Bullpen Blows Perez’s Lead, Braves Lose 6-3 in LA

What if I told you that the Atlanta Braves bullpen had it all figured out these last two weeks.  Well, I would have looked foolish because once rookie starter Williams Perez came out of the came, the Braves bullpen imploded.  Apparently the ball carries in Dodger Stadium this year as the Boys in Blue hit three home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, all off newcomer Nick Masset.  Welcome to the Atlanta ‘pen, Nick.  You have just formally been initiated into a brotherhood of walks and long balls.

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This was a great ball game until André Ethier, rookie pinch hitter Alex Guerrero, and Jimmy Rollins (yes, that Jimmy Rollins) all went yard off Masset to take a 6-2 Dodgers lead into the ninth inning.  Atlanta ended up losing 6-3.  The Braves could have won this game because the Dodgers stranded 10 runners on base in the first several innings.  Instead the Braves have to beat either Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke in the two games to avoid a sweep.  What can I say?  Kershaw and Greinke are scary good.

What will get lost in this game was how well Williams Perez pitched.  Perez went six innings, allowing one earned run and one walk, while striking out seven Dodgers.  Though his Major League debut out of the bullpen was forgettable, Williams Perez has looked solid in his first two starts in Braves uniform.  He doesn’t have an electric fastball but his breaking ball and two-seam were deadly tonight.

The Braves had nine hits tonight.  Freddie Freeman and Pedro Ciriaco each had two hits and an RBI.  Jonny Gomes had two hits and two runs scored.  Jace Peterson had an up and down game.  Though he made two great plays in the field and had a solid single up the middle off Dodgers starter Brett Anderson, Anderson made Jace a fool and picked him off in the fifth.  In recent games, Jace has run the bases a little reckless for my taste.  I love him leading off but not making outs on the base path.

With as good as the bullpen had been pitching these last two weeks, the team was due for a collapse of some kind.  Though the homer bonanza in the eighth was hard to watch, at least the Dodgers are a good team.  What if Philly or Milwaukee did that to us?  The aces will be out tomorrow when Julio Teheran and Clayton Kershaw take the mound in a late game for us back on the East Coast.  Take a nap or something tomorrow if you can because you might not want to miss this one.