While the Los Angeles Dodgers made a surprising pivot and named Hyun-Jin Ryu their starter in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, the Atlanta Braves stuck with the obvious selection in Mike Foltynewicz, who emerged as an ace.
The 26-year-old earned a selection to the NL roster for the All-Star Game this year and went on to finish tied for fifth in the league in ERA. But the right-hander labored in his postseason debut against a veteran Dodgers club.
Joc Pederson led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run, and the Dodgers went on to load the bases. To Foltynewicz’s credit, he stranded the runners by getting Yasiel Puig to strike out on a slider out of the zone.
However, in his walk back toward the dugout, Foltynewicz broke an unwritten rule and didn’t just step, but stomped on the baseline. The sequence largely went unnoticed at the time but was captured by
MLB’s Cut4:
Folty stepped on the baseline.
The baseball gods obliged. https://t.co/E6M2cSbr6g pic.twitter.com/HLG58b3Lla
— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 5, 2018
Foltynewicz settled in the next inning by retiring the first two batters. He was a strike away from a 1-2-3 inning, only to plunk Pederson. Justin Turner then worked a walk to put two on for Max Muncy.
It was at that point karma seemingly caught up to Foltynewicz as he surrendered a three-run home run to Muncy that put the Braves in a 4-0 deficit. Foltynewicz pitched just two innings, allowing the four runs, and striking out five.
