Bullpen helps Atlanta Braves continue streak with win over New York Mets
The Atlanta Braves tied their longest win streak of the year by topping the New York Mets in the series opener on Monday, which meant that left-hander Mike Minor would try to extend the streak to six in a row with some solid pitching in the follow-up. Unfortunately for Mike, that didn’t happen. Minor only went 4.1 innings giving up nine hits, two homers, and four runs. Luckily for Mike, the Braves put five runs of their own on the board before he left the game, and when the bullpen arrived, it was enough to close the door on a 5-4 victory.
The Braves opened up the scoring with a 2-out single by Christian Bethancourt that chased home Chris Johnson. The key to that play was Tommy La Stella getting caught in a run-down between second and third, but not until the run had scored. The reason that was key is the cut-off man for the Mets cut off a throw that may have tagged out CJ at the plate. Instead, the Braves plated the first run of the game. The Mets would strike back quickly though when Curtis Granderson hit a 2-run bomb in the top of the 3rd. Minor hung a pitch, and you can’t do that to the “Grandy-Man” while hoping it stays in the park.
Freddie Freeman wasn’t happy with the Mets leading, so he hit a 2-out double in the bottom of the third that scored Andrelton Simmons. That would tie the game at 2-2. Then came the bottom of the fourth inning, where the Mets again came unraveled. CJ walked to start the inning, followed by a La Stella ground-out, and a Bethancourt strikeout. Mike Minor came to the plate with two outs, and obviously, the Mets thought the inning was over. Dead wrong! Minor laced a shot to center that scored Johnson from second, so the pitcher helped himself, which is a minor miracle. See what I did there? Yeah, I’m not proud of that one either.
The miracles weren’t done, though, since B.J. Upton produced a single right after Minor. For all the detractors of the B.J. move to the leadoff spot, he has accumulated a rather impressive 8-game hitting streak. So, tap the brakes a little on the hate this week. You’ll get more opportunities in July, I’m sure. With B.J.’s hit, Minor moved all the way to third, bringing Simmons back to the plate, and after B.J. stole second with Simmons at the plate, Andrelton smashed a single to left scoring both Minor and Upton to give the Braves a 5-2 lead.
Unfortunately, Minor wasn’t done giving up home runs. In the fifth inning, Daniel Murphy picked on a Minor fastball and put it in the right field stands. That was a two-run shot which lowered the Braves lead to just one run. The bullpen came in to relieve Mike in the 5th, and managed to wriggle out of the jam. Shae Simmons, Luis Avilan, and Jordan Walden all did some impressive work to bail out Minor’s early exit. In fact, only Walden allowed a single hit in that 3.2 inning stretch for the pen. That’s the kind of smart bullpen work we expected out of the Braves this season, and having Walden healthy again is a big part of that progression.
Atlanta held a one-run lead in the ninth, and that meant it was Kimbrel time. I noted on Twitter that I didn’t want any Kimbrel adventures in this game, similar to what I’ve seen before when Craig starts walking people, and I just wanted him to find the zone and the game. Apparently, he was listening. Kimbrel struck out the side in an easy 1-2-3 inning, and the Braves took the victory by a final of 5-4.
The Braves scored five runs on seven hits and three walks, hitting 3-7 with RISP and with three 2-out RBIs. However, the collective MVP of this game was the bullpen with their 4.2 innings of combined scoreless work allowing just one hit. That’s pure dominance in a close game.
With another series win in the books, the Braves look for the sweep on Wednesday. They also look to extend their season-long winning streak to seven games. Make sure you’re glued to the TV for that matchup between Jacob deGrom and Julio Teheran!