Braves closer grabs memorable souvenir
After the Braves took a ninth-inning lead over the Dodgers in their 5-1 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS on Monday night, closer Mark Melancon began warming up to come in the game in the bottom half and preserve his team's lead. But Atlanta wasn't done yet. They wanted
After the Braves took a ninth-inning lead over the Dodgers in their 5-1 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS on Monday night, closer Mark Melancon began warming up to come in the game in the bottom half and preserve his team's lead. But Atlanta wasn't done yet. They wanted more.
Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and then Marcell Ozuna singled him in to make it 3-1. OK, maybe that was it. A two-run lead was a good margin for a veteran closer like Melancon. But again, nope. The Braves were hungry for runs.
Ozzie Albies stepped up to the plate with Ozuna on base and, finally, he gave the signal that the Braves were ready for Melancon to come into the game: He crushed a two-run dinger over the left-field wall right into the closer's glove, almost saying, "The ball is yours, Mark. Come finish this." It's one of the coolest things you'll ever see.
Every closer should be called into the game by a guy hitting a homer to them while they're warming up https://t.co/VF8WoZYsoR pic.twitter.com/3jgj37nlDu
— Matt Monagan (@MattMonagan) October 13, 2020
Although it wasn't a save situation any longer, Melancon came into the game and protected the four-run lead -- getting the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Matt Monagan is a writer for MLB.com. In his spare time, he travels and searches Twitter for Wily Mo Peña news.
