The first home run Alex Wood gave up to a left-handed hitter this season was blasted off the bat of Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman and landed a few rows beyond the right-field wall, feet from the Chop House, in the sixth inning Sunday night at SunTrust Park. In almost any other scenario it would’ve been an inconsequential blip, one even the best pitchers occasionally encounter when they face All-Star sluggers.
But Sunday was Game 3 of the National League Division Series and the score was tied with the Dodgers vying for a three-game series sweep. The stage was big and the margin for error was slim.