Do you like baseball? I mean, do you really, really like baseball? Because if you do, then yesterday's NLDS Game 4 between the Astros and Braves was for you. The game went eighteen innings -- that's the equivalent of an entire game of free baseball.
The game finally ended on a homerun by Chris Burke in the bottom of the 18th off of relief pitcher Joey Devine. The homer put the Astros over the Braves, 7-6, eliminating the Braves from yet another post-season.
On the last at-bat of the game, Braves catcher Brian McCann (who hit a homerun earlier in the game, his second of the series) set up his glove as a target, low and on the outer half of the plate. But Devine missed the target considerably, letting the pitch come to the inside half of the plate, belt high. Burke pulled the ball hard, up and over the leftfield wall. Game over.
I was curious, did the Braves intend to throw the pitch to a weak spot in Burke's plate coverage and miss to a strong spot? Consulting ESPN.com/Inside Pitch Scouting Services, the Braves original intent was to throw to an area of the strikezone where Burke hits pitches for a .263 average, and the pitch got away from them to an area where Burke hits .250. Not really a glaring mistake on their part (though it does look like high fastballs are definitely a weakness).
However, if you take a look at Burke's Spray Zone, almost 50% of the pitches Burke puts into play he pulls to the left side of the field. It's possible that the Braves were pitching to an area of the strikezone that is not conducive to pulling the ball. Maybe the Braves were attempting to force Burke to do something he has a hard time doing, take a pitch the other way.
Whatever the case, it was a dramatic finish to a great game of baseball. Even if you don't really, really like baseball, surely you must agree with that.
