Freeman puts Braves in playoffs
This time, the Atlanta Braves held on to their lead and locked up a playoff trip with time to spare.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to put Atlanta back in the postseason with a 4-3 victory vs. the visiting Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
Freeman’s drive off Mike Dunn clinched at least a National League wild-card berth for the Braves, who squandered a big lead in the wild-card race with a huge collapse last September.
“They took the attitude last year to try and hang on,” Chipper Jones said. “This year we took the bull by the horns. We’re shooting for the stars. We’re still shooting for the division until they close us out.”
Jones, who plans to retire at the end of the season, led off the ninth with a double. He moved to third on a wild pitch by Dunn and scored when Freeman’s 22nd homer cleared the center-field wall.
“There was never any doubt,” Jones said during the clubhouse celebration. “We knew that last year was somewhat of a fluke.”
WBC tweaks:
It seems appropriate that the folks who run the World Baseball Classic chose a pitcher and a catcher to participate in Tuesday’s unveiling of the tournament’s sites and dates.
Players at those positions are the first ones to arrive at spring training, and early preparation seems to be a key in the quadrennial event.
The third edition of the WBC — the bane of traditionalists who favor old spring training routines but the darling of fans in other baseball-loving countries — will begin in Japan and Taiwan on March 2 before the second half of the first round gets going in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Phoenix area March 7.
Organizers announced tweaks to prevent too many off days, though the changes might not appease those who criticize the tournament for exposing players — particularly pitchers — to intense competition before they’re physically ready.
Japan has won both WBCs, and South Korea advanced to the semifinals both times and the final in 2009.
Next year’s event will have the USA lumped with Mexico, Italy and a qualifier in Pool D in what looks like perhaps the weakest group.
The top two finishers from each pool advance to the second round, at the Tokyo Dome and Marlins Park in Miami.
The final four teams will advance to the single-elimination semifinals March 17 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The title game is scheduled for March 19 at AT&T Park. Baker on mend:
Dusty Baker won’t manage the Cincinnati Reds until the final series of the regular season at the St. Louis Cardinals, giving him time to recover from an irregular heartbeat and ministroke that left him hospitalized last week.