The Atlanta Braves were just a handful of outs away from going down 2-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Then, Austin Riley saved the day.
The Braves third baseman launched a two-run go-ahead homer off Phillies' Jeff Hoffman to give Atlanta its first lead of the series, 5-4, at the bottom of the eighth. Truist Park erupted into pure pandemonium, as a quick panoramic shot revealed Braves fans across all levels of the stadium literally leaping out of their seats and pumping their arms to cheer on Riley's home run trot.
The Braves would hold onto that lead until the end of the game and narrowly dodge a two-game hole to their NL rivals.
After a sluggish start from Max Fried and an ugly 4-0 deficit going into the late innings, that Riley homer was music to the Braves' ears.
This is what it sounds like to be a Braves fan:
Braves' Austin Riley hits thunderous game-winning homer to tie NLDS against Phillies
Later in the game, Riley also made a clutch throw to complete a crazy game-ending double play that started with Michael Harris II's running catch into the wall at center field.
Thanks to Riley's and Harris' heroics, the Braves skate past the thin ice that was an early exit in the MLB postseason. Determined not to make the same mistakes in last postseason's upset against the Phillies, the Braves snatched one back in the nick of time. The NLDS is now tied 1-1.
The Braves will now head to Philly to play Game 3 of the best-of-five division series, where they will hopefully stop playing catch-up and start dominating like they have done for the entire regular season.
