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ATLANTA — There are collapses, and then there’s what the Atlanta Braves just endured on Thursday. Up six runs heading into the ninth, cruising with what felt like a sealed sweep-avoidance win, they somehow managed to let it all slip — and the Arizona Diamondbacks made sure it stung.
Eugenio Suárez, who’d earlier struck out to kick off the ninth inning, returned with two outs and two men on to lash a two-run double into the left-field corner. Just like that, a 10-4 Braves lead had morphed into an 11-10 Arizona win. You could hear the gasps from Cobb County to Copper Square.
One for the Ages
This wasn’t just another late-inning meltdown. This was statistically absurd. Prior to Thursday, the Diamondbacks had lost 418 consecutive games when trailing by six or more runs in the ninth. MLB teams? They were 0-for-1,461 in such scenarios since May 2022. The Braves, meanwhile, had won 766 straight games when holding a lead that large entering the final frame.
Manager Torey Lovullo watched the madness unfold with something close to disbelief.
“I was like a proud dad,” he said. “Just watching a bunch of Little Leaguers out there — having the time of their lives, refusing to quit.”
That wasn’t coach-speak. It was a genuine gut reaction to a moment that felt plucked from fiction.
A Nightmare in Real Time for Atlanta
It began harmlessly enough — Suárez struck out. Then Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered. Tim Tawa walked. Alek Thomas launched another one. Suddenly, it was 10-7. Alarm bells started to ring.
Scott Blewett, who opened the inning, couldn’t stop the bleeding. Brian Snitker turned to Raisel Iglesias, expecting the veteran closer to steady the ship. What he got instead was a four-hit blitz that ended with boos cascading from every direction.
Corbin Carroll doubled. Marte legged out an infield RBI single. Geraldo Perdomo flied out, but Vargas roped a sharp single to left to trim it to 10-9. And with two on, Suárez came back to finish what he couldn’t start.
“After Carroll doubled, I looked around and thought — this might really happen,” Suárez admitted postgame. “We had our best guys coming up. We believed. Simple as that.”
Braves Blame Game
Raisel Iglesias, now with four blown saves on the season, has surrendered runs in eight of his last eleven outings. The Braves bullpen — once a strength — has morphed into a flaming question mark.
On offense, they showed signs of life: Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, and rookie Drake Baldwin all went deep. Twelve hits, eight for extra bases, should have been enough. But when it came to closing the door, they simply crumbled.
The game ended with Marcell Ozuna hitting into a double play. Fans filed out shaking their heads — some silently, others not so much.
Diamondbacks Rediscover Their Mojo
For Arizona, this wasn’t just a win. It felt like a reawakening. They’d dropped 9 of 10 in late May, limping into June at 27-31. But after sweeping the Braves and winning four in a row, the Diamondbacks are back at .500 and very much alive.
Tim Tawa put it best: “That inning… it was like something out of a movie. We just kept passing the baton.”
No one knows if this wild rally will spark a summer run, but for now, the desert heat is rising — and Arizona’s belief is burning brighter than ever.
Credit: ESPN
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