If there was a defined strength of the Atlanta Braves roster coming into the season (and in the early going, honestly), it was the bullpen. With the end-of-game trio ofEric O’Flaherty,Jordan Walden, andCraig Kimbrel, the opposition should be in constant fear of entering the 7th inning with a deficit. On Friday night, however, the New York Mets broke through the bullpen barrier and generated 4 runs off of the triumvirate that resulted in a 7-5, 10-inning win.
Atlanta was able to grab a 1-run lead at two different points in the late innings, as they generated runs with aAndrelton SimmonsRBI groundout in the 7th, and anEvan Gattishome run in the 8th. Following those advances, however, the Mets countered with home runs fromMarlon Byrd(in the 8th off of Eric O’Flaherty) andDavid Wright(in the 9th off of Craig Kimbrel) to force extra innings. Following those huge swings, Atlanta failed to scratch in the bottom of the 9th (we’ll come back to this), and New York put the game away with two RBI singles in the top half of the 10th inning fromRuben TejadaandDaniel Murphy.
In addition to the issues of the bullpen, there was some pretty questionable management of the game from Atlanta.Fredi Gonzalezwill take criticism for a number of different things, but among them were his decision to pullMike Minorafter 7 innings (and only 90 pitches) and his never-ending penchant for the sacrifice bunt. The most talked-about play of the game will likely be Gonzalez’s decision to bunt withReed Johnsonin the 9th inning, as the Braves wasted a lead-off double fromRamiro Pena(who is hitting out of his mind) after the bunt by Johnson broughtJordan Schaferto the plate before Schafer failed to drive in the winning run.
Personally, I didn’t have an issue in buntingin that particular spot, as it is the only time in the game (bottom of the 9th inning) where 1 run is as good as 2 runs. With that said, the fundamental issue would be that Gonzalez wasted a position player in Johnson over simply bunting with a starting pitcher (i.e.Tim Hudson) to preserve his bench. In the grand scheme, this is a minor blip, but with Twitter and the pundits discussing it, the move has become scrutinized.
One personnel note from Friday night is thatJuan Franciscoleft the game early with a reported right ankle sprain. He is considered to be day-to-day from all reports, but if he has to miss any stretch of games, the Braves will be without their most potent left-handed bench option.
On the bright side for Atlanta, Mike Minor threw another solid game (7 innings, 3 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts) and it was fantastic to see 2 hits a piece fromDan Ugglaand BJ Upton as they attempt to break out of season-long slumps. After the Gattis home run that took the lead in the 8th inning, it looked for all the world as if the Braves would slam the door, but virtually everything went wrong after that, and it was clearly not the Braves night.
As game two with the Mets arrives on Saturday, it’ll be important to forget that wild loss on Friday night as a “fluke” and simply perform up to a normal level. Frankly, Atlanta is the better team in this series, and with Sunday being a less-than-advantageous pitching match-up (withMatt Harveyon the rubber for NY), it will be critical to get a win on Saturday. Stay tuned.
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