In a brutal postseason moment for the Braves, disaster struck during an already painful first inning. With two outs and one runner on third, the Braves looked close to stopping the bleeding. The count ran up, and then a swing and a miss on a breaking ball should have ended the inning. Instead, the pitch kicked away from catcher Brian McCann. The runner scored easily. McCann scrambled to recover but slipped, then threw too late to first. The batter reached safely on the strikeout, and the inning kept going.
The play summed up the Braves’ meltdown. McCann’s slip and rushed throw added to the chaos. The opposing bench looked unsure whether to celebrate or stay quiet. Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong immediately urged the batter to run, and he made it without much effort. It was a small moment, but it piled onto a huge, demoralizing inning. Braves fans had already seen nine runs cross the plate. This just made it worse.
There’s no big takeaway here other than pain for Atlanta. A strikeout should have ended the nightmare. Instead, it turned into a run and another chance for more damage. The camera flashes to McCann sitting afterward, visibly frustrated. It’s not often a strikeout can feel like a gut punch, but this one did.