A failed suicide squeeze ran the Braves out of a golden alternative Thursday in what finally turned a mistake-filled extra-innings loss to the Mets.
Outfielder Ramon Laureano — who later overran Jeff McNeil’s walk-off single within the 3-2 loss — was caught between third base and residential plate after Jarred Kelenic didn’t try and bunt on a pitch means out of the zone, leading to Laureano being tagged for the second out in a tied sport within the tenth inning.
“I don’t know what that was, fairly truthfully,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned when requested about Laureano’s learn. “You’re going to should ask them. I didn’t have something. We usually don’t bunt in that state of affairs however I used to be making an attempt to attain a run, and we had two fairly good hitters developing, I believed.
“That’s unacceptable.”
Laureano and Kelenic tried the squeeze play seemingly on their very own with one out and a runner on third base, with Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna, and Matt Olson to observe.
Kelenic squared up earlier than Mets reliever Phil Maton launched the pitch and Maton launched a excessive and out of doors pitch that may have been fairly troublesome — if not inconceivable — to put down a good bunt.
Nevertheless, with a security squeeze, it’s on Kelenic to at the very least try and make contact to stop his runner from being caught in no-man’s land, which is strictly what occurred.
“I feel it’s fairly easy,” Kelenic mentioned, per MLB.com. “I feel I’ve acquired to swing the bat there. I used to be making an attempt to do an excessive amount of. I feel that’s all there’s to it.”