Ozuna, Soto Power Panthers to Extra-Inning Win, Series Even at 1–1

Sammy LineDriv - TABL Beat Writer

On a night when every pitch seemed to matter, the Brooklyn Panthers refused to let the moment slip away. Trailing for most of the evening, they clawed their way back to claim a 3–2 extra-inning victory over the Buffalo Braves, evening the series at one game apiece and sending the rivalry back to Brooklyn with new life.

The game began as if Buffalo intended to put the series out of reach early. In the bottom of the first, Josh Naylor turned on a fastball and sent it soaring into the right-field stands for a two-run homer, the kind that jolts a crowd and sets the tone. The Braves looked poised to build from there, but Brooklyn starter Tarik Skubal steadied himself, retiring 10 of the next 11 batters he faced.

The Panthers began their comeback in the fourth when Gunnar Henderson, quiet through much of the opener, unloaded on a hanging slider for a solo home run to right-center. That swing cut the deficit in half and gave Brooklyn the jolt it needed.

From there, the game settled into a rhythm, inning after inning of missed chances and pinpoint pitching. Buffalo leaned on its bullpen early, while Brooklyn’s relievers began to stack zeros. Then, in the eighth, with two outs and the bases empty, Juan Soto turned on an Orion Kerkering cutter and sent it deep into the Buffalo night.

When it landed beyond the wall in right, the game was tied 2–2, and suddenly it felt like a brand-new contest.

Extra innings followed, each half-inning building in tension. And then came the 11th. Marcell Ozuna, who had already homered in Game One, wasted no time. On the first pitch of the inning, he launched a towering shot to left, his second of the series and the loudest swing of the night. Brooklyn had their lead, 3–2, and this time they wouldn’t let go.

Edwin Uceta earned the win after two scoreless innings of relief, while Carlos Estévez came on to close it, cool and composed, setting the Braves down in order to end it.

Buffalo’s bats never quite found their rhythm — just four hits on the night — while Brooklyn pieced together eight, including three that left the yard.

The series now shifts to Brooklyn, tied 1–1, and what began as a one-sided start has quickly turned into the kind of postseason battle that defines October baseball. W – Uceta (1–0)

L – Jiménez (0–1)

SV – Estévez (1)

HR – Naylor (BUF), Henderson (BKN), Soto (BKN), Ozuna (BKN)