Braves’ Walt Weiss Defends Two Wild Intentional Walks That Actually Won the Game

Walt Weiss did something Sunday that most managers wouldn’t even think about. Twice.

With the Atlanta Braves tied with the Baltimore Orioles in extra innings, Weiss ordered intentional walks in situations that looked absolutely insane on paper. And somehow, both times, it worked. The Braves walked out of Baltimore with a 3-2 win, and Weiss walked out looking like a genius who doesn’t care if you think he’s crazy.

That first walk was borderline reckless

Top of the 10th. Two runners on. Nobody out. The Braves were running on fumes. Every fan in the park probably expected a standard defensive shift or maybe a pitchout. Instead, Weiss told his pitcher to put Pete Alonso on first base intentionally, loading the bases for Gunnar Henderson.

This is the part where most managers would have a small heart attack. But Weiss didn’t flinch. Henderson hit a liner to first baseman Matt Olson, who was playing close to the bag. Olson caught it, stepped on first, and doubled off Alonso before he could scramble back. The call stood after review. A flyout ended the inning, and the Braves escaped a jam that would have buried most teams.

“It didn’t look good when the bases were loaded, nobody out,” Weiss said after the game, via ESPN. “We pull out a five-man infield, just trying to do anything we can to survive there. That’s probably the one ball we can get a double play on. And it was close. I wasn’t sure if they were going to overturn it or not.”

Then he did it again in the 11th

The Braves grabbed the lead in the top of the 11th on an Austin Riley leadoff double. But the bottom of the inning brought more trouble. Two runners on, two outs, Jackson Holliday coming up. Weiss called for another intentional walk. That loaded the bases again, setting up Sam Huff as the final batter. Huff made the last out, and Atlanta walked off the field with a win that felt borrowed from a casino.

Those are the kinds of decisions that separate good teams from teams that just fold when things get tight. Weiss knew every move could backfire. He did them anyway. And his players bailed him out both times.

The Braves improved to 62-43 with the win, keeping a 5.5-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. That cushion looks nice now. But games like this one are why it exists in the first place.