Braves starter Ben Sheets took the mound around 12:43 p.m. this afternoon. Emotions rode high, he knew what was coming after his appearance. First batter, struck him out looking. Second batter, grounded out to shortstop. Third batter, Pirates star centerfielder Andrew McCutchen, swung for strike three. Sheets pumped his fist as he headed to the dugout, a smile on his face, then the emotions ran over.
Cameras caught Ben Sheets in tears, obviously knowing that his career was over tore him up. Players surrounded him, shook his hand and gave him hugs to help console him. He seemed satisfied though, he gave it his all. Heck, he came back after multiple surgeries and having two years off to help the Braves win the wild card. He finishes the season with a 4-4 record and a respectable 3.47 ERA. Not bad for a guy who was just playing catch with his little boy a few months ago.
Even better, the Braves won Sheets' last game, 4-0 over the Pirates Wednesday afternoon, which also happened to be Chipper Jones' final regular season game. He singled and scored in his pinch-hit appearance for the final at-bat of his career. He will have at least one more game though when he plays on Friday in the wild card game.
The Braves used 8 pitchers in the 4-hit shutout of the Pirates. Reliever Luis Avilan picked up his first major league win. Jason Heyward and Brian McCann led the offense with two hits apiece, Dan Uggla also added an RBI single in the 4th inning. Seeing signs of life from the offense was a good sign for manager Fredi Gonzalez and the Braves.
The Braves will play the St. Louis Cardinals in the one game wild card playoff on Friday night at 5:07 p.m. at Turner Field. Kris Medlen will get the ball for the Braves and Kyle Lohse will start for the Cardinals.
No comments:
Post a Comment