Braves Commit Four Errors, Lose in Walkoff to Philly
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Braves lose a heartbreaker to the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night 1-0 in walkoff fashion. Philadelphia’s lone run came on a misplayed grounder to Braves 1B Freddie Freeman to end the game. The Braves as a whole had a terrible fielding night. Tomorrow’s box score will look odd as Philadelphia only scored one run on FOUR Atlanta errors.
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Freeman looked as bad as I have ever seen him defensively at first. Alex Wood pitched well but sailed a few pickoff attempts all over the diamond. Overall, the defense has looked rough these last four games. That cannot continue if the Braves want to stop their four-game skid.
As expected, Wood and Phillies starter Aaron Harang battled in a good old-fashioned National League pitcher’s duel. Wood didn’t last as long as Harang on the mound but both pitched well enough to win. Luis Avilan looked good in limited action tonight. He looks much more confident in this young season so far. 2014 was a persistent nightmare for the Braves lefty specialist.
AJ Pierzynski is on fire in the batter’s box, recording at least one hit in every game he has played in Braves uniform this year. The rest of the Braves batting order struggled to do anything, yielding only two hits the entire night. A bigger deal would be made about tonight’s lack of offense if the defense wasn’t completely awful.
Shelby Miller looks to continue his hot start to the season for the Braves tomorrow as he faces off with David Buchanan tomorrow evening. If ERA is any indicator for tomorrow’s outcome, look for Miller (1.69) to outperform Buchanan (9.22). First pitch is at 7:05 PM ET. Come on, Braves! Let’s end this losing streak!