Luke Jackson came in to close the game with the Braves holding a narrow lead. Things got rocky fast. The first batter hit a soft grounder to Josh Donaldson, who made the play, but the umpire missed the call and ruled the runner safe. Next batter hit another weak contact grounder that just slipped through the infield. Then came an accidental bunt that popped up but still managed to sneak over everyone’s heads. Just like that, Jackson had bases loaded with no outs and almost no hard contact against him.
With the game on the line, Neil Walker stepped up. He hit a ball to shallow right field that looked like a routine flyout, but Cole Person not only made the catch, he fired a perfect throw to the plate to nail the runner trying to tag up. It was a textbook “janitor throw” — a crow hop into a full-effort heave that cleaned up the mess. The Braves got the second out out of nowhere. Jackson then settled in and got the final out to escape the inning untouched.
What could have been a meltdown turned into a highlight thanks to solid defense and a clutch throw. Bases loaded, no outs, and the Marlins came away with nothing.