Melancon catches Albies' homer ... AGAIN
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Forget the cutter that Mark Melancon uses most of the time to get batters out as the Braves' closer. His best skill is with his glove. At least, that's been the case so far in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Melancon barely had to move from where he was throwing in the bullpen to snag Ozzie Albies' ninth-inning home run in Game 1 on Monday night:
Get ready to experience some déjà vu, because the same thing happened during the Braves' 8-7 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
Once again, Albies came up in the top of the ninth. Once again, the Braves were leading. And, once again, Melancon was warming up in the bullpen.
This time, Albies' blast was hit a little closer to center field, but the closer was ready. Melancon sprinted off the 'pen mound, snagged the ball and then celebrated with some parade-ready high-stepping.
As was noted by the broadcast, Melancon has now caught more home runs this series (2) than he gave up all year (1). Yeah, those kinds of numbers will probably lead to plenty of success, even if "home runs caught in the bullpen" have yet to appear as an official stat on a baseball card.
After the game, Melancon celebrated the way every baseball player probably does: He did a little light photo editing.