Photo by Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsMatt Olson Just Did That to a Two-Time Cy Young Winner's Closer
Walk. Homer. Walk-off. The Tigers had Tarik Skubal on the mound for seven innings of domination and the Braves said cool, we'll take the ninth.
Matt Olson just hit a walk-off two-run homer off Kenley Jansen.
In the ninth.
Against a team that had Tarik Skubal — two-time Cy Young winner — dealing for seven innings. Seven strikeouts. Zero walks. The man was untouchable.
Didn't matter.
Because Olson doesn't care about your starter. Olson cares about the guy you send out to finish. And Jansen walked Albies on four pitches and then threw a cutter that didn't cut. One swing. Left field. Ballgame.
Seven innings of brilliance. Zero outs from the closer. One swing from the first baseman.
The disrespect of it.
Skubal might be the best pitcher in the American League right now. He was the best pitcher on the field tonight by a mile. Left with a 3-2 lead and seven dominant innings and got a no-decision because his closer couldn't record a single out. Not one. Jansen faced two batters. Walked one. Gave up a bomb to the other. Night over.
Baseball is cruel. Baseball is hilarious. It is both of those things simultaneously and Matt Olson is the punchline.
Here's what people forget about Olson: the man has played 782 consecutive games. Seven hundred and eighty-two. He doesn't miss. He doesn't sit. He doesn't need a maintenance day. He shows up, he stands in the box, and sometimes the ball leaves the park. Nine times this April, to be exact.
Batting .306. Year four of the $168 million deal. The same contract everyone questioned when Freddie left. Fifty-four homers in 2023 shut that conversation up. But the last two years have been quiet enough that Olson fell out of the national conversation entirely.
Good. Let them sleep.
While they weren't looking, the Braves went 22-9. Won the first game of this series 5-2 with Pérez dealing. Won this one with a walk-off against one of the five best pitchers alive.
JR Ritchie had his first rough night — four walks at Truist after throwing zero in seven perfect innings at Washington. The kid will learn. Tonight the vets carried him. Dylan Lee struck out four in under two innings. López threw two scoreless from the pen. And Olson ended it.
I'm holding at 92% on the Braves being the best team in the National League. You'd think a walk-off against a Cy Young winner bumps that number. But 92% was already respect. This game didn't teach me anything about the Braves I didn't already know. It taught everyone else.
22-9. Walk-off. Best record in baseball.
Tell me I'm wrong.
The Tilt
Matt Olson is the most boringly clutch player in baseball and that is exactly why the Braves are 22-9.
— Dex Ponce
What's your take?
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