Freddie Freeman asserts his NL MVP status with Game 1 walk-off (Video)
By John Buhler
Freddie Freeman just proved once again why he is the NL MVP favorite.
Freddie Freeman delivered the only run of Game 1 in incredible walk-off fashion.
The Atlanta Braves played an incredible pitchers’ duel with the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon. Trevor Bauer and Max Fried were sensational, as were both clubs’ bullpens. Runs were impossible to be had and strikeouts were ever-present. Then in the bottom of the 13th inning, the NL MVP frontrunner delivered the game-winning base knock to give Atlanta a 1-0 series lead.
https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1311408065321861123
Will this walk-off be the catalyst to the Atlanta Braves finally advancing?
This was one of those games you love to win but hate to lose. Even though Bauer and Fried each gave their teams seven incredible innings, the bullpen was taxed. Though runners were on base all the time in extra innings, nobody could put a run across until Freeman plated rookie Cristian Pache, who came on to pinch run for the savvy hitter that is Nick Markakis after his leadoff single.
Atlanta now has two games to win one to advance in a postseason series for the first time since 2001. Not since the Braves got past the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2001 NLDS has Atlanta won a postseason series or an NL Wild Card game. They have lost their last nine postseason series and dropped the 2012 NL Wild Card game that is infamous for the worst infield fly rule call of all time.
Interestingly enough, the Reds have not advanced in the postseason since 1995. They lost in the NLCS that year to none other than the Braves. Cincinnati hasn’t had a postseason series victory since getting past the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1995 NLDS. Now down 0-1 after a crushing extra innings defeat, the Reds may not have enough gas to respond after falling in this one.
Related Story. Trevor Bauer and Max Fried stage old-fashioned pitching duel. light
This game between the Braves and the Reds went to some degrees as you would have anticipated. Both clubs were incredibly tight at the plate, as good pitching dominated great hitting. There were more strikeouts in this game than the Reds’ four-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series. The difference on Wednesday was the certain NL MVP winner.
It may not seem like much, but this may very well be the greatest moment of Freeman’s career.