Terdoslavich Homers, Braves Come Back to Win 6-5 Over Padres
By John Buhler
It came down to a battle of the bullpens between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres tonight. Tonight’s starters Mike Foltynewicz and James Shields each allowed five runs. Atlanta clawed back from a 5-0 deficit to tie it up in the bottom of the sixth. Then in the bottom of the eighth, pinch hitter Joey Terdoslavich hit his first Major League home run off veteran Joaquin Benoit to give the Braves a 6-5 lead. It wasn’t easy but closer Jason Grilli redeemed himself after last night by recording his 16th save of the season Tuesday night.
This was the Braves biggest come-from-behind victory on the season as well as San Diego’s biggest collapse of the season. Who would have thought the Atlanta ‘pen would pitch a combined 3.1 innings of scoreless relief? Perhaps even stranger, who would have thought the Padres’ rock solid bullpen would fail them tonight against the Braves? This was another weird game with three challenges but Braves Country should feel glad that Atlanta came out on top.
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Foltynewicz was shaky tonight. He allowed 5 runs on 12 hits, pitching mostly to contact as he only struck out two batters and walked one guy. Usually in a Folty start, you expect him to have around 7-8 K’s but tonight he kept giving up weak hits all over the field. His control has been better as of late. Some nights batted balls just find holes in the defense.
Atlanta did most of its damage offensively in the sixth inning when “Big Game” James Shields started to tire. Nick Markakis reached on a questionable fielding error by 2B Cory Spangenberg to score Jace Peterson. Markakis would have had a 4-4 night if that in-between hop to Spangenberg wasn’t scored an error. The Braves might want to talk the official scorer about that one.
Andrelton Simmons had a 3-RBI double to easily score Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. Juan Uribe was initially called out at home but managed to evade C Derek Norris’ tag by tapping the plate with his hand. Jonny Gomes then singled in Simmons on another play at the plate that went to review. In total there were three plays at the plate that went to review in New York. Home Plate Umpire Jerry Meals might need his eyes checked or take an extra second before making a call.
As bad as last night’s defeat was, I have to say that overcoming a five-run deficit made this one of the best victories for the Braves this season. Atlanta’s offense doesn’t hit many homers, but when they do happen they come at opportune times. Tonight we are all Terdoslavichs. Man, has the Braves bench by night-and-day better than the 2014 club’s. I attribute Atlanta’s drastic shift in bench productivity to not being spellbound by Ryan Doumit’s eyes. Great win for the Braves tonight!