Mark Melancon is a magician for catching Ozzie Albies’ homer on the fly

Ozzie Albies rocked a home run into the bullpen exactly where closer Mark Melancon was warming up for the Braves

Mark Melancon was just minding his own business in the Braves bullpen, warming up before an expected save opportunity in the ninth inning of the NLCS.

Then Ozzie Albies let him know, in the most spectacular of ways, that his services would not be necessary by hitting a lead-extending home run right into the bullpen.

Not to be shown up, the closer casually reached up and caught the home run, securing one of the highlights of the postseason for the Braves.

Melancon didn’t even need to move to catch the thing.

How cool is that?

Ozzie Albies’ ninth-inning home run made Mark Melancon’s job a lot easier.

Even before Albies got a hold of that pitch, the ninth inning had been extremely kind to the Braves. Austin Riley broke the deadlock with a 448-foot bomb to start the inning. Then Ronald Acuña Jr. scored from third base on a Marcell Ozuna single.

When Albies stepped up to the plate Atlanta had a 3-1 advantage. His home run gave the Braves a bit of extra cushion at 5-1.

Melancon came in to pitch without a save on the line, but he got the job done either way. All three batters he faced grounded out.

Atlanta grabbed hold of a 1-0 lead in the seven-game series against the Dodgers but they won’t have much time to savor it. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday with successive games following with no days in between.

Los Angeles, having suffered their first loss of the 2020 playoffs, will turn to Clayton Kershaw in their bid to even up the series by Tuesday night. Ian Anderson is on tap to face him for the Braves.