With zero outs in the top of the 9th inning, Brooks Conrad tracked an infield pop-up off the bat of Cody Ross, called off Derrek Lee and ended up about ten steps towards the first-base side of the three-time gold glove first baseman, catching the ball with vigor as though he were insisting that the demons of his fielding mishaps would be exorcised if he could just be a part of the magic spilling over from Eric Hinske’s home run an inning earlier. He was certainly a part of the magic in the at-bats to follow, turning a now-infamous hat trick on Buster Posey’s ground ball, which scooted through his legs and plated Freddy Sanchez for the go-ahead run. His three errors tied a postseason record and ensured that this dramatic series would need to go five games and back across the country one more time if Atlanta was going to win it. Bobby Cox’s storybook ending would require a bit of an extended prologue.

Suffice it to say, Atlanta fans suffered a tumultuous journey on Sunday night, without yet another major contributor, Billy Wagner, whose sturdy hold on the 9th inning all year was sorely missed as all of the Braves’ options in the 9th struggled, and though Brooks wore the goat’s collar by the end of the game, he had no part in the at-bats that tied it up. Wagner was hurt fielding a ball in Game Two, and was removed from the Braves’ roster before Sunday’s game, meaning he may have pitched to his final batter, something that sounds ludicrous considering how talented he is and how dominant he had been this year. He would be eligible to pitch in the World Series if the Bobby bandwagon manages to chug its way to the starting line, but his retirement coincides with Bobby’s at season’s end, for all we’ve heard.

Craig Kimbrel got the initial nod in the 9th inning, inducing Ross’ pop-up to Conrad with ease before walking Travis Ishikawa. After striking out Andres Torres, Kimbrel gave up his first hit, a single to Freddy Sanchez and Bobby Cox called to the bullpen for lefty Mike Dunn to face Aubrey Huff. This would be Dunn’s only batter of the night, as the rookie gave up a run-scoring single which tied the game at two, and then was replaced by Peter Moylan, as Cox matched up with right-handed batter Buster Posey. Posey’s hard grounder got under the glove of Conrad for his third error of the night, giving San Francisco the lead for good at 3-2.

Lost yet again in the late-inning dramatics is the consistent starting pitching that each team has enjoyed for the entire series. San Francisco’s Jonathan Sanchez was dominant, slotting himself firmly in 2nd place behind Tim Lincecum for the franchise postseason strikeouts in a game record with 11. Had Lincecum not struck out 14 in Game One, Sanchez would’ve tossed a record-setting performance. Tim Hudson was also sharp, going 7 innings only allowing one scoreless run via another Conrad miscue on a pop-up to shallow right in the second. To Conrad’s credit, there were zero outs and a runner on 3rd, and Jason Heyward likely would have made a stronger play for the ball but he had crashed into the wall on the triple, staying on the ground wincing for a while and then having a lengthy delay as he walked it off. He stayed in the game, but as fate should have it, was directly involved in the next play and could not power himself to the ball quickly enough.

That single run stood strong until the bottom of the 8th, when Eric Hinske hit a line drive 2-run home run down the right-field line, narrowly clearing the foul pole and setting off a feverish celebration. Game Four has the stage to itself on Monday night, with no other postseason games taking place, and it will feature Derek Lowe for the Braves against rookie Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. Atlanta may be starting Troy Glaus at third while slotting Omar Infante at second, sending Brooks Conrad to the bench, but that has not yet been announced. All three games of the series have been decided by a single run, and we’ve had two sweeps with one series slated for Game Five (Cliff Lee vs David Price @ Tampa on Tuesday), hopefully this series follows the trend and maybe we’ll see another dominant Lincecum performance.