BJ Upton Walk Off Lifts Braves Over Nationals
June 1, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder
B.J. Upton(2) hits a walk-off single in the tenth inning against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. The Braves won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
In an attempt to get back in good favor with Atlanta Braves fans, BJ Upton came through in the tenth inning to grab a win over the Washington Nationals. After a long pitcher’s duel between Tim Hudson and Gio Gonzalez, the game finally concluded in the tenth after back-to-back walks by Evan Gattis and Dan Uggla paved way for BJ’s hit to right field off of Henry Rodriguez.
Hopefully this will be like killing rocks with one stone for Atlanta–a win against the Nationals for sure, and maybe the end of a slump for BJ Upton. It would certainly help an offense that is in the midst of struggles by many players. Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, Dan Uggla, and Andrelton Simmons haven’t hit particularly well at all lately. It seems like the offense is determined to never click.
The younger Upton went 2-4 on the night, while Heyward, Justin, Andrelton, and Uggla combined to go 1-13 with six strikeouts and two walks. Uggla tallied both of the walks while Simmons got the lone hit of the group.
On another note, the pitching was solid for the Braves
Tim Hudson–who has had his struggles this season–threw 7.1 innings while allowing just three hits and one unearned run. He struck out four Nats and walked one. If Huddy can pitch like this more often maybe the talk of Tim being terrible will start to die down. It’s a bit annoying to hear people on twitter say that he’s a “bad pitcher” when he’s been so good for us pretty much every year.
Luis Avilan, Craig Kimbrel, and Jordan Walden combined for 2.2 innings of shutout relief to secure the win.
Tomorrow the Braves will take on the Nationals at 1:35 to determine the series winner.