Braves Win A Wild One Over Giants, 7-5

What a ball game for the Atlanta Braves!  Somehow, some way, the Braves found a way to beat the San Francisco Giants during a Madison Bumgarner start.  This game was back and forth all afternoon, with four lead changes.  The hero this afternoon for Atlanta was Jace Peterson who hit a bases-loaded triple to give the Braves a 7-5 lead over the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.  Our bullpen gave up a lead and we still won.

Julio Teheran pitched well today.  He went 6+ innings, allowing three earned runs this afternoon.  Teheran found a way to limit the damage despite giving up back-to-back homers to Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the second.  Besides those solo shots and four issued walks, Julio still managed to come away with a quality start on the last day of May.

Chris Johnson had an RBI single up the middle to score Jonny Gomes in the top of the fifth to cut the Braves’ deficit in half.  CJ got a rare start at first base as Fredi Gonzalez gave Freddie Freeman the day off before heading to Phoenix.  Then in the sixth inning, Juan Uribe unloaded on a Madison Bumgarner offering for a two-run blast to left field to give the Braves a 3-2 lead .  Apparently Uribe still thinks he’s a Dodger as he had two homers in the last two games of this series against LA’s arch rival San Francisco.

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After Matt Duffy hit a deep double to left center off Julio, LHP Donnie Veal came in to relieve Teheran in the seventh.  Veal surrendered two inopportune hits in relief.  Gregor Blanco had a pinch hit single to score Duffy to tie the ball game up at three.  Two batters later, Joe Panik crushed a two-run dinger to give the Giants a 5-3 lead.  Needless to say, Veal had a rough seventh inning.

Nick Masset replaced Veal and pitched nicely in 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.  He ended up getting the victory for the Braves today.  Masset walked just one batter and benefited from two excellent defensive plays behind him in the eighth inning.  Juan Uribe made a fantastic stop at third on a sharp grounder off Angel Pagan’s bat and an even better throw to get Brandon Belt out at second on the force.  Cameron Maybin made a terrific diving catch to retire Duffy to end the Giants eighth.

Santiago Casilla came in to close the game out for the Giants but pitched a horrid ninth. He gave up a solo shot to Freddie Freeman, who replaced Johnson defensively in the seventh.  Casilla then walked Andrelton Simmons with one out in the ninth.  And then the unthinkable happened…Brandon Crawford booted a certain game-ending 6-4-3 double play off Christian Bethancourt’s bat.  Crawford for those who don’t know of him is almost as good at short as Andrelton Simmons.  AJ Pierzynski had a pinch hit bloop single into no-man’s land in shallow right field to load the bases with one out in the top of the ninth.

May 31, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Jace Peterson (8) hits a three run RBI triple in the eighth inning of their MLB baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy was reluctant to pull the right hander Casilla in favor of LHP Javy Lopez to face lefty Jace Peterson.  That proved so costly for Bochy and the Giants as Jace cleared the bases with his one-out triple in the ninth inning.  It took all the air out of AT&T Park as the Giants fans were completely stunned at this blown save by Santiago Casilla.

Jason Grilli came in and closed out the game for the Braves in the bottom of the ninth.  Though he is still getting the job done most nights, it rarely looks clean.  Grilli gave up a two-out double to Panik and we were all fortunate that Hunter Pence’s long fly ball landed in Nick Markakis’ glove on the rightfield warning track.

San Francisco was the hottest team in the National League in the month of May.  They won 21 games and only the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central are playing better baseball than San Francisco at the moment.  As poor as the first two games against the Giants were, Atlanta should feel ecstatic when the team heads east to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set starting tomorrow.

This was one of those games that could serve as a launching off point for the ball club.  Atlanta had no business coming back in the ninth after blowing Teheran’s lead in the seventh.  These are the type of games that good teams win.  Atlanta goes to Phoenix at .500.  Hopefully the Braves carry this momentum to the desert versus the Snakes to end this West Coast road trip on a high note.  Great win! Go Braves!