Alex Wood dominates as Atlanta Braves blank Houston Astros

The Atlanta Braves dismantled the Houston Astros in Game 2 on Wednesday night, thanks in part to the excellent pitching performance by newly promoted starter Alex Wood. The last start for Alex was back on May 4th against the Giants, and while Wood was relegated to the bullpen in the interim, I was never in favor of that move. Wood has starter-quality stuff, and he got to put it on full display against the Astros. Alex finished the game going 7 innings, allowing only 3 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. With that showing, he exited with a 4-0 lead and the shutout held up through the last two innings thanks to good relief efforts by Shae Simmons and Juan Jaime.

Atlanta’s hitters got in on the act in the 2nd inning with some rare A-B-C baseball. Evan Gattis doubled to lead off the inning, Jason Heyward moved him over to third, and Justin Upton hit a sacrifice fly to left. Just like that, the Braves were up 1-0. It’s important to note that the score held that way until the 7th inning. Alex Wood was pitching completely without a net for the majority of his start. However, in the seventh, Justin Upton bashed a two-run home run that put the game completely out of reach for the Braves, and Tommy La Stella added on with an RBI that pushed B.J. Upton across the plate in the 8th.

Despite going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, the Braves found a way to win the game. For that reason, I have to give the player of the game to Alex Wood. For a guy to come back from AAA after not starting for almost a month and a half and fire a shutout? That’s impressive work. To do it with only 3 hits allowed in 7 innings? That’s downright nasty. Wood wasn’t even working hard either, as he only had 79 pitches in the game. Regardless, Fredi Gonzalez wasn’t going to push the envelope on a starter that hasn’t fully stretched out yet. The only downside to the game was Freddie Freeman leaving the game late after getting hit on the elbow with a pitch, but at first glance, it appeared that it was not a serious injury.

The Braves win the series by taking the second game, and they look to get the sweep on Thursday afternoon. Mike Minor will face off again Jarred Cosart. The Braves have never seen Cosart, so it should be an interesting distraction for all the fans while they listen at work. Stay tuned.