![]() Did the whole pitch clock rushing thing affect Minter? I have no idea. The balk itself didn’t matter, but Minter’s next pitch arguably missed its location horribly and got deposited into right-center by Alvarez. With the pitch clock winding down, Minter kinda-sorta stepped off and kinda-sorta half-faked a throw to first, but he never actually made the throw because Matt Olson was playing behind the runner, and was charged a balk. Then, with a 3-2 count on Alvarez, a weird sequence cost the Braves the game. Minter allowed just a single through three batters, aided by Kevin Pillar making a great diving catch on a Bregman liner to left. Dylan Lee then came on, walked Bregman, and got the next three outs to keep the game tied, and Nick Anderson threw a scoreless eighth.īut, the ninth went more awry for the Braves. Against the bottom of Houston’s order, Chavez issued a leadoff walk, gave up a near-homer to Yainer Diaz that bounced high off the wall in right-center and ended up being a “double” with an error charged to Acuña for dropping the ball when picking it up off the carom, gave up an RBI single to Jake Meyers, and then an 0-2 double to Mauricio Dubon that tied the game. That hadn’t really burned the Braves yet, but did big time in this game, as Chavez threw 11 pitches to four batters and completely frittered away the 4-1 lead. The Atlanta bullpen has been somewhat shorthanded, with both Raisel Iglesias and Collin McHugh on the shelf, and that’s led to the phenomenon of Jesse Chavez, seventh-inning guy. This game really turned in the seventh, as Jesse Chavez took over for Elder. He left with a 7/2 K/BB ratio in 4 2⁄ 3 innings, but the Braves got no more runs off him or the Astros relief corps the rest of the way. Vaughn Grissom followed with a ripped grounder single through short that scored Albies, and the Braves had a 4-1 lead.īrown mostly settled down after that, though he did allow another, more hard-hit Acuña double, as well as another walk and a HBP. After that, Sean Murphy walked, and after Eddie Rosario struck out, Ozzie Albies swung at a curveball off the plate and down but served it into left-center for a two-run double. started the home half of the first with a bloop double, and scored as Riley jumped on a first-pitch slider-cutter down the middle and ripped a double of his own. the Braves immediately roared back against Hunter Brown and the ‘Stros. His final line was a 6/1 K/BB ratio and just that one unearned run in six innings, which was more than enough, because. He used two strikeouts and a lineout to center to escape the first, got double plays in each of the next two innings, and then allowed just a few stray baserunners while completing six frames. Though the Astros struck first, with Austin Riley making a throwing error to allow the leadoff man to reach in the game’s first PA, and Alex Bregman following with an RBI double, Elder righted the ship and then coasted. Yes, Atlanta cruised for most of this game, behind Bryce Elder and at the expense of what seemed to be a torpid Houston attack. But, a good, even a great bullpen is not a perfect bullpen, and tonight’s implosion cost the Braves what seemed to be a throughline to an easy win. ![]() The Braves’ bullpen has been very good in the early going, coming into Friday night’s game tied for second in MLB in fWAR, fifth in MLB in WPA, and with only two teams with fewer meltdowns.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |