position.

Soroka

gets

the

call

there.

Top

of

the

zone.

We

said

this

earlier

today.

And

I

think

Juan

Soto

is

as

good

as

a

robo-ump

would

be.

He

takes

that

pitch

and

he

kind

of

shakes

his

head

when

the

umpire

calls

it

a

strike.

And

Juan,

I

got

to

agree

with

you.

That's

probably

just

an

inch

or

two

off

the

plate.

But

you

are

as

good

as

an

automated

strike

zone.

He

is

that

good

at

strike

zone

discipline.

I

like

to

joke

around

sometimes

with

people.

I

would

have

never

struck

out

in

the

big

leagues

if

there

were...

If

they

had

robots.

I

never

would

have

punched

out.

I

think

when

Juan

Soto

retires

someday,

He

could

be

a

superstar

umpire.

Fourth

in

on-base

percentage.

Fifth

in

walk

rate.

And

that's

weighted

runs

created

plus.

better

than

league

average.

League

average

on

that

number

is

So

one

and

a

half

players

equals

one

Juan

Soto

at

the

plate

in

terms

of

his

hitting

damage

this

year.

Or

going

back

to

I

should

say

it's

three

and

two,

Heidi,

What

else

can

you

add?

You

guys

are

talking

about

Juan

Soto's

plate

discipline.

It's

not

just

good.

It's

historic.

He's

the

only

player

in

MLB

history

with

an

on-base

percentage

over

in

his

season.

That

was

last

year.

And

it's

a

very

short

list

of

basically

all

Hall

of

Fame

players

who've

had

an

on-base

percentage

over

in

their

season.

That's

this

year.

He

also

has

a

shot.

At

hitting

more

home

runs

than

any

player

ever

has

before

his

birthday.

He's

got

Only

Mel

Ott

at

and

Tony

Conigliaro

at

have

more

than

Soto

in

his

career

thus

far.

Thanks,

Heidi.

You

can't

say

it

enough.

He's

years

old;

most

home

runs

before

his

birthday.

And

he

has

an

okay

chance

to

catch

Mel

Ott.

He

will

turn

in

October.

The

regular

season

is

what

we're

counting

here.

So

at

least

second

probably

should

be

alone

in

that

spot,

passing

Tony

Conigliaro

by

the

end

of

the

year.

You

guys

see

these

names

we're

talking

about

with

his

on-base

percentage

and

his

home

runs?

These

are

historic

names

like

Heidi

said.

These

are

Hall

of

Famers.

That's

ball

four.

on-base

percentage

in

an

season

since

It's

not

a

long

list.

But

it's

a

list

that

you're

very

familiar

with.

These

are

legendary

names.

And

Juan

Soto

is

on

there

twice.

Last

year

and

this

year.

His

season;

he's

the

only

teenager

in

the

history

of

baseball

with

a

on-base

percentage.

Then

one

of

three

to

have

a

on-base

percentage

at

the

age

of

Actually

one

of

six,

but

four

of

the

six

are

Hall

of

Famers.

Juan

Soto

and

Alex

Rodriguez

are

the

other

two.

Yeah,

At

years

old,

Hit

like

against

guys

throwing

Asdrubal

Cabrera

back

to

the

pitcher,

Soroka

makes

the

second

out.

Eaton

to

third.

Soto

to

second.

Now

here's

a

guy

who's

coming

up

to

me

that

is

the

key

to

the

Washington

Nationals'

stretch

run.

They've

battled

all

year

with

injuries,

but

he's

very

well

known

here

in

D.C.

And

his

name

will

go

up

in

the

ring

of

honor

when

he

decides

to

hang

up

his

cleats.

Healthy

Ryan

Zimmerman

makes

this

Washington

Nationals

team

very,

very

scary.

I

was

encouraged

by

the

way

Davey

spoke

about

him

in

our

manager's

meeting

today.

Davey

Martinez

talking

about

how

he

looks

healthy,

how

he

feels

like

he

can

give

him

two

games

on,

one

game

off.

He

and

Howie

Kendrick

are

kind

of

rotating

that

role

until

they

find

out

what's

going

on

with

Adams.

Yeah,

Adams

went

down

on

the

check

swing

yesterday.

I

was

cut

off

by...

That

Eaton

double,

but

it's

a

tweaked

triceps

in

his

shoulder

from

yesterday.

And

Zimmerman

in

his

seven

games

since

coming

back

from

plantar

fasciitis.

three

homers,

RBIs.

Slugging

above

They'll

take

that.

Yeah,

I

was

here

when

he

came

off

the

IL.

And

he

homered

in

his

return.

He

also

homered

on

Wednesday.

He

knows

he's

the

senior

member.

Making

fun

of

himself

multiple

times

this

year.

Including

his

home

run

celebration.

His

home

run

celebration.

Pretending

he's

using

a

walker

in

the

dugout.

He's

younger

than

me.

I

don't

know

what

he's

talking

about.

He's

not

old.

Get

out

of

here,

Zim.

And

here's

that

home

run

from

Wednesday.

Target

Field

is

a

launching

pad

this

year.

If

you

haven't

heard,

the

Twins

hit

a

ton

of

homers.

And

the

Nationals

like

hitting

there

as

well.

Nationals

scored

a

ton

of

runs

in

that

series.

Making

a

mockery

of

everyone

in

that

Twins

rotation

other

than

José

Berríos.

So

here's

Zim.

Good

hitters

count.

Eaton

on

third,

Soto

at

second.

And

Zimmerman

connects

to

center

field.

Acuna

is

there.

The

ball

is

golden.

It

hangs

up

long

enough

for

Acuna

to

come

in

and

catch

it

and

prevent

any

damage.

But

it

is

the

first

inning

for

the

Nationals

to

get

a

hit,

a

double

from

Adam

Eaton

to

start

off

the

frame.

And

they

leave

two

baserunners

on.

It's

Braves

over

the

Nationals.

After

four

innings.

So

Nick

Markakis

ended

up

making

that

catch

out

in

left

field.

But

you

have

to

make

sure

that

you

can

hear

each

other

when

you're

communicating

with

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

There

are

fans

that

like

to

heckle

and

Matt

Diaz

knows

what

I'm

talking

about.

Oh

no.

Miners

ahead

one

and

two.

And

Bates

makes

the

catch.

A

sacrifice

for

Jason

Bay.

Trying

to

go

from

second

to

third

on

a

ball

easily

cut

off.

He

can

throw.

He

has

his

shoes

tied

tonight.

Acuna

Jr.

with

a

base

hit

to

left

to

start

the

fifth

inning

against

Max

Scherzer.

That

guy

out

there

was

a

professional

heckler.

He

was,

really.

The

clip

doesn't

do

a

great

job.

He

was

kind

of

quiet

after

showing

the

socks

for

almost

half

an

inning.

Sometimes

people

want

to

steal

bases

in

a

season.

This

would

be

a

great

matchup

right

here.

Scherzer

isn't

great

at

holding

runners.

Acuna

with

a

single

he's

got

a

shot

here.

Scotty.

stolen

bases,

tops

in

the

National

League.

He's

gone.

All

these

copies

got

back.

He

gave

it

to

him.

He

gave

it

to

him.

He

squared

so

he

could

steal

it.

Or

as

he

worked

on

bunting

pregame

today,

like

we

said,

maybe

he

was

looking

to

put

it

into

practice.

Youngest

players

in

history

with

seasons,

and

he

might

put

together

the

fifth

season

that

we've

ever

seen

in

Major

League

history.

One

home

run

and

four

stolen

bases

away,

with

a

couple

weeks

to

go

in

the

season.

I

like

his

chances

at

this

point.

I

do

too,

yeah.

The

last

guy

to

do

it

was

a

Washington

National,

Alfonso

Soriano.

That's

right.

I

mentioned

Scherzer

is

not

great

at

holding

runners.

The

last

two

seasons,

for

when

he's

pitching,

when

runners

attempt

a

stolen

base

off

of

him

this

year,

Runners

are

eight

for

nine

against

him.

I

think

it's

because

he's

so

dominant

they

hardly

ever

get

out

there.

That's

a

good

point.

Or

Scherzer's

more

like

Jack

Morris,

who

would

let

you

steal

second,

let

you

steal

third,

and

just

stare

at

you

and

say,

you

can't

steal

home.

That's

what

he

would

tell

base

runners.

And

he'd

beat

him

the

next

time

up

from

what

I'm

told.

Nice.

And

then

they

probably

got

out

the

third

at-bat.

That's

probably

true.

I

don't

have

any

verification.

I'm

not

old

enough

to

have

played

against

Jack

Morris.

However,

He

is

a

Hall

of

Famer.

All

these

folks

won

the

left.

And

it

drops

for

a

base

hit.

Acuna

Jr.

moves

up

to

second.

I

like

what

the

speed

element

does

to

pitchers

because

it

makes

them

stop

focusing

on

what

they're

doing

to

the

batter

at

the

plate.

So

I

noticed

there

Max

held

a

little

bit

longer

when

he

came

set,

probably

because

he

had

Acuna

on

base.

you

know,

Let

Albies

get

a

little

bit

more

comfortable

in

the

box.

Yeah,

You

saw

that

change.

It

didn't

have

the

depth.

It

had

the

movement.

It

moved

side

to

side,

But

it

didn't

have

the

depth

of

the

others.

Maybe

holding,

holding,

holding,

Like

he

was

trying

to

hold

Acuna

there.

It

threw

him

off

a

little

bit.

But

a

nice

job

of

taking

what

he

was

giving

him

there

behind

in

the

count

by

Ozzie

Albies.

This

is

the

first

at-bat

for

Culberson,

And

the

play

is

to

second

for

the

force

out.

Acuna

Jr.

looks

like

he

might

have

gotten

a

little

tripped

up

there.

I

saw

a

little

hop

as

he

passed

third.

I

think

he

was

worried

about

the

ball

being

caught

on

this

bunt.

on

this

bunt.

Watch

this.

Oh,

There

it

is.

Oh,

Wow.

Well,

He's

still

out

there.

Trainers

haven't

come

out.

That's

Rendon

making

the

play

to

second.

I

saw

Cooney

do

a

quick

start

and

stop

right

there.

Yeah.

That

might

have

just

grabbed

a

little

bit

down

in

the

calf.

I

don't

know.

I

never

ran

fast

enough

to

pull

a

muscle.

Yeah,

You

kind

of

had

to

hold

on

the

bunt

because

it

was

elevated.

Didn't

want

to

run

into

a

double

play.

Now

Donaldson.

With

one

out

and

runners

on

the

corners.

See

Acuna

get

ready

to

go,

break

back,

and

then

break

again.

Something

may

have

grabbed

him

there,

but

knowing

Acuña

he

could

just

be

hopping

around

on

one

foot

having

fun

definitely

a

light-hearted

personality.

Definitely

a

beast.

We

need

to

get

back

to

that

nickname.

I've

been

pushing

it.

We

had

a

long

conversation

about

this

before

the

game

started.

Yeah,

so

is

that

a

self‑proclaimed

nickname?

Started

on

a

walk-off

hit

or

a

big

home

run

where

he...

Pounded

his

chest

and,

in

Spanish,

yelled

"I'm

a

beast,"

and

it

kind

of

stuck

for

a

minute

and

then

it

disappeared.

So

we're

really

thinking

there's

no

one

else

for

the

nickname

"Beast."

No,

he's

years

old,

heading

in

for

potentially

a

season

he's

going

to

be

a

beast

for

a

long

time.

Why

can't

that

be

his

nickname?

His

numbers

look

like

he

should

be

a

beast.

Yeah,

no

one

else

owns

that

nickname;

it

makes

a

lot

of

sense.

Josh

Donaldson

fouls

that

one

off,

and

I

had

a

conversation

with

Acuña

in

spring

training,

And

he

said,

This

is

the

year

of

the

beast.

They're

going

to

call

me

that.

Ooh,

Sure

I

got

away

with

that

one

right

there.

Missed

the

center

cut,

just

where

I

would

look

if

I

were

facing

Max.

Ooh,

That's

a

great

swing.

Just

got

underneath

it.

Got

a

little

under

it.

The

bringer

of

rain.

Great

nickname,

himself.

Yeah,

I'd

love

to

have

that

pitch

back

for

a

guy

who

concentrates

on

launch

angle.

That's

a

great

nickname.

He

wants

to

hit

the

ball

up,

looking

for

his

first

hit

tonight.

He's

got

a

count.

Are

you

sensing

Max's

location

is

a

little

bit

off

lately?

Yeah,

He

hasn't

been

as

sharp

as

we're

used

to

seeing.

You

know,

He's

sitting

at

pitches

now.

He's

had

to

work

pretty

much

all

game

every

half-inning,

minus

that

one

where

he's

three

up,

Three

down.

He's

had

to

work.

These

Braves

hitters

are

making

him

work.

There's

a

swing-and-miss.

Bullpen

action.

Wander

Suero.

Yeah,

If

I'm

Brian

Snitker

right

now

and

I

see

that

activity

going

on

in

the

bullpen,

I'm

feeling

pretty

good

about

tonight's

ballgame.

Zimmerman

doesn't

have

a

play,

too

deep

into

the

dugout.

You

see

Donaldson

missing

pitches.

That

off

of

other

pitchers

he

crushes.

He

just

does

not

have

Max's

number.

Josh

Donaldson

heading

into

tonight

was

batting

with

a

slugging

percentage

of

only

off

Scherzer.

You've

got

to

leave

him

in

there

if

you're

Snitker.

You're

not

playing

matchups

with

a

guy

like

Josh

Donaldson.

You're

playing

Josh

Donaldson,

but

he

has

a

tough

time

with

Scherzer.

His

hard-hit

rate,

his

launch

angle,

up

from

his

MVP

campaign

with

the

Toronto

Blue

Jays.

Yeah,

he's

definitely

looking

like

the

Josh

Donaldson

of

old.

Great

at-bat.

Bases

loaded

for

Nick

Markakis.

Who

has

had

some

epic

at-bats

against

Max

Scherzer

in

his

career.

Now,

we

can

talk

about

the

Nationals'

bullpen

woes.

This

is

where

you

would

bring

in

a

lefty.

Nick

Markakis,

first

pitch,

Welcome

back

from

the

injured

list.

A

fractured

wrist

suffered

in

late

July.

A

single.

And

then

in

the

fourth

inning,

how

about

a

double?

Roped

to

right-center

and

brought

home

by

Matt

Joyce

to

score

the

first

run

of

the

game

for

the

Braves.

They

ended

up

with

two

in

the

fourth.

And

now

the

bases

are

loaded

in

the

fifth

with

just

one

out.

Yeah,

Those

two

balls

were

hit

at

over

miles

an

hour,

the

single

at

miles

an

hour,

and

that

double

in

the

gap,

miles

an

hour.

And

Brian

Snitker

gave

us

some

insight

on

how

they

got

him

game

ready.

A

lot

of

people

think

you're

on

the

IL,

you're

coming

back

to

the

big

leagues

after

minor-league

seasons

are

over.

There's

no

minor

league

rehab.

What

did

they

do?

The

Braves

actually

flew

in

a

minor

league

pitcher

while

they

were

on

this

road

trip

to

Atlanta.

To

hang

out

with

Nick

Markakis

and

throw

him

live-game

situations.

Certainly

paid

off

so

far

tonight.

You

should

send

him

a

thank

you

text

because

so

far

so

good.

Yeah,

And

how

creative

is

that

by

the

Braves

organization?

Like,

you

know,

they're

in

it

to

win

it,

to

find

the

guy.

Actually,

it's

more

pressure

on

that

minor

league

pitcher,

right?

I

mean,

he's

got

to

come

in

and

throw

to

a

big

leaguer

at

SunTrust

Park.

I

mean,

Come

on.

Great

experience

for

him,

too.

Yeah,

great

experience.

He

toed

the

rubber

at

SunTrust

Park.

And

it

just

tells

you

the

culture

they're

building

in

Atlanta

that

a

kid

would

do

that

and

an

agent

would

allow

it.

Oh,

yeah,

definitely.

Scherzer

is

trying

to

get

himself

ready

for

October

baseball,

but

also

he

is

in

the

thick

of

the

National

League

Cy

Young

conversation.

Change

Called

for

a

strike.

I'm

sitting

next

to

two

former

hitters.

That

was

very

generous.

I

think

that

ball

toed

that

chalk

line.

It

almost

hit

the

chalk

line.

Rob

Drake

has

given

some

and

he

has

taken

some

away

tonight.

It's

been

pretty

consistent.

Center

cut

to

center.

Robles

backing

up

at

the

track.

And

he's

got

it.

Well

deep

enough

to

bring

home

Acuna

Jr.

and

make

it

Braves.

A

long

sac

fly.

RBI

for

Nick

Markakis.

Another

productive

at-bat

against

Scherzer.

You

see

Nick

Markakis

here.

He

is

not

intimidated

by

any

fastball

in

baseball.

This

ball,

they're

trying

to

get

it

up.

It

tails

down.

It's

going

away.

Markakis,

One

of

the

best

at

leveling

out

his

swing

through

the

ball.

He

doesn't

just

swing

to

the

ball.

He

swings

through

it

and

was

able

to

stay

on

that

ball

that

faded

away.

Robles

made

a

great

catch

though.

He

did.

Nick

kind

of

pimped

his

ball

right

here.

He

got

into

a

little

trot.

And

Max

actually

looked

like

he

thought

it

may

have

had

a

chance

as

well.

But

Robles

had

a

great

jump

on

that

one.

He

made

a

great

play.

Culberson

moves

up

to

third.

Donaldson

stays

put

at

first

base.

And

Markakis

has

himself

an

RBI

to

make

it

Braves.

One

thing

that

usually

gets

overlooked

is

the

base

running

there.

I

mean

Culberson

tagged

up

on

that

ball.

Now

he

puts

himself

in

a

good

spot.

You

can

score

many

ways

from

third

base.

Even

with

two

outs.

Passed

ball.

When

Scherzer

throws

his

nasty

changeup,

it

can

bounce

away

from

the

catcher

at

times.

I

almost

called

that

one.

Didn't

I?

You

know

what?

If

I

was

as

good

as

I

was

calling

pitches

when

I

watched,

I

might

have

been

a

special

player.

You

should

have

guessed

more.

You

should

have

guessed

more.

But

when

I

guessed

in

the

game,

I

was

wrong.

That's

the

thing.

That's

all

you

did:

guess.

We'll

take

it

now.

It's

good

for

us.

We

like

it.

One

to

Joyce.

Oh,

and

two.

Scherzer

approaching

the

century

mark

with

pitches.

Three

away.

This

could

be

his

last

inning.

That

sac

fly

for

Markakis

was

actually

his

hardest-hit

ball

of

the

day

with

no

return.

miles

per

hour

off

the

bat,

He

just

sees

the

baseball

coming

out

of

his

hand.

He's

seeing

it

well.

We've

got

to

get

that

pitcher's

name.

Who

threw

to

him?

He

got

him

locked

in.

Acuna

is

up

to

lifetime

against

Scherzer.

for

Strike

three.

The

generosity

continues.

Outside

corner

it's

Max's

friend.

And

it's

his

sixth

strikeout.

But

another

run

for

Atlanta.

Nick

Markakis

does

the

damage.

He

starts

the

rally

in

the

fourth.

And

he

punches

in

a

run

for

the

Braves

in

the

fifth.

It's

So

there

have

only

been

four

players

to

compile

homers

and

steals

in

a

single

season.

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

just

scored

run

number

three

for

Atlanta.

He

may

soon

join

that

club

this

season.

Stand

by.

Which

pitch

is

he

going

to

run

on?

He's

leaning

a

little

bit

right

now.

I

saw

in

September

that

his

teammates

wanted

him

to

do

it.

And

he

just

did

it.

That

sounds

really

fun

when

you

get

to

A

stolen

base.

You

get

to

just

pick

up

the

base

and

walk

home

with

it;

Victor

Robles

swung

through

a

pitch

from

Mike

Soroka

to

start

the

bottom

of

the

fifth

it's

three-nothing

Braves,

but

the

chase

is

on

for

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

to

reach

home

runs

and

stolen

bases:

one

home

run

shy

and

four

steals

away;

I

always

wondered

why

the

grounds

crew

doesn't

stand

by

with

the

extra

second

base

ready

to

go

I'm

sure

they

talked

about

that

beforehand.

What

an

accomplishment

that

would

be.

I

was

a

guy.

I

stole

third

in

a

meaningless

situation.

David

Wright

looked

at

me

at

third.

He

goes,

What

did

you

steal

third

for?

I

said,

I'm

a

guy.

I'll

give

you

five

grand

if

you

come

to

spring

training

with

that

on

your

license

plate.

But

these

guys

are

a

lot

bigger

than

guys.

Take

a

look

at

this.

The

youngest

players

to

go

Mike

Trout,

You

got

him

at

age

Ronald

Acuna,

Jr.

The

second.

However,

He

is

the

youngest

to

go

Oh,

Nice.

And,

You

know,

A-Rod

had

a

great

career.

Jose

Canseco.

And

there's

Bobby

Bonds.

Who

did

nothing

but

help

his

son

elevate

his

career

to

a

phenomenal

Phenomenal,

Arguably

Hall

of

Fame

career.

Acuna

Jr.

has

a

chance.

We

have

two

weeks

to

go

in

the

season.

I

mean,

The

home

runs,

That's

almost

a

lock.

He

needs

just

one

more.

It's

the

stolen

bases

to

get

on,

Get

yourself

in

a

good

spot.

Also

make

sure

that

you're

healthy.

Right.

Stolen

bases

can

often

lead

to

injuries.

That's

shipped

to

left.

And

Markakis

got

it,

playing

left

field

like

he's

been

there

for

years.

And

that

ball

dropped

fast.

Is

that

glove

gold

too?

I

mean,

Geez.

It's

golden,

right?

It

is.

He

gets

a

good

jump

here.

He

takes

one

drop

step,

comes

busting

in,

gets

low

and

beats

the

ball

to

the

ground.

Nick

can

play

any

outfield

position.

He's

up

there

in

age.

But

he's

still

very

athletic.

You

see,

viewers

at

home,

If

you

see

his

glove.

If

you

see

when

his

glove

slides

in

and

it's

got

that

gold

embossing,

See

right

there

next

to

his

wrist,

That's

how

you

know

if

the

guy

has

won

a

Gold

Glove

or

not.

I

tried

to

buy

that

and

put

one

on

my

glove,

and

they

wouldn't

allow

me

to

do

that.

Did

you

really?

Well,

No,

I

just

said,

What

do

you

got

to

do?

Get

one

of

those

gloves.

They

said,

Win

a

Gold

Glove.

I

said,

Oh,

I

thought

that

was

just

an

add-on;

you

could

ask

when

you

get

to

the

big

leagues

and

they'd

say,

No,

That's

earned,

Which

is

nice.

It's

nice

to

have

goals

out

there.

I

knew

I'd

never

get

that.

Yan

Gomes,

eighth

hitter.

His

seventh

consecutive

start

since

Kurt

Suzuki

is

out

with

an

elbow

injury.

They

had

been

splitting

time

for

the

majority

of

the

season.

Gomes,

an

All-Star

last

year,

hit

with

home

runs

as

a

part

of

the

Cleveland

Indians.

That

was

a

big

blow

to

them.

But

it's

nice

to

have

a

veteran

presence

like

Yan

Gomes

to

fill

in.

Both

these

teams

handle

the

catching

position

similarly.

There

wasn't

really

a

clear

No.

they

were

more

like

a

and

this

year

for

the

Braves.

We're

seeing

Tyler

Flowers

catch.

But

he's

been

with

Brian

McCann

all

year.

When

McCann

was

down,

They

went

and

got

Francisco

Cervelli.

So

they're

emphasizing

older

catchers

who

can

handle

the

staff.

Yeah,

And

I

think

about

the

veteran

guys

that

the

Nationals

have

in

their

staff.

You

talk

about

Scherzer,

Strasburg,

Corbin,

and

Aníbal

Sánchez.

I

think

they

like

having

that

veteran

presence

behind

the

mound

because

it

probably

makes

them

feel

at

ease.

I'm

sure

it

helps

a

veteran

pitcher.

But

think

about

the

young

staff

from

the

Braves

as

well.

You

think

about

guys

like

Soroka,

and

Max

Fried.

Those

guys,

Brian

McCann

brought

instant

credibility.

Tyler

Flowers

has

earned

it

over

the

years

there.

Gomes

strikes

out.

Max

Scherzer's

day

is

officially

done

after

five

innings.

Pinch

hitter

Andrew

Stevenson

in

the

nine

spot,

and

Tanner

Rainey

is

getting

warm.

Stevenson

is

for

this

season.

That's

a

batting

average.

Five

walks.

His

on-base

percentage

is

close

to

Of

course,

it's

a

small

sample

size;

most

of

his

time

has

been

in

the

minor

leagues.

And

Andrew

is

one

of

those

Nationals

speedsters

I've

referred

to

earlier.

This

guy

can

really

fly.

I

do

want

to

point

out

something.

We're

talking

about

the

veteran

catchers

and

how

they

do

their

homework

for

the

Atlanta

Braves.

How

many

times

have

you

seen

a

guy

who's

been

a

minor

leaguer

most

of

the

year

come

in

and

pinch-hit

in

September

and

the

catcher

need

to

take

a

timeout

to

go

out

and

get

the

scouting

report,

or

have

the

pitching

coach

run

out

and

tell

them

what

it

is?

of

that

happened

here.

Tyler

Flowers

didn't

skip

a

beat.

He

knew

how

to

handle

this,

and

they're

going

right

after

him.

Yeah,

I

like

what

he

did

as

well.

He

threw

that

other

changeup

knowing

you

have

a

young

hitter

who's

looking

to

ambush

in

the

hitter's

count.

He

got

him

to

chase.

Goes

around

it's

two

and

two.

Three

changeups

in

a

row.

Well,

we

know

what

the

scouting

report

was.

Here

comes

a

changeup.

Now,

back

in

Syracuse:

when

I

played

there,

there

was

a

fan

who

used

to

tip

pitches

all

the

time.

He

used

to

tell

us

what

was

coming

to

the

plate.

No

way.

He

was

right

all

the

time.

So

you'd

listen

to

him

I

would

hear

him

say

'here

comes

a

changeup,'

I'd

hit

it,

boom,

there

was

a

changeup,

base

hit.

I

look

over

at

Matt

at

first

base;

he'd

be

on

the

right-field

line

late.

There

you

go,

boy.

Thanks

for

that

hit.

How

would

he

know

from

right

field?

I

have

no

idea—he

was

on

it.

They

had

a

system

up

there.

We

might

have

found

something

in

Syracuse.

Pitch

number

from

Soroka.

Breaking

ball.

Pours

it

in

and

gets

the

strikeout.

Not

a

big

strikeout

pitcher.

Just

his

third

of

the

night.

But

look

at

the

work

done

by

Mike

Soroka

so

far.

It's

Braves

topping

the

Nationals

after

five

innings.

Soroka

lost

to

Scherzer

on

Sunday.

But

the

Braves

had

a

very

successful

weekend

series

against

Washington

last

week.

It's

a

beautiful

night

for

baseball

in

Atlanta.

The

Braves

are

taking

the

field

for

the

first

of

four

against

their

nearest

competition

and

our

rival,

The

Washington

Nationals.

That

ball

is

down.

Acuna's

getting

the

green

light.

Here

he

comes.

Opposite

field

into

the

foul

seats.

He's

going

to

come

home

and

score

to

make

it

The

Braves

win

the

consecutive

game

at

home.

Strikes

out

badly,

Baez,

Drupal,

Cabrera.

First

inning.

It's

the

Nationals,

two

of

the

Braves,

nothing.

Home

run

game

for

Juan

Soto.

He

makes

the

play.

Washington,

D.C.

We've

seen

very

successful

baseball

from

the

Nationals

in

the

regular

season

going

back

to

But

they're

looking

to

get

over

the

postseason

hump.

They

have

not

won

a

playoff

series

during

that

time

period,

despite

winning

the

division

in

and

Max

Scherzer

is

done.

Tanner

Rainey

enters

the

fold.

His

ERA

is

in

the

mid-fours.

fastballs,

which

reaches

about...

He

reaches

about

miles

an

hour,

averages

with

it,

and

has

percent

sliders.

He

brings

the

heat,

Justin,

but

control

is

a

major

issue

for

him

as

he

faces

the

bottom

portion

of

the

order

for

Atlanta.

It's

Flowers,

Swanson

and

Sirocco,

and

a

strike

from

Rainey.

So

what

has

been

the

biggest

issue

for

him

and

how

can

he

fix

it?

Well,

I

think

it

has

to

do

with

his

mental

mindset.

I

mean,

when

the

guy's

throwing

fastballs.

Most

pitchers

don't

realize

how

hard

it

is

to

actually

hit

a

moving

baseball.

As

hard

as

it

is,

God

didn't

make

me

a

pitcher

for

a

reason.

Because

if

I

threw

that

hard,

I

would

let

everybody

know.

And

I

would

just

go

about

my

business

in

a

totally

different

way.

But

for

him,

I

think

it's

just

being

young

and

building

that

confidence.

He's

got

to

know

that

his

stuff

plays

at

this

level.

He's

here

for

a

reason.

And

he

just

has

to

trust

his

stuff.

So

it's

nice

to

see

him

get

ahead

here,

going

right

after

Tyler

Flowers

with

three

pitches;

the

third

one

results

in

a

ground

ball.

One

away.

Yeah,

I

mean,

for

a

reliever

I

think

getting

strike

one

is

crucial.

Getting

strike

one,

getting

ahead,

is

everything.

And

it

was

nice

to

see

him

start

Tyler

out

with

a

good

fastball.

He

was

a

second-round

selection

by

the

Cincinnati

Reds

in

out

of

the

University

of

West

Alabama.

And

then

he

was

traded

this

offseason

for

Tanner

Roark

in

December.

Now

Swanson,

who

brought

home

a

run

in

the

fourth.

Yeah,

for

the

Nats

to

give

up

Tanner

Roark,

who

was

very

good

during

his

time

here

in

D.C.

I

mean,

it

says

a

lot

about

what

they

think

about

Tanner.

So

he's

just

got

to

trust

his

stuff

and

go

out

there

and

dominate.

He

has

the

capability.

Yeah,

you

see

that

pitch

right

there.

That

was

an

oh

a

breaking

ball.

I

know,

I

know

Dansby

Swanson

hit

a

fastball

middle-away

to

the

right-center

field

gap

last

time

up.

But

when

you're

sitting

there

and

your

average

fastball

velocity

on

the

year

is

almost

miles

an

hour

and

you

start

off

the

eight-hole

hitter

with

a

breaking

ball.

Two

in

a

row.

I

just

I

got

a

question.

Your

willingness

to

just

go

after

him

they

need

to

hire

Bartolo

Colon

as

a

special

assistant

to

the

Nationals

to

come

sit

with

this

kid

and

tell

him

that

you

can

live

off

the

fastball

if

you

locate

it.

Yeah,

he

was

a

frustrating

at-bat.

I

mean,

you

look

up

at

the

gun

he's

like

and

then

you're

running

a

hard

wondering

what

the

heck

went

wrong

on

your

rollover

ground

ball.

At

miles

an

hour,

the

ball

comes

in

the

blink

of

an

eye;

it's

hard

to

hit

that.

So

trust

him.

Just

go

after

him.

He

threw

a

really

good

slider

to

Flowers

and

then

a

bad

slider.

A

slider

to

Swanson.

Then

a

good

slider.

So

he's

hit

or

miss

with

that

slider.

But

if

he

could

just

stay

there.

That's

Dansby's

sweet

spot.

Middle-away

fastballs,

and

it

just

jumps

out

of

Rainey's

hands.

His

last

appearance

on

Tuesday

in

Minnesota

didn't

work

out;

he

recorded

just

one

out.

He

threw

pitches.

He

started

the

eighth

inning

and

gave

up

three

runs

on

two

hits

and

two

walks.

The

walks

are

the

killer.

Managers

don't

like

walks.

and

I

know

pitchers

don't

like

free

passes

either.

But

I

think

he

should

just

be

more

aggressive

in

the

zone.

Swanson

to

the

left

side

on

a

hop

for

Rendon.

Another

pretty

good

breaking

ball

right

there

down

in

the

zone.

He

might

be

finding

a

slider.

But

you

mentioned

fastball

usage,

fastball

usage,

And

it

doesn't

feel

that

way

so

far

tonight.

It

feels

more

and

that's

in

just

these

eight

pitches.

But

he's

at

the

bottom

of

the

order.

If

he

starts

the

pitcher

off

here,

with

a

slider,

We're

going

to

have

some

problems.

I

think

Davey

might

throw

a

clipboard

at

him

or

something.

I

think

he'll

attack

Soroka.

He

starts

him

off

with

heat,

But

it

misses.

Don't

you

just

challenge

someone

like

this?

Yeah,

I

think

he

tried

to,

But

I

know

some

pitchers

do

get

mentally

rattled

when

they

know

the

pitcher

up

there

is

not

going

to

swing.

So

I

think

that

comes

into

play

as

well.

He

knows

Soroka

is

not

going

to

swing

the

bat,

you

know,

Mentally

he

might

be

thinking

a

little

bit,

trying

to

be

too

refined,

Trying

to

aim

a

little

bit

instead

of

just

being

natural,

Letting

it

flow.

Again,

he

misses.

Just

give

me

some

warm-up

tosses.

Straight

down

the

pipe.

I've

tried

to

pitch

before,

And

it's

definitely

not

an

easy

thing

to

do.

But

I

think

mentally

he

knows

that

Soroka's

not

swinging

the

bat.

So

he's

trying

to

aim,

and

he

missed

his

spot

in

all

four

attempts.

That's

a

four-pitch

walk

to

Mike

Soroka.

Now

he's

got

to

face

Acuna

Jr.

I

played

with

a

center

fielder

in

A-ball.

You'll

recognize

the

name,

When

I

say

it,

his

name

is

Brandon

Backey.

He

would

scream

at

our

pitchers

in

this

situation,

Just

throw

strikes.

Our

farm

coordinator

said,

If

you

think

it's

so

easy,

Throw

a

bullpen

tomorrow.

He

threw

a

bullpen,

went

to

instruction,

He

was

in

the

big

leagues

as

a

pitcher

less

than

a

year

later.

He

pitched

for

Houston

for

quite

a

while.

He

was

a

good

pitcher.

He

showed

what

could

happen

when

you

just

throw

strikes.

He

went

after

it.

He

also

hit

a

big

league

home

run

before

I

did

because

he

got

to

the

big

leagues

faster

than

I

did.

He

signed

a

bat

and

sent

it

to

me.

He

said

my

home

run

came

first.

That's

good.

That

goes

to

the

saying,

Don't

talk

about

it,

be

about

it.

And

he

definitely

was.

Strike

on

Acuna.

Look

at

Gomes'

framing.

He's

bringing

it

back

into

the

zone.

He

lost

it

there.

This

is

Ronald

Acuna's

home

run.

For

those

of

you

who

watched

him

in

the

Home

Run

Derby.

His

effortless

power

the

other

way

is

evident.

But

he

can

turn

on

the

ball

as

well.

He

can

hit

the

ball

to

all

fields.

I

watched

his

routine

in

the

cage

today.

He

did

a

lot

of

lead-hand

work.

He

used

just

his

bottom

hand

with

a

smaller

bat.

He

was

working

on

keeping

that

hand

through

the

zone.

When

he

does

that

and

pulls

his

hands

in

close

to

his

body,

He

can

stay

through

any

pitch

and

hit

it

to

any

part

of

the

yard.

That

is

just

the

most

beautiful

spray

chart

I've

ever

seen.

And

a

strikeout

for

Rainey.

Apparently

he

didn't

want

to

deal

with

Mike

Soroka.

Someone

pitched

around

him.

Right?

To

face

one

of

the

best

hitters

in

the

sport,

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.

And

you're

right.

That

is

a

beautiful

spray

chart

that

starts

from

the

center

and

branches

out.

Acuna

goes

down.

And

so

do

the

Braves

in

the

top

of

the

sixth.

It's

Atlanta.

pitches

for

Mike

Soroka.

One

hit

allowed

against

one

of

the

more

dynamic

offenses

in

the

sport.

He's

getting

ahead.

He's

trusting

his

stuff.

We

talked

about

that.

He's

got

the

sinker

working

today.

Trea

Turner

did

hit

him

hard.

His

first

at-bat

up.

Markakis

made

a

good

catch

running

back.

Soroka

getting

ahead.

He's

done

that

all

year

long.

A

ball

and

two

strikes

on

Turner.

His

road

earned

run

average

is

now

down

to

and

that

is

just

incredible

for

anyone

that

we've

seen.

But

for

it

to

be

from

a

rookie

makes

it

extra

special.

Look

at

that

number.

It

was

a

full

point

better

than

Max

Scherzer

in

second

place.

So

poised.

Weakly

hit

to

Albies.

Quick

throw

over

there

to

get

the

speedy

Turner

for

the

first

out.

His

home

ERA

is

a

shade

over

four.

So

if

you're

the

Braves

come

playoff

time

Do

you

try

to

line

him

up

for

a

road

start

or

wipe

that

away?

I

think

you

wipe

it

away.

You

don't

want

to

give

it.

You

don't

want

to

make

it

a

mental

thing

for

Soroka.

He's

been

so

great

all

year.

You

just

have

to

trust

his

stuff

and

trust

that

he'll

elevate

and

show

up

in

the

moment.

I'm

going

to

be

really

interested

to

see

how

they

line

up

this

pitching

rotation.

They're

getting

to

the

point

in

the

season.

Where

they're

going

to

clinch

potentially

early

enough

or

feel

like

they're

going

to

clinch

to

line

up

their

pitching

how

they

want

it.

I

have

a

hard

time

believing

that

you

don't

pitch

in

game

one.

I

really

do.

I

know

you

got

Folty.

I

know

you

got

Keuchel

who's

been

there,

done

that,

and

maybe

you

do

it

just

for

that

reason.

But

I

want

this

guy

to

pitch

as

many

times

as

possible

in

a

series.

So,

your

answer,

Homer?

I

say

both:

let

him

pitch

game

one

at

home.

Right.

Game

four

on

the

road.

That's

right.

That's

a

good

point.

Good

point.

By

far

the

best

ERA

in

the

rotation

for

Atlanta.

That

number

for

Keuchel

keeps

going

down.

Yeah,

You

just

have

to

trust

this

stuff.

It's

been

great

for

the

whole

season.

You

know

it's

going

to

show

up

in

the

end.

Only

one

hit

allowed.

And

it's

to

this

batter.

Adam

Eaton

smacked

a

double

off

of

Soroka

in

the

fourth.

These

two

organizations

couldn't

be

more

different

in

certain

areas.

We

talk

about

Soroka,

his

innings,

and

him

potentially

pitching

twice

in

a

playoff

series.

The

Nationals

once

had

a

very

good

young

pitcher

who

didn't

pitch

in

the

playoffs.

It

was

Steven

Strasburg.

The

Nationals

talk

about

resting

their

older

players,

playing

them

two

on,

one

off,

two

on,

one

off.

The

Braves

keep

throwing

Donaldson

and

Freeman

out

there

every

single

day.

It's

a

little

different

culture.

Some

would

say

that

in

the

long

run,

the

Nationals

would

pay

off

over

the

course

of

the

long

haul.

But

we're

almost

games

in.

It's

a

long

season.

It's

paying

off

for

the

Braves.

We'll

have

to

keep

an

eye

on

Soroka

over

the

years

and

see

if

his

career

can

match

that

of

Strasburg.

But

I

love

the

way

the

Braves

are

just

trusting

their

players

to

go

out

there

and

do

the

job.

And

I

think

from

a

hitter

standpoint,

He

slaps

it

to

right.

And

that's

for

Joyce.

From

a

hitter's

standpoint,

you

don't

want.

You

don't

want

to

lose

your

timing

there.

I

mean,

Donaldson,

Acuna,

Freddie

has

been

so

great

all

season

long.

If

you

sit

them

for

a

few

games,

what

does

that

do

for

them?

for

their

timing?

I

mean,

yeah,

I

remember

when

Dansby

Swanson

first

got

called

up.

Originally,

The

former

regime

there

with

John

Coppolella

was

trying

to

rest

him,

give

him

days

off,

and

not

let

him

face

the

tougher

pitchers

of

the

world.

When

that

regime

went

away

and

Snitker

was

established

as

the

coach,

he

just

started

throwing

him

out

there.

And

you're

right.

I

mean,

Scherzer

was

the

kind

of

guy

that

Dansby

Swanson

was

missing.

He's

hit

a

double

to

the

right

center

field

wall

today.

That's

confidence

heading

into

the

playoffs.

And

the

playoff

situation:

the

Nationals

must

sweep

the

series.

Your

guy,

your

eight-hole

hitter,

Dansby

Swanson,

has

a

big

knock.

I

don't

know

that

there's

anything

you

can

do

with

that.

I

know,

talking

with

Adam

LaRoche,

the

old

National.

He

would

say

Scherzer

should

have

pitched

his

rookie

year

late

into

the

season.

If

you're

going

to

rest

him,

rest

him

early.

But

he

felt

like

the

organization

let

the

entire

team

down

by

not

having

their

best

roster

ready

to

rock

and

roll

by

the

time

the

playoffs

rolled

around.

Yeah,

because

at

that

point

it

becomes

a

distraction

everybody

knows

you've

got

a

workhorse

who's

not

going

to

contribute

to

the

team.

And,

you

know,

you

actually,

you

know,

hampering

or

handicapping

your

club

by

not

putting

him

in

there.

Braves

are

a

little

more

old

school

in

that

approach.

I'd

say

new

school,

Scotty.

Anthopoulos

takes

over

as

GM,

and

he

comes

from

the

Los

Angeles

Dodgers

organization.

He

also

was

the

GM

of

the

Blue

Jays,

but

was

part

of

the

front

office

for

L.A.,

and

he

said

they

tried

to

do

all

that

limiting

and

monitoring

of

pitch

counts

and

everything,

and

you

just

have

to

look

at

their

stuff.

If

it's

playing

up

this

time

of

year,

they're

going

to

keep

going

with

it.

And

Mike

Soroka's

got

that

stuff

in

September.

That's

what

you

dream

about

for

October.

The

rookie

is

putting

on

an

absolute

show.

Anthony

Rendon

not

a

fan

of

strike

three,

but

that's

his

fourth

strikeout

of

the

night

and

a

three-nothing

lead.

Six

shutout

innings

from

the

Braves'

rookie.

And

he

would

be

the

second-youngest

Brave

to

start

a

playoff

game.

Steve

Avery

was

back

in

Soroka

is

years

old.

A

frame.

To

sit

down

the

top

of

the

order

for

the

Nationals,

Turner,

Eaton,

and

Rendon.

And

speaking

of

Rendon,

Heidi,

it's

his

night.

Even

though

it's

not

his

night

at

the

plate

yet,

it

is

his

night.

Yeah,

that's

right,

guys.

We

really

have

the

treat

of

seeing

four

legitimate

MVP

candidates

playing

in

this

game.

Anthony

Rendon,

it's

his

bobblehead

night.

He

is

one

of

them.

And

if

you

listen

to

this

crowd

every

time

he

comes

to

the

plate,

they

definitely

think

he

should

be

the

MVP.

He

leads

all

of

MLB

in

batting

average.

On

the

other

side,

We

saw

Freddie

Freeman

already

leave

this

game

with

the

elbow

kind

of

barking

at

him.

He's

getting

checked

out

right

now.

But

he's

a

guy

on

this

team,

a

quiet

leader.

He

leads

the

team

in

RBIs,

in

OPS,

in

average.

He's

a

fantastic

guy.

You've

got

Josh

Donaldson

as

well.

He

leads

the

team

in

WAR

at

And

you

have,

of

course,

Ozzie

Albies.

As

you

guys

have

been

saying

all

night

with

Albies,

could

be

a

guy

this

season.

He'd

be

only

the

fifth

guy

in

MLB

to

be

a

guy.

He's

got

home

runs,

stolen

bases.

I

posed

the

question

to

Brian

Snitker

and

to

Josh

Donaldson

before

the

game,

who's

their

MVP?

They

both

picked

Freddie

Freeman.

They

said

on

this

team,

he's

the

leader.

He's

the

guy

who

goes

to

the

post

every

day.

He's

doing

it

every

day

for

this

team.

Trey

Turner

obviously

has

Anthony

Rendon.

This

crowd

has

Anthony

Rendon.

If

you

throw

in

Yelich,

and

I

know

he's

out

for

the

season,

but

you

throw

in

Bellinger

as

well,

who

do

you

guys

think

is

the

NL

MVP?

I'll

take

it

first.

Yeah,

So

I

agree

with

Brian

Snitker

and

Josh

Donaldson

that

Freddie

Freeman

is

their

MVP.

He's

their

leader.

He

sets

the

culture

of

that

dugout.

But

I

just

can't

get

away.

Sorry,

Braves

fans,

what

Cody

Bellinger

has

done

all

year

long

out

there

in

Los

Angeles.

That

shift

to

right-center

off

the

bat

of

Albies,

and

it's

gone.

Yes,

it

is.

Keep

going,

Ozzie.

You've

got

a

homer,

a

little

wall

scraper,

but

a

tall

wall

in

right

center

field.

And

the

Braves

are

up

to

a

lead

off

his

of

the

year.

He's

still

not

sure

he

got

all

of

it.

He's

been

a

Nats

killer

over

the

last

week.

I

mean,

he

had

such

a

good

series

down

in

Atlanta,

and

it

continues

here

in

D.C.

He

keeps

showing

bunt

every

at-bat

and

then

just

goes

deep

like

that.

This

guy

is

unbelievable.

He

works

hard.

I

love

his

routine

and

he

gets

paid

back

right

there.

I

think

if

it

hits

the

wall

and

bounces

back

in

it's

not

a

homer

but

it

hits

the

wall

then

hits

the

rail

and

then

It

bounces

back

in.

That

makes

it

the

home

run.

Yep,

definitely.

And

that's

why

I'm

going

to

argue

with

that

one.

But

Rainey

went

back

to

the

slider,

didn't

trust

the

and,

you

know,

there's

no

doubt

in

that

call.

That's

old

Bill

Welke

out

there.

I

think

he

definitely

got

it

right.

He's

very,

very

confident

in

his

call

right

there.

There

was

no

flinch.

He

had

the

helicopter

going.

Albies

is

on

a

roll

and

he's

been

crushing

the

Nationals

lately.

He's

hit

three

homers

in

his

last

four

games

against

them.

Now

it's

Culberson,

who

replaced

Freeman,

dealing

with

an

elbow

issue,

and

he

scorches

that

ball

to

the

left-field

corner.

It's

fouled

off.

Now,

Matty,

you

notice

how

Culberson

got

thrown

into

the

fire

here.

Right.

I

mean,

fans

don't

realize

this

is

hard

to

do.

He's

sitting

there

he's

probably

got

his

seeds,

his

gum,

sweatshirt

on

at

the

end

of

the

dugout.

Hey,

Charlie,

you're

in

the

game.

Never

happened

to

you?

Oh

yeah.

Yeah,

quite

often.

It

always

seemed

to

happen

when

a

left-handed

hitter

was

about

to

face

a

really

nasty

left-handed

pitcher.

And

they

go

out

and

stretch

and

an

oblique

gets

tweaked.

It

did

happen

quite

often;

I

was

on

some

older

teams,

especially

later

in

my

career

in

the

win-now

situation

you

end

up

out

there.

I

was

talking

with

our

own

Scott

Braun

today

about

all

the

different

stuff

he

does:

he

has

a

different

routine

for

studio

work,

a

different

routine

for

this,

a

different

routine

for

radio.

It's

kind

of

like,

as

a

bench

player,

you

have

a

different

routine

when

you're

starting,

a

different

routine

when

you're

pinch-hitting.

When

you

get

thrown

into

the

fire

like

that,

You

don't

get

to

go

through

your

whole

pinch-hitting

routine.

Culberson

strikes

out.

I

would

call

it

a

superstition,

But

I

call

it

a

routine.

Yeah.

Routine's

right.

Yeah.

No

doubt.

It's

a

good,

tight

slider

from

Rainey.

Probably

the

one

he

wanted

to

throw

to

Albies.

Oh.

Oh.

But

he

bounced

back.

Got

Culberson

for

the

K.

Yeah.

I

don't

want

our

viewers

to

think

that

I'm

anti-slider.

I

mean,

You

have

to

do

something

to

get

them

off

your

But

I

think,

I

mean,

I

think

Rainey

just

looks

like

he

doesn't

trust

his

stuff

inside

the

zone.

It

kicked

off

Rainey's

foot

and

pinballed

to

right

field.

Donaldson

has

a

base

hit.

Bringer

of

rain

is

the

bringer

of

bruises.

That

one's

going

to

hurt.

If

so,

Could

it

rhyme

then?

Bringer

of

Rain.

There's

a

laser

to

the

middle.

Off

the

inside

of

the

ankle.

It

didn't

even

hit

the

calf.

That

had

to

hurt.

That's

a

bone

bruise.

No

doubt.

You

see

the

trainers

out

pretty

quickly.

I

think

he's

all

right.

That

won't

hurt

till

tomorrow.

That's

going

to

hurt

as

soon

as

he

gets

in

the

dugout

when

the

adrenaline

wears

off.

Nick

Markakis

is

coming

up.

All

right.

Let's

see

if

we

can

get

four

at-bats

with

four

balls

over

miles

an

hour.

No.

He

said

he

was

fine.

We'll

see.

That's

right.

Have

a

day.

Nick

Markakis:

single,

double,

sac

fly.

All

right.

Randy

looks

fine.

This

is

the

incredible

thing

to

me

about

Nick

Markakis.

He's

closing

in

on

hits.

He'll

get

there

next

year.

But

his

career

stats:

His

career

batting

average

is

This

year,

It's

His

career

on-base

percentage,

is

This

year,

It's

He's

just

so

stinking

consistent.

OPS

is

actually

up

this

year

compared

to

the

rest

of

his

career,

See

how

close

those

numbers

are.

He's

just

having

another

career

year

because

every

year

is

a

career

year

for

him.

He's

so

steady,

so

consistent.

He

hits

line

drives

to

all

fields.

Weakly

to

short.

Turner

steps

on

the

bag

and

fires

to

first

for

the

double

play.

The

Braves

get

one.

Ozzie

Albies

leads

off

the

seventh

with

his

blast

of

the

year.

The

Braves

are

all

smiles

as

we

get

up

and

stretch.

Mike

Soroka

against

Max

Scherzer.

Scherzer

won

the

battle

on

Sunday.

And

Soroka

outdueling

Max

Scherzer,

the

three-time

Cy

Young

Award

winner.

We

go

to

the

second

inning.

And

Scherzer

was

in

a

little

trouble.

This

was

the

first

trouble

we

saw.

Matt.

And

he

picks

up

three

consecutive

strikeouts.

He

does.

Max

got

out

of

trouble

his

own

way.

He

had

runners

on

first

and

second.

strikeout,

strikeout,

strikeout.

Soroka

gets

out

of

trouble

his

own

way

as

well.

And

the

way

he

does

that

is

by

getting

ground

balls.

double

play

to

bail

him

out.

He

would

get

the

next

batter

and

be

out

of

a

jam.

The

Braves

break

the

ice.

Matt

Joyce

bringing

home

Nick

Markakis

after

he

doubled.

And

then

two

batters

later,

Dansby

Swanson,

He

was

at

a

two-strike

count,

and

he

surprised

us.

Yeah,

that

was

great.

He

looked

fooled

early

on

the

count,

and

he

got

a

pitch

out

over

the

plate

and

drove

it

into

the

right-center

gap.

Great

two-strike

hit.

One

more

for

the

Braves

in

the

fifth.

Yeah,

Markakis

thought

he

had

a

ball

that

got

out,

and

thankfully

Acuna

Jr.

tagged,

and

he

scored.

And

the

Soroka

show

continues.

Soroka,

one

hit

through

six

innings.

He

started

to

pump

some

strikeouts

in.

Yeah,

He

had

four

Ks,

three

of

them

in

the

last

two

innings.

Just

impressive.

The

future

of

the

Braves

bullpen.

Ozzie

Albies.

Watch

it,

watch

it.

That's

good

enough.

He

saw

it

come

back

to

the

playing

surface

and

thought,

Am

I

good?

Should

I

stay

at

second?

No,

You

can

come

on

down.

Number

on

the

year.

He

is

having

a

dynamite

season.

From

the

second-base

position

it's

four-nothing

Braves.

We

did

see

a

little

bit

of

history

from

Max

Scherzer

at

the

bottom

of

your

screen

he

passed

David

Cone,

all-time

in

strikeouts.

But

Scherzer

went

five

innings,

gave

up

seven

hits,

three

runs

and

six

strikeouts

on

pitches.

He

was

better

on

Sunday;

this

was

not

his

best.

Yeah,

he

was

a

little

erratic

with

his

command,

but

the

stuff

was

still

there.

He's

up

to

miles

an

hour,

his

changeup

looked

good

at

times,

and,

you

know,

obviously,

Davey

Martinez

is

not

going

to

be

happy

with

the

result,

but

he's

happy

that

he

got

out

of

the

game

healthy.

Yeah,

The

Braves

really

worked

him.

We

saw

that.

In

the

first

batter

of

the

game,

Acuna

had

a

nine-pitch

at-bat,

I

believe.

He

got

him

out,

but

he

had

a

nine-pitch

at-bat.

So

he

was

grinding

it

out

all

night.

They

chased

him,

and

if

you

chase

one

of

these

three,

really

four,

stud

starting

pitchers

the

Nationals

have

and

get

into

their

bullpen

early,

you've

got

a

pretty

good

chance

to

add

on,

and

the

Braves

have

done

just

that.

Chris

Martin,

the

journeyman,

had

an

immaculate

inning

on

Wednesday.

That

means

nine

pitches,

all

strikeouts.

It

is

not

easy

to

do.

I

heard

some

unfortunate

news

about

what

happened

after

this

immaculate

inning.

I

heard

that

they

tossed

the

ball

into

the

stands,

not

realizing

what

happened.

Extremely

rare.

It's

one

of

the

rarest

feats

in

baseball.

And

to

lose

that

ball,

Chris

Martin

probably

doesn't

care

because

he's

here

for

a

pennant

race.

Since

his

trade,

He's

been

looking

to

make

his

name

as

an

Atlanta

Brave.

He

really

has

as

of

late.

His

last

seven

games,

He's

got

six

and

two-thirds

innings

pitched.

He's

got

a

WHIP

and

only

a

ERA.

He's

really

settled

into

this

sixth-

and

seventh-inning

role

that

Snitker

has

him

pitching

in

right

now.

This

guy

is

pretty

tall.

I

saw

him

down

in

the

dugout.

I'm

And

I

was,

Like,

Kind

of

looking

up

to

him.

I

mean,

He's

a

big,

Big

boy.

That

immaculate

inning

was

on

Wednesday

in

a

win

against

Philadelphia.

And

there's

a

strike

to

Soto.

Do

you

know

how

many

immaculate

innings

we

have

seen

this

season?

It's

not

as

rare

as

a

perfect

game

or

a

no-hitter.

You've

seen

some

this

year.

Can

you

give

me

a

number?

Just

give

me

a

guess.

Throw

something

out

there.

This

season.

This

season.

I'll

go

eight.

I'm

going

to

say

it's

close

to

that

high

as

well.

I'm

going

to

say

seven

just

because

of

all

the

strikeouts

this

year.

Seven.

Yes.

Wow,

Matt,

You've

read

that.

You

guys

were

both

great.

I

was

trying

to

read

Scott's

notes,

but

I

couldn't

get

over

there.

I

couldn't

read

his

chicken

scratch.

Well,

I

do

the

trick

and

scratch

on

purpose.

You

guys

saw

earlier,

Matt

is

sitting

closer

to

Scott

than

I

am.

It's

very

true.

Yeah,

So

he

definitely

saw

it.

Two

of

those

seven

immaculate

innings

came

from

Chris

Sale,

By

the

way,

who's

done

for

the

rest

of

the

year

with

an

elbow

issue.

Soto

has

reached

base

in

both

plate

appearances

with

walks,

And

now

it's

a

count.

Yeah,

Juan

Soto's

been

so

good

this

season,

And

I

think

it

has

to

do

with

an

adjustment

he

made

this

offseason

in

terms

of

attacking

non-fastballs.

Last

year

he

destroyed

fastballs

as

a

rookie.

No

sophomore

slump

in

Right,

I

think

the

league

was

getting

on

to

that,

so

they

started

throwing

him

non-fastballs

and

he

wasn't

as

good

on

those

pitches.

Against

fastballs

in

he

ranked

third

in

slugging

percentage.

He's

ninth

this

year,

so

second

overall.

Number

one

on

that

list

is

Max

Muncy

of

the

Los

Angeles

Dodgers.

I

I

mean,

that's

damage

right

there.

Sends

it

to

left,

high

in

the

air;

in

the

corner

in

fair

ground

he's

got

out

number

one.

I

have

a

feeling

that

Juan

Soto

is

a

quick

adjuster.

Yeah,

I

mean,

if

you

look

at

this,

this

is

his

Achilles'

heel.

I

mean,

he

had

a

great

Rookie

of

the

Year

campaign,

but

he

struggled

on

off-speed

pitches.

The

only

place

he

was

hot

was

up

and

middle.

But

look

at

the

adjustment

he

made

this

offseason.

I

mean,

that's

six

boxes

that

are

pretty

much

red.

I

mean,

this

guy's

made

a

great

adjustment.

He's

a

tough

out.

He

sees

so

many

pitches

per

at-bat,

and

I

think

that

has

a

lot

to

do

with

the

guy

in

the

dugout.

Their

hitting

coach

Kevin

Long

my

guy.

Yeah,

I

had

him

in

Tampa.

Sorry,

I

was

lost

for

words

for

a

moment.

But

Kevin

Long.

Kevin

Long

is

awesome.

I

had

him

in

Tampa.

I

actually

had

him

in

spring

training

for

two

years.

I

absolutely

killed

the

ball

for

them.

It

just

didn't

work

out.

I

ended

up

going

to

the

Astros.

But

Kevin

Long

has

been

a

great

guy.

He's

so

positive.

I

think

that's

the

key.

He

knows

his

stuff.

But

from

a

mindset,

he's

so

positive.

It

doesn't

matter

what

you

do

at

the

plate,

he's

going

to

make

you

the

best

you

can

be

as

a

hitter.

And

that's

what

I

think

these

young

Nationals

guys

need

his

personality,

his

work

ethic.

I

can

tell

you

many

times,

I

spent

a

lot

of

time

on

the

backfields

of

Tampa

with...

him,

Robinson

Cano,

Andruw

Jones,

we

were

hitting,

hitting,

hitting.

And

he's

just

trying

to

make

you

the

best

hitter

you

can

possibly

be

with

whatever

batting

stance

you

have.

He'll

take

a

look

at

each

one

of

his

guys.

He

says,

okay,

This

is

what

makes

him

click.

I'm

going

to

make

him

the

best

hitter

that

he

can

possibly

be.

I

was

in

Yankees

camp.

He

actually

got

me

so

locked

in

that

when

they

released

me,

I

wanted

to

retire,

but

my

swings

felt

so

good

that

I

didn't.

I

went

to

AAA

with

the

Marlins

and

killed

it.

He

got

me

absolutely

locked.

Cabrera

to

the

backhand

of

Arby's

for

the

second

out.

Kevin

Long,

Kevin

Long

and

Kevin

Sites

are

the

two

Kevins

in

the

dugouts

tonight.

The

hitting

coaches

for

both

these

teams

deserve

a

lot

of

credit.

They

have

younger

teams.

They

have

young

superstars

that

they

keep

engaged

and

earn

their

trust

right

here.

This

is

a

barrel

as

well.

Just

didn't

get

under

it.

He

didn't

launch

it

at

all;

he's

just

so

solid

on

ground

balls.

That's

probably

a

lot

to

do

with

his

work

with

Ron

Washington

on

a

daily

basis.

We're

giving

a

lot

of

coaches

a

lot

of

love

right

now.

Yeah,

a

lot

of

fans

don't

realize.

I

mean,

there's

a

lot

of

work

that

goes

into

what

makes

But

I

think

Zimmerman

lifts

it

to

center.

Acuna

Jr.

at

the

track,

and

he

stops

there

to

make

the

catch.

A

lot

of

fly

balls

dying

at

the

warning

track

tonight.

Ryan

Zimmerman

gave

that

one

a

ride.

Not

enough.

Instead,

Chris

Martin

with

a

frame

to

end

the

seventh.

So

the

Braves

are

approaching

their

second

consecutive

National

League

East

crown.

Swung,

Ground

ball,

Short

hop.

Great

time.

League

Eastern

Division

champions.

One-two

pitch

coming.

Gets

the

save.

Ball,

second.

For

the

year

Yeah.

The

Braves

know

how

to

win.

but

the...

The

last

postseason

series

win

for

the

Braves

was

for

the

Nationals/Expos

franchise.

It's

been

seasons

since

the

NLDS.

So

let's

bring

it

a

little

more

forward.

Okay?

The

Braves

and

the

Nationals

have

won

six

of

the

last

seven

division

titles

since

But

have

not

done

damage

in

the

postseason.

I

mean,

Shout-out

to

all

the

Braves

and

Nationals

fans

watching

right

now:

check

out

Walt

Weiss,

the

Braves

bench

coach.

He

played

three

seasons

for

the

Braves.

Atlanta

has

lost

nine

consecutive

playoff

rounds.

And

Washington

has

lost

in

all

four

rounds

they've

reached.

Or

four

times

that

they've

made

it

to

the

postseason

in

those

rounds

since

So

you

add

it

all

up.

And

there's

not

much

winning

in

October

for

these

teams

lately.

But

maybe

that'll

change

this

October.

Hunter

Strickland

is

getting

the

go

in

the

eighth

inning.

Matt,

you're

not

smiling

right

now.

No,

it's

shocking.

I

mean,

those

are

shocking

numbers

for

a

Braves

guy.

When

you

think

about

it,

we

love

to

make

fun

of

the

Nationals

for

not

getting

out

of

the

first

round

of

the

playoffs.

We

made

fun

of

them

about

the

Strasburg

thing;

you

picked

on

them

about

Bryce

Harper

he

was

one

of

the

most

dynamic

players

in

baseball

and

you

couldn't

get

out

of

the

first

round,

and

the

Braves

haven't

been

out

of

the

first

round

for

years.

That's

eye-opening.

And

you

think

about

that

as

an

organization.

You

think

about

what

Alex

Anthopoulos

is

trying

to

do

there

with

Brian

Snitker.

And

it's

one

of

those

things

that

kind

of

snuck

up

on

me

when

I

saw

that

number

during

show

prep

before

the

game.

I

looked

at

it

and

I

was

like,

Is

this

right?

years?

And

I

know

the

Washington

Nationals/Expos,

that

thing

is

out

there.

But

I

knew

that

was

out

there.

This

Braves

one

snuck

up

on

me.

When

you're

a

Nationals

fan,

Everything

started

in

everybody

here

is

not

from

the

Expos

era,

they

still

haven't

gotten

out

of

the

first

round

since

and

I

was

looking

at

those

numbers;

I

have

to

confess

I

was

there

for

more

than

seven

years

my

first

year

was

So

you

were

the

good

luck

charm.

I

was

the

bad

luck

charm.

It's

so

funny.

Roger

McDowell,

Edgar

Renteria,

And

I

came

in

the

same

year.

And

we

would

always

tell.

Because

we

stayed

quite

a

few

years

after.

And

we'd

tell.

They

haven't

figured

it

out

yet.

That

one

of

the

three

of

us

is

the

curse.

One

of

the

three

of

us

is

the

curse.

Maybe

then

this

is

their

year.

I

think

they

have

the

pieces

in

place

to

break

that

streak.

Definitely.

A

little

spinner

to

left.

That's

going

to

fall.

And

it's

a

base

hit

for

Matt

Joyce.

It's

his

second

of

the

night;

he's

reached

base

three

times.

You

left

the

team?

In

Yeah.

When

did

the

Braves

get

to

the

playoffs

again?

Back

in

I

was

on

that

team.

I

was

technically

on

that

wild

card

team.

We

lost

on

the

infield

fly

game.

As

we

call

it.

Then

they

went

to

They

lost

to

the

Dodgers

in

four

games.

And

then

the

Dodgers

again

in

The

way

it

matches

up

this

year,

though,

For

the

Atlanta

Braves,

They

would

not

have

to

play

the

Dodgers.

If

the

season

were

to

end

today,

They'd

play

the

St.

Louis

Cardinals.

Which

I

think

is

a

more

favorable

matchup.

But

they're

so

hot

right

now.

Too.

Who

wants

to

play

them?

They

got

a

healthy

Marcell

Ozuna.

Whoever

the

Braves

play,

It's

going

to

be

a

battle

for

them.

But

if

they

overcome

it

and

this

young

core

starts

to

pick

up

some

confidence,

That's

where

they

kind

of

make

their

name

nationally.

That's

where

'The

Beast'

will

become

a

nickname

the

whole

nation

knows

for

Ronald

Acuña.

That's

where

Dansby

Swanson

can

hit

that

oppo

ball

that

just

kind

of

solidifies

his

place

as

the

shortstop.

And

that's

where

Freddie

Freeman

can

become

that.

That's

why

Freddie

Freeman,

I

believe,

and

Anthony

Rendon,

even

though

they're

quiet

and

don't

have

social

media,

don't

have

that

national

respect.

It's

because

they

haven't

gotten

out

of

the

first

round

of

the

playoffs

in

their

careers.

I

think

winning

in

postseason

baseball

starts

to

make

you

a

household

name.

Everybody

knows

who

Derek

Jeter

is

because

of

the

career

he

had;

it's

from

his

success

in

the

postseason

with

the

Yankees.

There's

only

one

Mike

Trout.

It

doesn't

matter

what

he

does

in

the

postseason.

You're

going

to

know

him.

Yeah.

Nobody

talks

about

Trout.

Everyone's

usually

in

bed

on

the

East

Coast

when

he's

playing.

But

he's

been

great

throughout

his

career.

He's

definitely

lined

himself

up

to

get

another

AL

MVP

this

season.

Alex

Bregman

is

giving

him

a

late

run.

He's

on

a

roll

for

Houston,

too.

Tyler

Flowers

on

a

and

on

the

hands.

They

jammed

him,

and

that's

one

out,

first.

Moving

up

to

second

is

Matt

Joyce.

Dodgers

four

games

better

than

the

Braves

for

best

record

in

the

National

League,

and

they

lead

in

the

bottom

of

the

seventh

in

Queens

against

the

Mets.

Nationals

are

thinking

about

locking

down

that

first

wildcard

position.

They

lead

the

Cubs

and

the

Brewers,

and

the

Cubs

win

today,

over

the

Pirates.

Cubs

starting

a

homestand.

That's

Shane

Greene

in

the

bullpen

for

Atlanta.

Brewers

trailing

the

Cardinals

four-nothing

in

the

fourth

inning.

It's

scoreboard-watching

season.

Oh

yeah,

definitely.

I'm

doing

it

right

here.

Yeah,

the

Brewers

are

in

trouble.

I

mean,

Yelich's

injury

was

definitely

a

major

blow

to

their

chances.

But

Ryan

Braun

talked

about

it

a

little

bit,

you

know,

The

team

definitely

has

some

resolve.

They're

going

to

give

it

their

best.

But

in

my

opinion,

I

think

they're

going

to

be

in

trouble.

And

we

talked

about

it

with

Rainey

coming

off

the

field

with

the

adrenaline.

And

as

soon

as

the

adrenaline

comes

off,

That

line

drive

off

his

inner

ankle

is

going

to

hurt.

As

soon

as

the

adrenaline

of

losing

Christian

Yelich

wears

off,

It

could

be

the

end

of

the

Brewers'

playoff

run.

I

agree

with

you

there.

There's

a

lot

to

overcome

if

you're

the

Brewers.

But

this

is

a

big

one:

they

do

have

the

easiest

schedule,

I

believe,

In

the

National

League

the

rest

of

the

year.

So

the

schedule

could

come

back

to

help

them

in

a

major

way.

Healthy

hack

from

Dansby

there.

He

was

right

on

that

pitch.

Here's

your

NL

wildcard

standings.

Nationals

are

three

up

on

the

Cubs.

They

win

today.

So

they're

a

half-game

up

on

Milwaukee.

And

that'll

be

a

full

game

if

the

Brewers

fall

to

the

Cardinals.

Mets

are

trailing

at

the

moment.

against

Los

Angeles.

That

could

set

them

further

back.

This

could

be

a

very

successful

day

for

the

Cubs

because

yesterday

the

top

five

teams

for

the

NL

wildcard

all

were

victorious.

Every

team

on

that

list

won

yesterday

except

for

the

Diamondbacks

who

are

fading

out.

The

Brewers

have

certainly

been

hot.

They've

been

part

of

that

mix

for

a

while.

And

like

I

mentioned,

Their

schedule.

It's

really

easy

coming

up.

They

have

the

Cardinals

for

three.

Then

after

that,

they

have

below

teams

all

the

way

to

the

end

of

the

season.

They

have

the

Padres

for

four,

the

Pirates

for

three,

the

Reds

for

three,

and

Colorado

for

three.

Now,

no

one

wants

to

finish

a

season

at

Colorado

because

it's

just

a

different

kind

of

baseball.

But

I

think

the

Milwaukee

Brewers

wouldn't

trade

schedules

with

anyone

down

the

stretch.

I

know

the

Brewers

hitters

want

to

finish

it.

Come

on,

man.

The

Brewers

hitters

do.

But,

I

mean,

let

me

tell

you.

Get

my

batting

gloves

ready.

The

worst

thing

I

ever

did

in

Colorado

was

hit

a

triple.

I

don't

think

I

recovered

for

the

next

three

days.

Carlos

Lee

in

Houston

used

to

have

the

oxygen

tank

on

standby,

and

I

asked

the

club,

I

asked

the

trainer

if

I

could

have

that.

They

said,

No,

That's

for

Lowe's.

I'm

like,

okay.

No,

it

was

there

for

our

team

too.

The

oxygen

tank

was

always

there.

The

young

guy

wasn't

allowed

to

use

it.

Gasping

for

air.

You

had

to

bring

your

own,

apparently.

Swanson

doesn't

go

around.

That's

ball

four.

So

he

gets

first.

Joyce

is

on

second.

Heidi,

Give

us

some

more

on

the

Nationals'

remaining

schedule

and

how

October

is

going

to

look.

Well,

The

Nationals

obviously

have

this

tough

series

against

the

Braves

this

weekend

and

a

pretty

tough

schedule.

But

I

was

talking

to

F.P.

Santangelo

before

the

game,

and

he

said

the

one

team

the

Nationals

don't

want

to

face

in

the

wildcard

game

is

the

New

York

Mets.

The

New

York

Mets

are

losing

to

the

Dodgers

right

now,

but

they've

been

hot

of

late,

and

they've

got

Jacob

deGrom

who

would

go

in

that

wildcard

game.

That

would

present

a

challenge

for

the

Nationals.

He

said

they

think

they

could

handle

every

other

team

in

this

race.

but

as

you

see

here,

other

than

the

Marlins,

they're

facing

all

contenders

as

they

head

down

the

stretch

in

this

one,

guys.

Yeah,

It's

not

going

to

be

easy

for

the

Nationals

to

hold

that

number

one

spot.

That's

downstairs

to

pinch

hitter

Rafael

Ortega,

but...

For

Washington,

three

at

Atlanta,

including

tonight.

Three

at

St.

Louis,

three

at

Miami.

That's

the

break.

Five

against

the

Phillies.

There's

a

doubleheader

in

there.

And

three

to

finish

against

Cleveland.

That

could

be

like

an

interleague

playoff-ish

series

to

finish

the

year

because

the

Indians

will

be

fighting

for,

they

hope,

a

division,

but

at

the

least

a

wild

card.

Talk

about

not

playing

in

Coors

Field

during

the

season

because

it's

a

different

brand

of

baseball.

How

about

having

to

end

your

season

in

a

pennant

race

in

interleague

ball?

a

different

style

of

baseball

than

your

team's

built

for?

Yeah,

totally,

because

you

have

to

change

the

way

you

have

your

lineup.

You

know,

the

pitchers

may

or

may

not

hit.

Are

they

home

the

last

game

or

are

they

in

Cleveland?

They're

home

against

Cleveland.

Oh,

they're

home.

Okay,

so

that

would

be

a

different

dynamic.

It

hurts

them,

but

it

hurts

Cleveland.

Yeah,

Terry

Francona.

I

mean,

does

he

want

his

pitchers

going

up

to

bat?

No,

absolutely

not.

I

mean,

yeah,

it's

definitely

different.

So

here's

the

record

against

postseason

contenders.

Your

breakdown.

The

Braves

lead

this

season

series

and

you

can

see

Atlanta

has

been

successful

against

the

Cardinals,

the

Cubs.

The

Dodgers

hold

that

season

series

So

even

if

these

two

teams,

the

Braves

and

the

Dodgers,

finish

with

identical

records,

the

Dodgers

would

have

the

edge

and

home

field

advantage.

They

need

to

finish

a

game

ahead.

The

Nationals

really

struggled

against

the

Mets

this

year.

against

them.

Ortega

fouls

that

back.

It's

two

and

two.

If

you

look

at

that

and

that

record,

that's

kind

of

where

the

NL

East

was

won:

the

Mets.

The

way

the

Braves

handled

the

Mets,

the

Mets

were

owned

by

the

Braves

this

year,

and

the

Nationals

were

bad

against

the

Mets.

So

the

Braves

won

this

division

against

the

Mets

this

year.

Really,

when

you

look

at

that

head-to-head

schedule,

I

would

like

to

reach

out

to

Braves

fans

who

when

I

still

picked

the

Dodgers

to

win

the

National

League

pennant.

And

they're

like,

you're

not

giving

us

our

love.

I

just

want

to

point

out

that

the

Dodgers

were

above

against

the

Braves

and

the

Nationals,

right?

It's

not

that

I

don't

want

the

Braves

to

win

the

National

League

pennant.

I

just

think

the

Dodgers

are

really,

really

good

again.

They

were

backing

it

up.

Yeah,

I

mean,

you

weren't

far

off.

I

mean,

it's

showing

you,

too,

they're

going

to

have,

like,

the

best

record.

I

mean,

it's

been

insane

what

they've

been

able

to

overcome

despite

some

of

the

injuries

they've

had

as

well.

A

little

nervous

about

the

pitching,

right?

Ryu

hasn't

looked

like

Ryu.

Yeah,

very

nervous.

Kershaw's

had

a

couple

tough

ones.

Looks

like

he

must

have

been

doing

pretty

good

tonight

in

that

game

with

their

lead

over

the

Mets.

Ortega

smacks

it

to

the

right

field

corner,

and

he's

in

business.

This

should

score

two

for

Ortega.

It's

going

to

stop

at

second.

And

it'll

end

up

scoring

one

for

Atlanta.

The

lead

is

Joyce

comes

in,

Swanson

held

up

at

third.

That

was

a

good

hold,

given

who's

coming

up;

definitely

a

good

hold.

They're

going

to

close

play,

but

you've

got

the

beast

coming

up

here

we

go.

We

converted

it;

RBI

double

for

Ortega.

That

was

ripped

down

the

right

field

line.

Ripped

down

the

right

field

line.

Anytime

a

catcher

goes

to

raise

his

glove

on

a

two-seamer,

that's

not

a

good

spot.

Right

there

Yan

Gomes

goes

to

raise

his

glove

just

a

little

bit.

He

gets

the

head

out

and

whips

it

into

the

corner.

This

was

an

absolute

missile.

It

almost

hit

too

hard

to

score

two

runs.

If

he

had

hit

a

little

softer

and

let

it

rattle

around

the

corner

a

little

longer,

He

probably

would

have

gotten

both

runs

home.

Yeah.

But

Dansby

was

moving

the

whole

way.

It

was

a

hard

stop.

That's

how

you

want

to

run

the

bases.

Dave

Martinez

is

going

to

make

a

double

switch.

Hunter

Strickland's

day

is

done.

Again.

Unsuccessful.

So

two

of

his

last

three

appearances

have

not

gone

well.

Strickland

pitched

a

scoreless

seventh

inning

in

last

night's

win

against

Minnesota.

But

before

that,

On

Saturday

against

Atlanta,

He

allowed

three

runs,

Two

homers

in

his

one

inning

of

work.

He

leaves

this

game

with

a

mess

on

his

hands.

Javi

Guerra

is

going

to

enter

the

fold.

Braves.

They're

out-hitting

the

Nationals

have

we

emphasized

that

enough—the

Nationals

have

one

hit

tonight.

I

think

it's

the

extra

three

hours

of

sleep.

Nats

got

in

at

a.m.

Braves

got

in

at

a.m.

So

they

got

to

close

their

eyes

a

little

bit

longer

than

the

Nats

did;

it's

a

good

call.

That's

helpful.

Isn't

it?

Oh,

Certainly.

Three

hours

versus

six

or

seven.

The

Nationals

sent

Max

Scherzer

ahead

today.

He

flew

in

yesterday

afternoon.

So

he

had

his

normal

rest.

But

in

terms

of

the

offense,

when

you

see

a

clunker

like

this,

You

have

to

tip

your

hat

to

Soroka

first.

First

and

foremost,

The

kid

pitched

amazingly

well.

But

when

an

offense

like

the

Washington

Nationals

manages

just

one

hit,

you

also

look

for

other

reasons.

And

here's

the

thing:

the

visiting

club

is

probably

still

out

in

the

field

stretching.

So

they're

probably

like,

What

is

going

on?

This

guy's

running

towards

the

turtle.

The

beast

is

up

here,

guys.

See

if

we

can

cement

his

nickname.

At

least

his

YouTube

nickname.

That's

right.

Two

in

scoring

position

for

Ronald

Acuna

Jr.,

Rafael

Ortega

on

second.

And

we

just

saw

Swanson

on

Third.

New

pitcher

Javi

Guerra

and

a

new

first

baseman.

It's

Howie

Kendrick

replacing

Ryan

Zimmerman

on

the

double

switch.

Garrett

pitched

a

scoreless

inning.

Here's

Kendrick.

Scoreless

inning

in

the

ninth

last

night

from

Garrett

in

Minneapolis.

ERA

close

to

five

in

appearances

this

year.

Good

take.

Acuna

Jr.

with

a

single

back

in

the

fifth

and

he

scored.

This

ball

is

just

at

the

top

of

the

zone.

Maybe

a

strike

earlier

in

the

game.

Maybe

not,

but

I

think

the

beast

is

looking

to

eat

right

here.

He

certainly

was,

Justin.

He

was

swinging

out

of

it.

You

know.

He

blows

a

bubble

most

times.

I

don't

know

if

he

has

his

gum

in

his

mouth

right

now.

By

the

time

his

bubble

popped,

He

was

swinging

on

that

one.

He

had

made

up

his

mind.

He

was

not

taking

that

pitch.

I

like

to

tell

my

team,

the

Midnight

Valley

Red

Sox.

You've

got

a

hitter's

count.

Don't

be

tardy

to

the

party.

Be

on

time,

and

he

was

definitely

on

time

there;

the

pitch

was

a

little

down

and

he

couldn't

quite

get

to

it

strike

three

on

a

nasty

sinker,

the

ball

ran

in

on

his

hands

as

he

chased

the

last

two

pitches.

I

would

really

like

to

get

to

home

runs.

Yeah.

He's

definitely

had

the

big

on

his

mind

there.

Ozzie

Albies

hit

a

home

run

his

last

trip

to

the

plate.

He's

three

for

four

tonight.

He

is

sizzling.

First

base

is

open.

And

guess

what?

He's

going

to

get

it

for

free.

An

intentional

walk.

You

don't

need

to

pitch.

And

Charlie

Culberson

is

in

the

three

spot

tonight

because

he

replaced

Freddie

Freeman.

Yeah.

You've

got

to

put

the

Nats

killer

on

there.

He's

been

torching

them

late.

Well,

Freddie

Freeman

was

pulled

mid-game

today.

That's

right.

Not

a

day

off

he

was

pulled

mid-game

right

before

we

went

on

air

with

Brian

Snitker.

He

has

elbow

soreness.

It's

in

his

right

elbow.

that's

what

I

believe

we

heard.

And

to

me,

that's

a

swing.

So

I

think,

you

know,

we

saw

that

with

Matt

Adams.

Yep.

They're

checking

him

out.

I

think

they're

going

to

get

an

MRI.

They're

worried

about

it

Freddie

Freeman's

right

elbow.

Could

have

been

those

check

swings

too

in

those

first

two

uncomfortable

bats

against

Scherzer.

Maybe

that

pitch

down

that

he

cricketed.

Yes.

Yeah.

That

changeup.

It

was

a

wicked

googly.

It's

a

cricket

term.

Well,

it

could

be

concerning

news

for

Braves

fans.

Obviously,

they're

able

to

play

it

very

safe

with

Freddie

leading

up

to

the

postseason

because

the

Braves

are

well

on

their

way

to

clinching

a

division

championship.

But

Freeman's

missed

one

game

all

year.

Last

year

he

played

in

all

You've

got

to

imagine

they're

going

to

give

him

a

little

bit

of

a

breather

now.

If

they

win

this

game,

what

would

that

be,

nine

and

a

half

in

the

division?

That's

right.

I

would

not

anticipate

him

playing

tomorrow.

But

if

I'm

a

Braves

fan

and

I

don't

see

Freddie

Freeman

in

the

lineup

on

Sunday,

I

start

to

worry

because

I

know

how

much

pride

he

takes

in

playing

every

day

and

toeing

the

line

every

day

and

being

there

with

his

guys

every

day.

So

Sunday's

a

day

game.

If

they

happen

to

win

tomorrow

and

go

out

by

even

more,

maybe

Snitker

can

tie

him

down,

but

if

I

don't

see

him

Sunday,

I'm

gonna

start

questioning

things.

Guerra,

though,

does

his

job,

picks

up

the

strikeout.

And

the

Braves

lead

it,

five

runs,

hits.

The

Nationals

have

just

one

hit

so

far

tonight

against

Atlanta

pitching.

Time

now

for

this

stat

in

baseball

history.

Marvelous

player.

You

know

what

time

it

is

Number

Who

has

saves.

He

comes

out

of

the

Angels'

pen.

Now

he

must

face

the

dangerous

Suzuki.

Angel

fans

are

hoping

to

see

history

on

this

September

evening.

Rodriguez

with

the

pitch.

Swung

on.

Chopper

up

the

middle.

Rodriguez

has

it.

He

gives

it

to

Wood.

And

they

get

the

first

out

of

the

ninth

inning.

And

here

is

Valentin

now.

The

slider

struck

him

out.

One

out

away

from

history.

Wouldn't

it

be

special

to

do

it

with

a

strikeout?

The

only

man

that

matters

is

at

the

plate:

Raul

Ibanez.

Swung

on

him.

He

struck

him

out.

The

single-season

save

record

belongs

to

Frankie

Rodriguez.

He

nails

down

number

on

September

Move

over

Bobby

Thigpen.

Frankie's

in

town.

We're

on

the

precipice

of

history.

Mariano

Rivera

taking

over,

Yankees.

Will

he

be

Mr.

Willie

Mopena

will

leave

things

up

here

at

the

bottom

of

the

ninth.

The

pitch.

He

struck

him

out.

Swinging,

one

away.

There's

Kyle

Seager.

Swing

and

a

miss.

And

he's

one

out

away

from

save

number

Left-handed

hitter

Dustin

Ackley,

the

winning

run

pitch.

On

the

second.

In

time.

Victor

Robles

gets

a

knock

and

that

skips

Past

Markakis.

Robles

can

fly.

He's

going

to

end

up

at

second.

If

that

ball

had

more

mustard

on

it,

It

could

have

turned

into

an

inside-the-park

home

run.

Marquez

recovers

quickly.

I'd

say

we

can

give

him

a

pass.

He

hasn't

done

much

in

left

field.

He's

looked

pretty

good

out

there

tonight.

Yeah,

He

got

a

good

jump

on

that

ball.

But

it

just

sank

too

early

off

the

end

of

the

bat

from

Robles

on

the

slider.

But

he

had

a

good

read.

It

just

got

past

him.

Lead-off

double

for

Robles

off

Shane

Green.

Yeah,

Topspin

lob

right

there.

It

skips

on

the

ground

underneath

the

glove.

Robles

does

not

think

he

has

a

hit.

He

thinks

it

might

be

caught.

He'd

probably

be

on

third

if

he

didn't

loaf

around

first

for

a

second.

Again,

it's

five-nothing.

You're

probably

not

going

to

risk

getting

thrown

out

at

third

with

nobody

out.

But

he

might

have

been

standing

there

if

he'd

hustled

out

of

the

box.

So

if

you're

Dave

Martinez,

are

you

going

to

say

anything

to

him

tonight?

Maybe

not

this

game

considering

the

circumstances,

but

I

think

he

definitely

thought

it

was

an

out

off

the

bat.

That's

to

third,

Donaldson

on

the

move.

Ideally,

yes

you

do

want

to

hustle

at

all

times.

I've

been

guilty

of

that

many

times:

you

hit

a

scorching

ball,

you

think

it's

right

at

them,

then

they

don't

make

the

play

and

everyone

wonders

why

you

weren't

at

third;

they

won't

do

that

to

a

slow

guy

one

advantage

of

being

slow

in

baseball

is

that

no

one

expects

you

to

get

to

third.

When

you

hit

a

triple,

It

was

a

big

deal.

That's

a

bonus.

When

you

didn't

end

up

on

third,

Everyone

was

mad

at

you.

What

happened?

What

were

you

doing?

Yeah.

Justin,

With

great

speed

comes

great

responsibility.

Yeah,

I

remember

one

time

I

got

pulled

from

a

game

in

A-ball.

Sorry,

My

team,

if

you're

listening

at

home,

don't

do

this.

But

I

hit

a

fly

ball,

I

thought

it

was

gone,

I

took

my

time

running.

It

wasn't

gone.

I

was

gone

for

the

rest

of

the

game.

Get

out

of

there.

Yeah,

I

mean,

Always

hustle,

kids.

I

tell

my

team,

too,

You'll

never

get

yelled

at

for

hustling.

There's

no

one

who's

going

to

be

like,

why

are

you

running

so

hard?

Like,

no

one

will

ever

tell

you

that.

Shane

Green

with

the

Braves.

He

was

with

the

Tigers

earlier

this

season.

Traded

at

the

deadline.

He

has

not

been

the

same,

but

he's

been

better

lately.

A

scoreless

eighth

inning.

And

the

Braves

win

on

Wednesday

was

the

last

time

that

we

saw

him.

When

you

look

at

Shane

Green's

stuff,

I

mean,

You

saw

that

sinker

there.

The

ball

moved.

I

think

the

Braves

did

a

great

job

acquiring

this

guy

when

they

did;

he

was

on

a

team

that

was

essentially

going

nowhere.

They

elevated

him

to

a

playoff

team

with

a

great

fan

base.

I

know

Shane

Greene

has

decided

to

wear

a

Braves

uniform

right

now

instead

of

a

Tigers

uniform.

They

acquired

him,

and

he

struggled.

That's

very

obvious.

But

in

the

last

games

he

has

excelled.

His

WHIP

is

with

a

ERA

in

innings

pitched.

He

struck

out

He

only

walked

three.

It

was

a

hard

landing

for

almost

all

three

of

their

big

reliever

acquisitions

at

the

break.

But

Snitker

has,

to

his

credit,

found

where

they

all

fit;

I

would

have

never

thought

at

the

trade

deadline

that

Melancon

would

emerge

as

the

closer

of

those

three.

But

he

truly

has.

He

went

around.

Tim

Timmons

at

first

base.

I

think

that

call

had

to

do

more

with

the

body

movement

than

the

barrel.

This

is

a

hard

call

to

make.

That's

about

even

with

the

front

edge

of

the

plate.

Right?

What's

the

rule?

If

it

breaks

the

plane

of

the

front

of

the

plate,

That's

a

swing?

I've

heard

different

rules

on

that.

It's

pretty

much

if

the

first-base

umpire

feels

like

the

batter

made

an

attempt

to

hit

the

ball,

which

is

every

time

I

stepped

in

the

batter's

box.

It's

a

ball

for

swinging.

To

me

that's

a

tough

one

to

take,

but

that's

quite

the

grab

from

Charlie

Culberson

at

first

base

looking

like

the

Gold

Glove

player

he

replaced,

Freddie

Freeman;

Culberson

makes

the

second

out

and

shows

his

versatility,

playing

shortstop

and

first

base

with

some

great

stops

tonight.

Zim's

made

a

couple

of

nice

plays.

Charlie's

been

thrown

into

the

fire

like

we

talked

about

before.

That's

a

great

play.

Looks

like

Tim

Bogart

is

out

of

this

game.

I

have

to

imagine.

Usually

when

an

assistant

coach

is

yelling

like

that,

it

means

he's

already

been

running.

Dave

Martinez

is

bringing

him

back.

A

call

to

the

dugout.

A

new

first-base

coach.

I'll

just

see

who

gets

the

call

here.

Chip

Hale.

The

bench

coach.

Taking

over.

Chip

looks

thrilled

to

be

putting

on

the

helmet.

Former

Diamondbacks

manager.

Now

he's

going

hat

under

the

hard

hat.

Bogart

might

have

a

much

bigger

melon

than

Chip

Hale

does.

Yeah,

I

don't

think

the

club

fitted

Chip

Hale

for

the

little

skullcap

for

the

season.

I

didn't

really

expect

him

to

be

out

there

at

first

base

at

any

time.

My

paths

have

crossed

with

that

man

quite

a

few

times

and

every

time

I

walked

away

very

glad

I

had

a

conversation

with

him.

He

is

a

baseball

guy.

This

was

the

actual

toss.

It

looked

like

Tim

gave

him

fair

warning.

He

said,

Don't

say

anything

again.

And

he

did.

He

said

the

magic

word.

He

said

'go,'

which

was

'anything'.

We

slept

three

hours

tonight.

I

need

a

nap.

I'm

tired.

Tim,

see

ya.

Go

sleep.

Hindsight.

I'm

wondering

if

Bogart

wishes

he

had

done

that

in

the

second

inning.

Now

we've

seen

these

Nationals

come

back

from

a

monster

deficit

just

recently.

It

was

two

Max

Scherzer

starts

ago.

He

left

the

game

late.

It

looked

very

bleak

against

the

Mets

and

they

came

all

the

way

back.

And

I

was

here

for

that

game.

Last

week

on

Tuesday.

Down

six

runs

in

the

ninth

inning.

They

won

in

walk-off

fashion.

Kurt

Suzuki

with

the

three-run

home

run

off

Edwin

Diaz.

Although

they

lost

the

next

day.

How

much

momentum

do

they

have?

Only

as

much

as

your

next

day

starting

pitcher.

That's

why

baseball

is

such

a

beautiful

game.

Anything

can

happen

on

any

given

day.

They

can

have

a

stacked

lineup.

But

if

you

don't

put

the

ball

in

play,

if

you

don't

score

runs,

if

you

don't

pitch

well,

you

don't

win.

So

I've

been

hearing

lots

of

complaints

about

the

Chicago

Cubs

not

being

able

to

score

runs,

especially

getting

hits

with

runners

in

scoring

position

with

two

outs.

I

scored

today.

That's

why

the

wild

card,

to

me,

is

literally

a

wild

card.

Like

one

game,

I

don't,

The

Nationals

should

win

that

wild-card

game

if

they're

the

one

seed

and

hosting.

You've

got

Max

Scherzer

on

the

mound.

But

just

say

it's

the

Mets.

Then

you

got

Scherzer

to

Grom.

Just

say

it's...

Just

Milwaukee.

And

Mike

Moustakas

decides

to

hit

two

bombs.

Anything

can

happen.

As

a

fan,

I

am

so

happy

that

they

implemented

that.

It

makes

it

so

exciting.

Two

teams

battling

it

out

for

their

lives

tomorrow

in

one

game.

It's

going

to

be

interesting

to

see

if

we

get

to

the

wildcard

without

having

a

this

year.

I

hope

not.

I

love

Evan

Longoria

does

as

well.

Turner,

on

the

ground,

sharply

to

Albies.

That's

going

to

do

it

for

the

eighth.

On

to

the

ninth.

He

said

last

year

he

had

so

many

injuries.

He

was

traded

to

the

Indians.

He

was

trying

to

come

back

from

the

injuries.

So

he

took

a

gamble

on

himself.

He

signed

that

one-year

million

deal.

He

is

poised

to

make

a

big

payday

this

offseason

after

showing

he

is

healthy

and

can

return

to

MVP-caliber

form.

If

you

look

here,

This

is

the

hot-corner

comparison.

We're

looking

at

two

of

the

best

third

basemen

in

the

league

right

now,

and

both

as

we

talked

about

earlier.

both

MVP

candidates.

Anthony

Rendon,

leading

all

of

MLB

with

a

average

heading

into

this

game,

homers.

RBIs.

Both

of

these

guys

are

poised

to

make

big

paydays

because

they're

both

free

agents

after

the

season.

That's

true.

Donaldson

fouls

the

first

pitch

back,

and

he'll

be

an

older

free

agent

than

Rendon.

Rendon

is

viewed

as

the

top

position

player

available

this

offseason.

Nationals

fans

have

been

chanting

"Sign

this

man"

all

year

long,

and

it

has

not

happened

yet.

At

this

point,

it

looks

like

he'll

have

a

shot

to

talk

to

all

teams.

Donaldson

rips

a

hit

into

right

field.

And

that

is

his

second

of

the

night.

That's

his

third

time

reaching

base.

He

continues

to

really

light

up

the

baseball

for

Atlanta.

This

goes

back

to

that

June

game

we

were

talking

about.

But

Donaldson

Rendon

If

you're

talking

about

the

Nationals,

You

know

who

else

could

be

a

free

agent?

Steven

Strasburg.

He

can

opt

out

of

his

contract

or

stay

in

for

four

years

and

million

more.

Based

on

the

landscape

of

the

free-agent

market,

it

looks

like

he

can

command

more

than

that.

There

are

eight

or

nine

teams

that

look

like

they'll

go

after

Gerrit

Cole.

Newsflash,

Only

one

of

them

is

going

to

land

him.

Then

Strasburg

would

be

the

next

best

candidate.

That's

an

interesting

twist.

So

if

you're

the

Washington

Nationals,

you

played

it

out

last

year

with

Bryce

Harper.

Nobody

covering.

That's

Kendrick.

Good

recovery.

He

gets

it

to

Guerra.

He

played

the

whole

season

out

last

year

with

Bryce

Harper.

They

didn't

get

anything

for

him.

He

didn't

sign

back

with

you.

You're

playing

the

whole

season

out

this

year

with

Anthony

Rendon.

He

signed

somewhere

else.

They

didn't

get

anything

for

him,

and

potentially

Steven

Strasburg.

If

you

lose

those

three

guys

in

a

two-year

span,

That

would

be

horrid.

It

would

be

tough

to

weather

that.

Look

at

this

play

from

Kendrick.

Late

coverage

from

Guerra

just

in

time.

Yeah,

I

don't

know

how

many

times

Howie

Kendrick

did

P.F.

That's

pretty

great.

Pretty

good

didn't

crash

immediately,

getting

off

the

bag.

I

think

he

thought

he

could

get

to

the

ball,

and

then

the

ball

just

went

farther

than

he

thought

it

could.

Adam

Duvall

is

the

pinch

hitter.

Yeah,

But

back

to

what

you

were

saying,

I

mean,

I

know

all

the

Washington

Nationals

faithful

want

Rendon

to

be

wearing

a

curly

W

next

season.

I

mean,

essentially,

you

know,

when

you

look

at

this

ballpark,

they

have

to

have

him.

I

mean,

he's

been

so

great.

He's

a

homegrown

guy.

They

don't

want

to

lose

another

homegrown

guy

like

they

did

Bryce,

but

he's

the

one

guy

that

they

would

want

to

keep.

I'm

not

privy

to

any

of

the

contract

stuff,

and

I

haven't

heard

any

rumors

about

it,

but

I

would

be

shocked

if

they

haven't

offered

him

Arenado

money.

Eight

years,

million

for

Arenado

signed

last

winter.

And

he

is

their

Arenado,

right?

I

mean,

he

is

their

guy,

their

third

baseman,

their

middle-of-the-order

bat,

their

year-in

and

year-out

guy.

His

numbers

are

comparable.

You

have

to

use

numbers

that

factor

in

Coors

Field.

OPS

Plus,

which

uses

ballpark

factors

and

the

league

effect.

But

Rendon

is

right

up

there,

if

not

better

than

Arenado.

Arenado

probably

has

the

glove

advantage,

but

this

guy

can

pick

it

at

third

as

well.

Certainly

can.

Yeah,

I

mean,

he's

going

up

against

Arenado

every

year.

Since

we're

talking

about

him,

Rendon

with

a

smile.

The

other

part

of

Heidi's

report

was

Josh

Donaldson,

the

guy

standing

there

on

second

base

right

now,

and

he's

an

interesting

case

as

well.

Every

free

agent

in

the

world

thanks

him

very

much.

Because

no

one

wants

to

miss

out

on

the

next

Josh

Donaldson,

you

wouldn't

give

them

a

second

year

or

whatever.

So

he's

had

a

great

year

for

himself

and

for

older

free

agents.

I

love

what

he

has

done

this

year.

He

was

the

original

launch

angle

king.

He

figured

out

the

pitchers

were

throwing

a

lot

of

sinkers

and

sliders

down

in

the

zone

and

figured

out

a

way

to

elevate

them

with

the

uppercut

swing.

I

realized

watching

Cody

Bellinger

last

year,

probably

from

afar

while

he's

on

the

bench.

I

don't

know

how

he

realized,

but

he

has

made

an

adjustment

and

he

is

getting

on

top

of

pitches.

That

ball

he

hit

to

right-center

field

just

a

minute

ago.

The

single

he

hit

this

inning

was

a

pitch

that

most

people

quote-unquote

"launch-angle"

guys

can't

get

to.

And

he

has

taught

himself

this

year

to

get

on

top

of

that

pitch.

It's

an

adjustment

I

haven't

seen.

He's

the

first

one

of

those

guys

to

make

the

adjustment

that

I've

seen.

Yeah,

He's

very

meticulous

with

his

craft.

He

studies

it.

He

makes

sure

his

body

is

in

the

right

position.

You

can

see

him

all

the

time

on

deck.

He'll

be

doing

moves

where

he

does

a

thing

called

scapular

loading.

He

likes

to

load

his

scapula.

And

then

it

helps

him

get

his

body

in

position

to

get

underneath

and

on

top

of

the

baseball.

I

have

try

to

load

their

scapulae.

They

don't

have

the

scapular

development

yet,

and

so

I

try

to

explain

to

them

that

this

guy,

Josh

Donaldson,

was

an

unbelievable

high

school

hitter,

went

to

Auburn,

was

an

unbelievable

college

hitter.

And

he

is

on

that

next-level

stuff;

you

can't

do

what

Josh

Donaldson

is

doing

because

you

haven't

done

what

he

did,

right.

And

the

thing,

too,

with

that,

I'm

pretty

sure

when

Josh

was

coming

up,

when

he

was

a

younger

guy,

he

was

just

hunting

the

baseball.

He

probably

wasn't

even

thinking

about

what

his

body

was

doing.

He

was

just

trying

to

hit.

I

don't

know.

He

might

have

always

had

scapular

strength.

He

was

a

late

bloomer,

though,

Donaldson.

Not

an

instant

success.

Flowers

whiffing

on

the

Gara

slider.

Yeah,

it

took

him

some

time

to

get

going.

But

once

he

found

himself

in

Oakland,

I

mean,

he's

taken

off,

minus

last

year's

injury.

I

mean,

he's

been

on

that

upward

slope.

Flowers

is

down

on

strikes.

So

the

leadoff

hit

for

Donaldson,

and

then

Gara.

He

retires

the

next

three.

And

look

at

the

two

third

basemen

chatting

as

if

they

knew

we

were

talking

about

them

on

YouTube.

On

to

another

third

baseman.

Manny

Machado

has

an

arch

enemy.

His

name

is

Blooper.

He's

the

mascot

of

the

Atlanta

Braves.

And

here's

your

explanation.

There

are

many

joys

in

the

game

of

baseball,

but

few

things

compare

to

a

mascot's

antics.

The

mascot

here

in

Atlanta

is

Blooper.

You

guys

said

you

were

lukewarm

on

Blooper.

Does

this

change

your

mind?

Playing

the

game

with

Blooper

of

the

Braves?

Braves.

You

know

what?

Blooper

does

a

pretty

good

job.

The

last

thing

you

want

to

do

is

challenge

Derek

Deeker

to

juggle.

Blooper

and

Padres

superstar

Manny

Machado.

Hey,

Manny.

Your

autograph.

You're

a

star.

Can

I

get

your

autograph?

I

love

this.

I'll

just

sign

right

there

on

the

dotted

line.

Thanks

so

much.

He

signed

him

a

check

for

million.

Go,

go.

Manny

Machado

and

Blooper,

They

continue

their

antics.

This

time,

He

takes

back

his

million

check

from

Blooper.

And

then

brings

it

out

for

Bryce

Harper

Day.

It's

the

same

stick,

but

with

a

different

thing.

Oh,

wait,

no,

Bryce,

wait.

He's

making

it

rain.

Blooper's

making

it

rain.

If

he

can

get

Vlad

Guerrero

Jr.

to

use

that

little

mini

bat

that

he

was

swinging

a

little

bit

earlier.

I

give

credit

to

the

players,

too.

Imagine

the

PR

staff

comes

over,

hey,

would

you

do

this

thing

with

Blooper?

I

mean,

you're

entitled

to

say

no.

That's

great.

So,

yes,

The

Braves

have

done

a

nice

job.

Get

out

of

here.

The

Braves

have

done

it.

I'm

trying

to

do

a

serious

hit.

Stay

on

your

ground,

Bernie.

Stay

on

your

ground.

You

got

to

give

Blooper

some

credit

here.

Come

on,

Blooper.

Blooper

is

having

a

year.

So

when

I

did

my

research

and

my

prep,

like

Matt

talks

about,

I'm

looking

up

all

of

Justin's

articles

and

numbers

in

the

past.

And

I

found

an

article

that

had

him

talking

about

how

he

watches

videos

of

his

Grand

Slams

on

YouTube.

Everyone

has

those

dig

Blevins

records

the

strikeout.

Here

comes

Anthony

Rendon,

tonight.

Now

Blevins

is

the

guy

the

Nationals

wish

they

had

in

the

bullpen.

This

is

the

lefty

specialist

they

don't

have.

Lefties

are

hitting

just

against

him

this

season,

with

two

extra-base

hits

in

plate

appearances.

They'll

leave

him

in

against

the

righty

Rendon,

with

the

lefty

Soto

on

deck.

He's

definitely

built

to

get

lefties

out;

he

can

be

effective

against

righties.

He's

just

got

a

little

bit

more

of

a

nibble.

He's

got

to

be

very

careful

in

the

zone

to

righties.

But

you

mentioned

it:

if

the

Nationals

make

the

playoffs.

The

only

lefty

who

would

likely

be

on

their

postseason

bullpen

roster

is

Doolittle.

Right.

And

that's

if

healthy.

So

that

could

be

a

huge

deterrent

to

them.

It

could

affect

them

advancing

past

the

first

round

this

year.

You've

got

to

have

those

matchup

guys.

And

there's

your

lefty-lefty

matchup.

Soto

against

Blevins.

Soto

does

not

mind

lefties.

One

or

two

hits

make

that

tonight

for

Washington.

Robles

with

a

double

back

in

the

eighth.

Adam

Eaton

doubled

in

the

fourth.

Their

staff

has

done

a

great

job

tonight,

keeping

this

Nationals

lineup

at

bay;

this

would

be

the

tenth.

That's

the

tenth

win

for

Atlanta

in

games

against

the

Nationals.

Two

more

to

go

in

this

season

series.

This

is

where

the

Nationals

are.

Every

baseball

fan

can

see

how

great

Juan

Soto

is.

He's

facing

a

tough

lefty-lefty

matchup.

He's

staying

poised.

Not

chasing.

He's

staying

with

his

approach.

He's

not

getting

too

big

for

the

moment.

He's

having

a

great

at-bat

again.

Sent

to

left.

Markakis

gives

it

a

look.

It's

going

to

punch

off

the

wall.

Soto

trucking

for

second,

And

he's

in

there

with

a

double.

That's

just

unbelievable.

We've

picked

a

little

bit

on

Wade

Boggs

and

his

superstitions

today,

on

Friday

the

But

one

thing

he

always

said

was

never

to

give

away

an

at-bat.

It's

Two

strikes

here

in

the

last

inning,

And

Juan

Soto

just

stays

on

a

lefty,

Lefty

fastball

and

just

drills

it.

I

mean,

you

saw

splits

earlier

they're

pretty

even

on

both

sides;

it

doesn't

matter

who

goes

on

the

mound,

he's

going

to

break

you.

I

mean,

that

ball,

I

think

he

almost

knocked

down

the

wall.

Love

it

when

young

players

play

the

game

the

right

way

hustle

out

of

the

box,

got

the

double

even

though

it

bounced

right

to

Markakis.

Didn't

give

away

an

at-bat.

They're

a

little

different

than

the

guy

we

saw

in

Cleveland

who

walked

to

the

dugout

after

a

ground

ball

to

the

pitcher

the

other

day.

He

did

walk

to

the

clubhouse

after;

I

don't

know.

Frank

Kona,

to

his

credit,

met

him

there

and

had

the

dog

right

then

and

there.

Oh,

for

Puig.

Yes.

Yes.

Pretty

good

chopper

back

to

the

pitcher;

he

just

turned

and

walked

to

the

dugout.

Did

you

see

Dylan

Bundy,

I

believe

it

was,

last

night?

He

did

not

cover

home;

two

runs

scored

on

a

wild

pitch.

Can't

remember

the

last

time

I

saw

that.

It

was

fun

to

point

out

things

done

well.

Good

job,

Soto.

Yeah,

my

mom

actually

told

me

that

today

when

I

saw

her,

and

she

said...

Yeah,

He

came

out

of

the

game

right

after

that.

Is

that

coincidence

or

is

that

his

pitch

count?

I

think

it's

more

so

a

coincidence.

No

balls

and

two

strikes,

says

Asdrubal

Cabrera.

He

represents

the

last

chance

at

the

moment.

The

Nationals,

at

home.

Second

place

team

in

the

NL

East.

First

wild-card

seed.

That

lead

is

going

to

shrink

tonight.

As

you

can

see,

Staying

at

second

is

Soto.

The

Nationals.

We'll

just

have

a

two-and-a-half

game

lead.

Game

edge

over

the

Cubs

for

their

first

wild

card.

I'm

sure

the

Nats

would

love

to

be

hosting

that

wild

card

game.

It's

going

to

be

a

fun

two

weeks

to

the

finish

line.

Yeah,

And

it's

two

different

mentalities

going

forward.

I

think

after

the

Braves

clinch,

they'll

be

able

to

ease

up

a

little

bit,

But

the

Nationals

have

to

keep

their

foot

on

the

pedal

from

here

on

out

against

a

difficult

schedule

to

finish

the

year.

The

game

is

over.

miles

an

hour.

And

in

the

eighth,

Rafael

Ortega.

That's

good

exit

philosophy

right

there.

Yeah.

Take

a

rip

at

that

ball

down

the

line.

Tough

pinch-hit

at-bat.

Something

the

Braves

will

need

in

the

postseason

because

pinch

hitting

is

a

commodity

that's

very

hard

to

come

by.

You

think

of

him

and

Matt

Joyce;

both

could

be

in

those

pinch-hit

roles.

They

have

a

very

deep

bench.

Jerry

Blevins

in

this

one.

Sharpie

with

the

breaker.

High

fives

and

hugs.

It's

over.

The

ninth

inning.

Ended

just

as

Snitker

wanted

it

to.

Get

Blevins

in

the

game.

One,

two,

three-inning.

Get

out

of

here.

Nice

and

quick.

Braves

five.

Nationals

nothing.

Atlanta

with

win

number

on

the

year.

The

Nationals

drop

to

and

Nick

Markakis

had

a

day,

two

for

four.

Very

nice

defensively

for

most

of

the

night.

He's

consistent.

He's

reliable.

He'll

move

positions

when

he

comes

back

from

the

injured

list.

Matt,

You

know

they

love

him

in

that

clubhouse.

Yes,

He's

the

definition

of

a

steady

leader.

He

doesn't

get

too

high.

He

doesn't

get

too

low.

He

would

have

given

the

same

interview

if

they

had

won

and

he

had

nothing

to

do

with

it

tonight.

I

promise

you.

He

would

move

positions

if

he

made

three

errors

tonight.

He'd

try

it

again

tomorrow

if

he

thought

that

would

help

the

team.

This

is

the

epitome

of

a

teammate.

We've

all

played

with

those

kind

of

guys.

Now

we're

watching

one

here

with

Atlanta.

Nick

Markakis

is

a

big

reason

why

the

Braves

locker

room

is

the

way

it

is,

and

now

he's

a

big

reason

why

they'll

be

that

way

on

the

field.

Justin,

He

didn't

just

come

back.

He

came

back

squaring

up

baseballs.

Straight

away

from

the

first

pitch.

He

came

back

on

fire.

I

mean,

I

don't

think

he

missed

a

barrel

once.

His

first

at-bat,

miles

per

hour,

almost

decapitated

Scherzer

there.

And

then

we

got

another

ball

in

the

gap,

miles

per

hour

that

Robles

misread

because

it

had

too

much

juice

on

it.

And

then

the

sac

fly

here,

the

one

he

thought

he

got,

his

softest-hit

ball

of

the

night

that

almost,

almost.

hit

the

wall

he

got

to

run

in.

But

for

this

guy

to

come

back,

it's

such

a

huge

boost,

and

he

did

it

with

the

glove

as

well;

he's

not

a

one-dimensional

player,

he's

a

complete

baseball

player.

And

from

what

you're

saying,

he

seems

like

a

complete

individual,

a

guy

the

Braves

want

and

need

down

the

stretch,

and

I

know

that

Brian

Snitker

and

the

rest

of

the

Braves

faithful

are

happy

to

have

him.

I

feel

like

he's

going

to

receive

many

calls

and

texts

from

players

he

knows

around

Major

League

Baseball

going,

"Hey,

how

do

you

beat

Max

Scherzer?"

Not

just

players,

But

even

advanced

scouts

from

potential

wildcard

opponents

of

the

Washington

Nationals.

Anyone

who

wants

to

hit

Max

Scherzer

needs

to

call

Nick

Markakis,

because

nobody,

nobody

has

at-bats

and

hits

off

him.

And

he

knows

it.

I

mean,

To

see

a

guy

that

many

times,

He

knows

how

he's

going

to

attack

him,

and

it

never

hurts

to

have

success

as

well.

Yeah.

Wow.

What

a

performance

from

Markakis.

And

for

Max

Scherzer,

This

was

not

as

good

as

what

we

saw

from

him

on

Sunday.

His

fastball

was

not

producing

much

swing

and

miss

from

the

Atlanta

Braves

lineup

tonight.

He

just

wasn't

sharp.

He

had

his

velo.

We

talked

about

that.

Early

in

the

game.

We

saw

his

velocity.

But

he

wasn't

able

to

put

batters

away

because

he

wasn't

spotting

it

where

he

wanted.

Watch

the

catcher's

mitt

move

all

over

the

zone.

A

little

bit

in.

A

little

bit

out.

Just

missed

a

spot

here.

And

the

Braves

hitters.

You

have

to

give

them

credit.

They

were

able

to

work

him.

Grind

him.

And

chase

him

after

five

innings.

Once

you

get

Max

Scherzer

out

of

a

ball

game.

When

you're

playing

the

Washington

Nationals.

You

have

a

chance.

Yeah.

After

he

came

out

in

the

fifth.

The

Braves

scored

two

runs

in

the

last

four

innings.

It's

scary

to

think

that

if

the

Nationals

can't

get

Max

Scherzer

into

the

sixth

or

seventh

inning.

They

don't

really

have

a

chance

to

win.

And

when

you're

in

that

one-game

wild

card,

It's

really

tough

to

do.

If

you

can't

stretch

out

Scherzer...

I

hate

to

say

it,

He

needs

a

complete

game.

If

they

want

to

win,

You

really

don't

want

to

tap

that

bullpen.

But

it

was

good

to

see

him

back

healthy

again

as

well.

I

know

Davey's

encouraged.

I

know

he

wanted

to

win

this

game

tonight.

But

to

get

him

out

there

healthy

and

see

that

velocity

up

to

I

think

it

puts

him

a

little

bit

more

at

ease.

What

do

you

think?

I

absolutely

think

Max

Scherzer's

health

is

moving

forward.

The

pitching,

of

course,

is

going

to

follow.

It's

Max

Scherzer.

He's

the

most

competitive

guy

in

baseball.

The

good

news

for

the

Nationals

is

if

for

some

reason

over

the

next

couple

weeks,

You

don't

feel

confident

in

Max

Scherzer.

You

do

have

some

other

horses

in

the

stable.

That's

right.

Strasburg's

a

big

deal.

Patrick

Corbin's

been

pitching

very

well

for

this

club.

Very

effective

in

throwing

everything

over

the

plate

today.

Didn't

fall

behind

much.

Attacked

the

strike

zone

with

everything.

His

changeup

was

really

good

today.

Kept

us

off

balance.

I

think.

Well.

Eaton

was

the

only

guy

that

got

a

hit

off

him.

We

hit

some

balls

hard,

But.

I

mean.

He

was

good.

You

saw

Tim

Bogar.

You

usually

don't

see

that

from

Tim.

Yeah.

He

just

got

a

little

irritated.

We

didn't

think

he

swung.

Tim

said

he

did.

I

think

more

that

Tim

tried

to

keep

Howie

in

the

game

because

Howie

said

something.

So

he

defended

him.

Yeah.

I

mean.

It's

a

tough

call.

It

really

is.

Just

got

to

watch

the

barrel.

You

know.

I

mean.

That's

the

key.

I

mean.

You

know.

Your

hands

can

go

out

front.

but

the

barrel

doesn't

pass

the

line

there,

and

it's

not

a

swing.

You

know.

But

it's

tough.

I

mean.

You're

standing

feet

and

trying

to

make

a

call

like

that.

I

appreciate.

You

know.

Rob

not

calling

that,

That's

for

sure.

Behind

the

play.

Because

that's

even

tougher.

Only

one

hit

for

the

Nationals

against

the

Braves

rookie

in

six

innings.

He

was

excellent.

Pinpoint

command.

Pinpoint

command

today.

And

he

was

just

he

was

Mike

Soroka.

What

else

can

you

say?

He

pitches

his

way

out

of

jams,

not

necessarily

the

same

way

Max

Scherzer

does,

but

by

inducing

weak

contact

right

there.

Right

there.

Zim

could

not

get

the

head

out,

jams

him

just

enough

off

the

end

of

the

bat.

Missing

barrels

is

what

Mike

Soroka

does.

and

he's

efficient

that

way.

He

doesn't

have

to

go

deep

into

counts

to

do

this.

But

then

as

the

game

wears

on,

He

almost

gets

stronger.

And

he

just

starts

ripping

off

strikeouts

later

in

the

game.

He

only

had

one

strikeout

in

the

first

three

innings.

Really

one

in

the

first

four

innings.

and

then

he

struck

out

a

ton

as

the

game

moved

on.

I

think

he

struck

out

one

or

more

an

inning

from

then

on.

I

mean.

He

had

at

times

a

Greg

Maddux-esque

backdoor

sinker;

he's

got

great

stuff.

And

I

think

the

best

part

about

him,

He

has

great

poise.

He

doesn't

seem

like

he

gets

rattled.

especially

with

his

ERA

being

so

low

on

the

road.

He

rises

to

the

occasion.

If

you

have

wins

or

more

and

a

ERA

in

the

last

years

in

the

National

League

All

of

the

names

on

that

list.

One

Rookie

of

the

Year

in

the

NL.

Soroka

probably

is

not

going

to

win

Rookie

of

the

Year.

There's

a

giant

behemoth

of

a

first

baseman

in

New

York

that's

not

going

to

let

that

happen.

He's

a

polar

bear.

He

is

a

polar

bear.

Like

a

man-made

polar

bear?

I

mean,

I

don't

know.

He

is

the

polar

bear.

Pete

Alonso

is

having

a

great

rookie

year.

Soroka,

in

any

other

year,

Absolutely.

I'm

going

to

fight

this

tooth

and

nail.

But

when

you're

leading

Major

League

Baseball

in

home

runs

and

carrying

a

team

on

your

back

offensively.

Pete

Alonso

is

probably

the

Rookie

of

the

Year.

So

what

is

it

with

the

NL

East

and

these,

like,

animal

acronyms?

I

mean,

nicknames.

Nicknames.

Yeah,

We

got

the

beast,

And

we

got

the

polar

bear.

Jeff

McNeil

is

the

squirrel.

I

mean.

Flying

squirrel.

We

need

a

nickname

for

Mike

Soroka.

I

don't

think

he

has

one

yet.

But

the

lowest

single-season

road

ERA

since

He's

got

that

number

down

to

a

tidy

Roger

Clemens

in

with

a

mark.

I

don't

even

know

what

Greg

Maddux

was

doing

in

that

man

was

a

monster

on

the

road,

got

the

job

done

and

did

it

also

the

year

before

in

But

keep

in

mind

Soroka

is

a

rookie;

yes,

these

players

were

not

rookies

when

they

did

that.

To

me

that's

what

stands

out

especially

a

rookie

on

the

road

playing

at

a

higher

level

than

he

does

at

home.

Yeah,

yeah,

it

shows

a

lot

about

the

Braves

organization.

If

they're

able

to

develop

guys

at

such

a

great

rate,

they

can

come

and

be

poised

at

the

big-league

level.

It

shows

a

lot

about

the

Braves.

Yeah.

And

the

Rays

take

the

lead.

Tampa

Bay

actually

won

games

last

year.

It

was

not

enough

to

make

it

to

the

playoffs.

This

year,

it's

a

three-team

race

for

two

American

League

wild-card

spots

between

Oakland,

Tampa

Bay,

and

Cleveland.

It's

going

to

be

a

fun

battle

between

the

Rays

and

the

Dodgers.

For

the

Dodgers.

They

can't

let

up

yet

because

they

want

to

lock

down

home

field

advantage

in

the

National

League

and

have

a

better

record

than

Atlanta.

That's

number

one.

Number

two,

what

they're

working

on

is

a

postseason

game

plan,

especially

with

their

pitching

staff.

We

talked

about

this

a

little

bit

during

the

broadcast.

Hyun-Jin

Ryu

has

fallen

off.

Some

pitchers

have

faded

a

bit

for

them.

Some

are

emerging,

too.

like

Tony

Gonsolin

and

Dustin

May.

They're

going

to

try

and

figure

out

how

the

puzzle

pieces

fit

together.

Yeah,

and

playing

an

opponent

like

Tampa

Bay,

who's

all

in,

gives

you

a

really

good

look

at

what

a

postseason

game

could

look

like.

Tampa

Bay

is

playing

for

their

playoff

lives.

And

to

be

honest

with

you,

Dave

Roberts

and

the

Dodgers

have

got

to

be

utterly

annoyed

with

Brian

Snitker

and

the

Braves.

They

could

not

get

any

separation

from

them

whatsoever.

The

Dodgers

have

been

the

class

of

the

National

League

all

year

long,

but

the

Braves

just

won't

go

away

and

let

them

have

home

field

advantage.

I

think

it...

I

don't

know.

I

mean,

if

I'm

the

Dodgers,

I

focus

on

home

field

before

I

get

ready.

But

that's

what

I

would

do.

Yeah,

I

think

the

Rays

have

the

advantage

in

this

one

because

they're

playing

every

game

essentially

like

it's

a

playoff

game.

And

if

the

Dodgers

come

in

and

they

get

a

taste

of

that

Florida

sunshine,

they

want

to

relax

a

little

bit,

they

can't

because

Kevin

Cash

has

his

guys

ready

to

play

good

big

league

baseball.

They

have

the

second

wild

card

at

the

moment.

This

is

going

to

change

a

million

times

probably

over

the

next

couple

weeks.

The

A's

are

in

the

one

spot

and

the

Indians

are

one

game

out.

They

didn't

play

tonight.

Their

game

against

the

Twins

was

postponed.

So

going

back

to

the

Atlanta

Braves,

they

have

a

nine

and

a

half

game

lead.

They

win

this

one

They're

somewhat

in

cruise

control

for

the

division

crown

as

they're

going

to

get

there,

but

they

are

chasing

that

Dodger

team.

We'll

just

wait

and

see.

How

nice

was

it

to

see

that

bounce

back

from

Soroka

tonight?

Oh,

man,

that

was

awesome.

You

know,

I

think

I

talked

Mike

Soroka.

Soroka

is

the

sniper.

He's

great

on

the

road.

No

one

really

knows

he's

coming

in.

He's

very

quiet.

He

just

deals.

He

just

cuts

you

up.

You're

done.

That

backdoor

sinker.

That

backdoor

sinker.

You

don't

even

see

it

coming.

And

you're

out.

Yeah.

My

main

takeaway

from

today:

The

NL

East

is

over.

The

NL

East

is

over.

This

is

a

must-sweep

for

the

Washington

Nationals.

This

is

a

wild-card

team

right

now.

Yeah.

I

agree.

I

think

it

started

down

in

Atlanta.

I

mean.

I

thought

the

Nats

had

to

get

all

four

of

those

at

SunTrust

Park.

And

they

only

got

one.

And

they

didn't

get

it

here

tonight.

And

I

think

the

Braves

are

sitting

pretty

for

that

NL

East

crown,

to

put

another

little

pennant

thing

up

in

their

stadium.

That's

right.

I'm

not

there.

So

there

should

be

one.

Yeah.

Very

nice.

Very

nice.

Now

they're

chasing

the

Dodgers.