Atlanta Braves rally only to fall short in the 9th

The Atlanta Braves are having trouble getting big hits. In game one of the series against the Chicago Cubs, the Braves had trouble getting early hits period. Alex Wood took the mound for the Braves and had some trouble keeping the Cubs off the bases. In 5.1 innings, Alex allowed 5 hits and 3 walks which led to 4 earned runs. Considering the Braves have scored 3 or less runs in their last 5 games, that kind of deficit seemed impossible to overcome.

The Cubs struck first in the third inning, plating two runs on a sacrifice and an RBI single. The Braves came back with some scoring of their own in the fourth inning as Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton both hit sacrifice grounders. That would tie the game at 2-2 heading into the sixth, when Freddie Freeman doubled home Alex Wood to take the lead 3-2 for the Braves. How was the pitcher on base, you might ask? Wood actually beat out a bunt single to reach first as the lead-off hitter, and that’s something I was extremely happy to see. Braves pitchers need to get bunts down productively for an inconsistent lineup to produce.

The Braves bad RISP hitting has been like that creepy guy at high school volleyball. It doesn’t show up to every game, but when it does it’s at the worst times, and it makes everyone really uncomfortable. After the Cubs scored two more runs to make the score 4-3 Cubs, the Braves had ample chances to come back. In the seventh inning, Jason Heyward had a lead-off double to start a potential rally, but the next three batters couldn’t get the ball out of the infield including two strikeouts. That’s the kind of hitting that drives me nuts. Strikeouts do matter when they happen in those scenarios, and the Braves suffered some untimely ones in this game.

In the 8th, Schafer walked and stole second with one out. That set up a chance for Simmons, but he flew out to left. The Cubs smartly walked Freddie Freeman, not allowing him to do any more damage on the night. Justin Upton was the Braves lone hope in the 8th with runners on first and second, but again he would succumb to another bad strikeout. Putting the ball in play there could have done something with the runners moving, but alas it wasn’t to going to happen.

Still down just one run heading to the ninth inning, it was up to the middle of the order to get anything done for the Braves. Jason Heyward led off the inning with a huge 3-1 double to left center that landed just beyond the reach of the diving outfielder. Chris Johnson absolutely lined the next pitch right up the middle, but got completely robbed by the shortstop with a jumping catch. Tommy La Stella also swung at the first pitch grounding the ball to first and moving Heyward to third. With two outs, the last hope was newbie Christian Bethancourt. Could he be the hero?

Yes, he could. Unbelievably Bethancourt laced the first pitch up the middle, scoring Heyward and tying the game at 4-4. The Braves came off the deck after looking down and out to crawl right back in the game. That victory would be short lived. Walden came on for the Braves in the ninth inning and got two quick outs. Sadly, in baseball you have to get the third out for the inning to end, and Walden couldn’t do that. He gave up a single, a stolen base, and than allowed the next hitter to knock a slow roller through the third base side. That ended the game in a walkoff victory for the Cubs, 5-4.

The Braves went 3-15 with RISP, and it lost them the game. Simmons, Freeman, and Heyward all had doubles, while four players in the lineup went hitless. It’s becoming more and more obvious as the Braves crawl to the All-Star break, Evan Gattis is supremely important to this lineup. It just isn’t the same when he’s on the sidelines. The Braves won their first 8 games after he went on the DL, but suddenly they’ve lost 5 of their last 6. What’s worse, they’ve been losing to the Mets and the Cubs, two teams that were last in their division when the series started.

Same two teams on Saturday at 4PM, with Edwin Jackson facing Mike Minor. The Braves will need the good Mike Minor to show up in a big way, and Minor will need some early support to help settle into the game. Make sure to tuned for another day game in Wrigley.