PHOENIX (AP) – Bobby Cox said a long goodbye to Arizona’s Chase Field. For almost four hours, he watched his Braves build a big lead, blow it, then break it open again for an 11-7 victory on Thursday.
“That was a hard game to enjoy, it really was,” said the longtime manager who will retire at the end of the season. “It would never end. … That would have been a tough one to swallow if we lost.”
After the Braves blew a five-run lead, Brooks Conrad scrambled home to break a ninth-inning tie, banging into catcher John Hester while diving headfirst across the plate.
“He was kind of blocking the plate,” Conrad said. “A situation like that you’ve got to do anything you can to score that run. So my thought process was if the ball beat me, I’d try to do something to jar it loose. He got the ball right in the web and I pretty much got there at the same time. There was enough of the plate to kind of get around him.”
The speedy Conrad hit for David Ross, who had a double, single and two RBIs. Conrad singled, stole second and beat right fielder Justin Upton’s throw after pinch-hitter Brian McCann’s one-out single off closer Chad Qualls (1-3).