Beachy Blanks Marlins in 5-0 Win

Aug 9, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Brandon Beachy (37) pitches in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

After the way he pitched on Friday night, many people are going to proclaim that Brandon Beachy is “back”, and frankly, that will be tough to argue.

Beachy was absolutely electric for the duration of the night, cruising through 8 innings while allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk, and striking out 6 Marlins. He was at his shakiest in the opening frame of the night, allowing multiple hard-hit balls and being bailed out by quality defense, but Beachy settled down in a major way, calling on pinpoint control (especially with his fastball) in dominating the Marlins.

It would irresponsible to ignore the fact that Beachy’s performance came against the putrid Marlins lineup. However, his location and “stuff” would have played against anyone, and that is the strongest case for any claim that he is “back”. It will be incredibly interesting to see how this type of performance translates going forward, both for whether it is easily repeatable for Beachy himself, and for whether a “real” MLB lineup would have fallen quite as easily.

Offensively, it was a tale of one big inning for Atlanta, but that was all that they needed. In the 1st, Justin Upton announced his presence with authority, blasting a home run to left to open the scoring. Then, the biggest blow of the night came when Chris Johnson followed a Freddie Freeman single and a Marlins error with a 3-run home run to break things open. It was the perfect “Kevin Towers inning” as both former D-Backs put the game out of reach (or so it turned out) with 4 total runs.

The only other notch on the scoreboard came on a 3rd inning home run from Brian McCann (stay hot, Brian), but the top of the order had a positive night. However, the 6 through 8 spots in the lineup did go 0-for-9 (despite a walk and HBP from Uggla), so there is obvious room for improvement there.

Beachy was removed after 99 pitches, but the bullpen managed to hold down the fort in the 9th inning. Scott Downs allowed a single to open the 9th before recording a strikeout, and then Fredi Gonzalez decided to put on a managerial clinic, handing things over to Luis Ayala for what turned out to be a 2-pitch save thanks to a game-ending double play.

The Braves have won 14 consecutive games, and that is a staggering number. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it is the longest single-season winning streak since 2002, and things don’t appear to be slowing down with the lowly Marlins in town. Brandon Beachy was the unquestioned story of the night on Friday (and it’s hard to state just how good he was), but the big question is, who will it be on Saturday?