The start of Game Five of the St. Louis Cardinals-Atlanta Braves National League Division Series went historically poorly for the Braves. The Cardinals wound up sending 14 batters to the plate and scoring 10 runs, a MLB postseason record for the most runs in a first inning (and tied for the most runs in any postseason inning).
St. Louis started the inning with Dexter Fowler earning a walk off Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz, then Kolten Wong laying down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Fowler to second. Paul Goldschmidt then singled, and Marcell Ozuna drove in Fowler with another single, putting runners at first and second. Things then really went wrong on a fielding error by first baseman Freddie Freeman on a grounder by Yadier Molina. That loaded the bases with one out instead of ending the inning with a double play:
After that, Foltynewicz walked in a run by walking Matt Carpenter, and Tommy Edmund hit a two-run double to make it 4-0. The Braves then intentionally walked Paul DeJong to set up a possible double-play and brought in Max Fried in relief, but Fried then walked pitcher Jack Flaherty to score another run. Fowler then hit a two-run double to make it 7-0.
Wong doubled to score two more runs, and while Goldschmidt lined out, the Cardinals added one more run when Wong scored on a wild pitch/dropped third strike to Ozuna that Atlanta catcher Brian McCann wasn’t able to recover in time.
The Braves were finally able to escape the inning when Molina grounded out. But that was still a record-setting disaster, and they weren’t able to score any runs themselves in the first or second (while St. Louis added another one in the top of the second). So it’s 11-0 in the third now, and things aren’t looking good for Atlanta.
[MLB.com]
