dailynewsnblog
Game 3 of the only wild-card series remaining on Thursday went very well for the Atlanta Braves. It did not go well for the Philadelphia Phillies.
And it went particularly badly for NBC broadcaster and Cincinnati Reds great Joey Votto in one moment.
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Votto helped call the game as an “Inside the Pitch” analyst, a field-level role in which he offered analysis sporadically throughout the game. He popped up in the fourth inning to praise the form of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who to that point had gotten four out of five batters out while his team trailed 3-0.
That praise was rather aggressive:
“As good as Zack Wheeler looks — this game as in play as it gets — I do not see the Braves scoring any more runs the rest of the way.”
You probably know where this is going.
In the span of the next five pitches, Wheeler walked Austin Riley then gave up a two-run homer to Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in a massive blow to the Phillies. It took the Braves only two pitches to prove Votto wrong.
And that’s why on-air predictions are typically a bad idea for broadcasters. The NBC booth at least had fun with the moment, with color commentator C.J. Nitkowski telling Votto, “Joey, I’ve had a lot of fun working with you over these three days, but don’t check your mentions.”
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Wheeler, who was pitching on short rest, finished the game with a line of 4 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.
As you would imagine, Braves fans quite enjoyed the turn of events. That Albies homer gave Atlanta a significant cushion for the rest of the game, ending in a 6-2 Braves win to set up an NLDS clash with the Los Angeles Dodgers starting Saturday.
Votto, famed for his baseball IQ as a player, is in his first season with NBC Sports, which landed a significant MLB rights package that began this season. The network brought in Votto, Anthony Rizzo and Clayton Kershaw as part of an effort to strengthen their broadcast teams with players who only recently retired.
