Baseball is not predicated on violence. The sport revolves around grace and grit, subtlety and subterfuge, deception and dexterity. The game does not celebrate the brutal.
Yet there is no other way to describe what transpired in the seventh inning on Monday: Manny Machado committed a violent act against a baseball, unleashing all his frustration and force on a 95-mph fastball, launching a concussive, three-run homer which solidified the Dodgers’ capture of the National League Division Series with a 6-2 victory in Game 4 over the Braves.
The blast stunned SunTrust Park and delighted the Dodgers. Inside the dugout, Rich Hill gasped.