Schafer Slide Scores Winning Run For Braves

Aug 28, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Jordan Schafer (17) slides into second safely with a stolen base as Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) leaps over him in the first inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY SportsIn an at-bat that typified his season so far, Chris Johnson laced a line drive just past the glove of Asdrubal Cabrera to bring home Jordan Schafer in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Braves a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Schafer was by far the Braves most valuable offensive player on Wednesday night, as he reached base four times and stole two bases. Schafer had a third base stolen in the bottom of the 7th, but was called out on an absurdly poor call. Schafer got the Braves on the board in the bottom of the second when his bases-loaded single brought home Brian McCann and Andrelton Simmons. Schafer got his chance in the second following a five pitch walk to Braves pitcher Paul Maholm with two outs. This mistake proved costly, and for much of the game, it looked like Schafer’s two runs batted in would be enough for the second straight night.

Maholm was effective enough for six innings scattering six hits and two walks against only one strikeout. It was hardly a dominant start for Maholm but he continued the trend started by Alex Wood on Tuesday night of keeping the Indians hitless with runners in scoring position. The only damage done to Maholm came via a Mike Aviles line drive solo home run in the top of the fourth inning.

The bullpen took over in the 7th inning, but was unable to hold the one run lead when a sacrifice fly in the 8th inning off of Luis Avilan tied the game. Avilan struggled in an inning where he faced multiple right handed batters and only an incredible brain cramp by Cabrera got him out of the inning without further damage. With two outs and runners on the corners Cabrera began to steal second but stopped running after a foul tip was caught by Brian McCann. Thinking the play was dead, Cabrera simply stopped running and was easily thrown out by McCann to get the Braves out of the inning.

In the ninth, Schafer reached with a one-out infield single and stole second easily on the second pitch to Justin Upton. Upton skied a long flyball to center for the second out of the inning and the Indians intentionally walked Freddie Freeman to set up a righty-righty matchup against Chris Johnson. But as he has done all season, Johnson managed to squeeze a hit just past the infield and scored Schafer on a close play at home to win the game.

The Braves are the first team in the majors to 80 wins and the team cut their magic number to 17 over the Washington Nationals. The Braves will send Kris Medlen to the mound seeking a series sweep on Thursday.