Game Day: Braves 5, Rays 5

[Photo courtesy of Joe Kimple.]

The Braves battled from behind to tie the mighty Rays, 5-5, in a rematch Saturday afternoon at Water Tower Park. (Earlier this season, the Braves beat the Rays in a tense 4-3 thriller.)
If I told you Chris Pritchard led the team effort, you might assume Chris had a couple of mighty clouts. But Chris' magic today came from his quickness and his golden arm.
After the Rays took a 1-0 lead in the first, Matt walked with two outs in the top of the second inning, stole second and third, and scored when Ryan pounded a double to left field.
In the third, the Braves went up 3-1 after Connor singled in Scott, and Jason doubled Connor home. The Braves might have stretched the lead further in the 4th, but Jack was thrown out at home on a very close play.
With a few big hits and aggressive base running, the Rays opened up a 5-3 lead. Runs for the Braves were looking scarce, because the talented Rays are loaded with quality pitchers. So the Braves manufactured some offense.
In the top of the 6th and final inning, Jason walked, and Chris singled to left field. Both runners moved up on passed balls. then Jason scored on a wild pitch with 1 out to cut the Rays' lead to 5-4.
As Coach Dave pointed out after the game, the speedy Jason scoring on a passed ball isn't a big surprise. But Chris moved to third base on the same play, and scored on another passed ball to tie the game.
Chris took the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning, striking out the first two batters (one looking, one swinging) before inducing the dangerous Chris Siebert to fly out to Evan at in foul territory near first base.
You may ask: Why a tie game? The rules of our league stipulate a maximum of 6 innings, no matter where the score stands. That'll change for the playoffs.
While we're on the subject of Chris, kudos to him for fine defensive plays, too: He caught a deep fly ball to center field by the powerful Brandon Turer in the third inning, and speared a hard liner while playing shortstop in the 5th.
Next practice: 5:15 p.m. Sunday (June 28) at Atwater in Shorewood.
Next game: 6:30 p.m. Monday (June 29) vs. the Cubs. Plan to have your Brave at Water Tower by 5:45 p.m. that evening.