It’s always the little things.


Charlie Culberson executes the perfect suicide squeeze.

Baseball seems so easy when you win. It’s so fun when you win. It’s a frustrating ball of confusion when you don’t. But it usually comes down to executing little things, which turn into big things in the end.

Small ball turns into big plays.

There’s nothing more exciting than the squeeze play at home. When done right, it leaves the defense defenseless. The shame is how little it’s attempted any more. Why go for an easy run when you can swing as hard as you can and strike out?

With runners at third (Nick Solak) and first (Andy IbaƱez) and two outs in a tight 3-2 game in the third, veteran Charlie Culberson decided to play some baseball. He laid down a perfect bunt on the first base line. Braves first baseman Matt Olson fielded it, flipped home to try to get Solak, who had taken off immediately.

Solak slid under the tag as Culberson stood on first.

Two batters later, he came home himself on a bases-clearing three-run triple by Adolis Garcia, and the Rangers won only their second series of the year, beating Atlanta two out of three.

Triples and suicide squeezes?

Remember baseball?

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