Craig Kimbrel is one of baseball's best relievers, but he's had things a bit rough in 2013. By "rough", I mean he's only really good instead of god-like, and it's only been about a month, so no need to worry or anything. That doesn't necessarily make Tuesday night's blown save -- and then loss -- against the Reds any easier to deal with.
Craig Kimbrel blows save, game with back-to-back homers
Kimbrel might be awesome, but that wasn’t enough against the Reds on Tuesday.
Butch Dill
Devin Mesoraco came up against Kimbrel as a pinch-hitter with no one on base in a 4-3 game, and proceeded to go deep on a full count pitch for his first homer of the year:
It was nearly a fly out, but had just enough on it to clear the wall and the glove of Braves center fielder B.J. Upton. This allowed the inning to continue, bringing up Shin-Soo Choo, who promptly repeated Mesoraco's feat with a more impressive shot to left center:
That was Choo's second homer of the game, and his seventh of the year. The Reds acquired him this off-season in the three-team swap that saw Trevor Bauer and Didi Gregorius, among others, change addresses, and has hit .333/.465/.587 with 17 extra-base hits while leading the National League in runs, hits, OBP, OPS+, HBP, and total bases. Seems to be working out for them!
Bonus celebratory fireworks gif!
Shot off before the telecast’s scoreboard even updated. Those Great American Ballpark folks are on their game, or have just been watching a lot of Choo this season.
For more on the Reds and Braves, visit our SB Nation sites Red Reporter and Talking Chop
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