Game 2: 4/2 @ Washington
Final: Braves lose (3-6)
Record: 1-1
Headline: Braves’ dreams of 162-0 washed out in Washington.
Recap
The Braves lost their first game of the season Saturday, 6-3, losing to the Nationals to even the series at 1-game apiece. Tommy Hanson’s first start of the season was delayed due to rain, and then mercifully ended by another rain delay a few innings into the game. By that time the Braves were in a 4-1 hole. The Braves had chances to come back but could never get the big hit, and some shoddy defense kept the bullpen from keeping it close.
The trouble for Hanson began in the same inning that caused him so many problems last year: the 2nd. He walked Mike Morse on 5 pitches to open the frame, and then threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt to move the runner to second. Morse eventually scored on a Danny Espinosa sacfly to give the Nats a 1-0 lead. That left the bases empty with two out, but Hanson would put two more runners on base before a nice defensive play by Chipper Jones finally got him out of the inning.
The Braves tied it right up in the top of the 3rd, with CJ driving home Nate McLouth on a single up the middle. It would not be tied for long, however. Jayson Werth led off the bottom of the inning with his 2nd double of the game, and Hanson then hit Ryan Zimmerman with a pitch to put two on with no outs. Back to back fly outs by Adam LaRoche and Morse brought Werth around to put the Nats back on top, 2-1. With two out and a runner at first, Hanson had a chance to escape with just 1 run scoring, but he threw a 3-1 fastball right down the middle to Rick Ankiel and his former teammate crushed it to right for a homer to make it 4-1.
That turned out to be all the Nats would need. The Braves put two men in scoring position in the top of the 4th but Martin Prado got under a pitch for a fly out to center. Hanson was in trouble again in the bottom of the 4th when the rain returned and stopped play for 55 minutes. Hanson did not return to the mound after the delay. Cristhian Martinez took over and got the Braves out of the inning with the score still 4-1. Hanson finished with 4 runs allowed (3 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 1 strikeout over just 3.2 innings.
The Braves’ best chance to get back in the game came in the top of the 6th. Chad Gaudin came on for left hander John Lannan—who had basically held the Braves in check through 5 innings—and Dan Uggla lined a pitch just over the left field wall for his first homer as a Brave. That cut the deficit to 4-2. A walk by Alex Gonzalez and a Freddie Freeman double over Werth’s head put runners at 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out. Tyler Clippard came on to face Brooks Conrad, who came through off the bench so many times for Atlanta last year. Conrad worked the count to 3-1 but then chased a fastball high out of the zone to make it 3-2. He fouled off the next pitch and then swung through another 3-2 to for a huge 2nd out. This turned out to be perhaps the crucial point in the game, as the Braves could have cut the deficit to a run with a fly ball or a grounder and could have tied it with a hit. With two out, Prado hit a ball well to left center but not well enough, as he stranded runners at 2nd and 3rd for the 2nd time in the game.
The Braves never really threatened again. In the 7th, a misplay by Nate McLouth on a sinking liner to center by Zimmerman turned what should have been an out into a leadoff triple. Ankiel then crushed his former mates again with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to make it a 3-run game again. A-Gon homered for the Braves in the top of the 8th to cut it to 5-3, but the Nats got the run right back in the bottom of the inning off of Peter Moylan. Sean Burnett came on and got the Braves 1-2-3 in the 9th to finish off the 6-3 win for Washington.
Discouraging Start for Hanson
For those hoping for a breakthrough season from Tommy Hanson, Saturday could not have been fun to watch. So many of the same things that hurt Hanson last year were present in his very first start in 2011. The 2nd inning was once again a disaster. Hanson would only end up allowing 1 run in the 2nd frame but it was a very discouraging inning. He began by walking Mike Morse on 5 pitches and then immediately compounded the leadoff walk by throwing a pickoff attempt past Freeman for an error. Morse moved to third on a ground out and then scored on a fly ball, allowing the Nats to score the first run of the game without the benefit of a hit.
The inning seemed to be over, as there were now 2 outs and no one on, but Hanson gave up a 2-out hit to Wilson Ramos. He got ahead of Lannan 1-2 but then proceeded to fire 3 straight out of the zone to walk the pitcher and bring up the top of the order. A nice play by Chipper on a grounder to third by Ian Desmond got Hanson out of it with no further damage but the Nats would have the best part of their lineup batting to start the next inning.
The Braves tied the game in the top of the 3rd but Hanson immediately got back into trouble in the bottom of the inning, giving up a leadoff double to Werth. Hanson then hit a batter (Zimmerman), something he did more than any pitcher in baseball last year. Two more fly outs brought Werth home to give the Nats the lead again, but Hanson was in good position to get out of the inning with his team still right in it. But with two out and a runner at first, Hanson fell behind Ankiel 3-0. He grooved a strike on 3-0 and then tried to do it again on the 3-1 and Ankiel jacked it out of the park to make it 4-1.
Hanson ended up throwing 68 pitches, just 38 for strikes, and allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks over 3.2 innings. He had just 1 strikeout, hit a batter, allowed a homer, and committed an error in the field. He is still struggling to put hitters away and maintain focus throughout a complete start. It’s only one start, but it’s difficult to imagine a more discouraging way for the Braves young right hander to begin the year.
McLouth Continues to Struggle
At some point the Braves are going to run out of patience for Nate McLouth. On one hand, McLouth did get his first hit of the season (a lined single to right), and his aggressive base running on a wild pitch in the dirt helped lead to Atlanta’s first run in the top of the 3rd. However, McLouth had two more strikeouts at the plate, and he was less than superb in the field. In the bottom of the 1st, Werth got the Nats’ first hit of the game on a broken bat bloop to left center. McLouth took forever to get to the ball and made a poor throw to second, allowing Werth to turn a single into a double with ease. In the 7th, Zimmerman led off with a screaming liner to center that hung in the air long enough for McLouth to have a play on it. But McLouth hesitated and let the ball go off of his glove and all the way to the wall. Instead of a noisy first out, it ended up being a leadoff triple, and the Nats would eventually score a back breaking run on a suicide squeeze.
A Frustrating Day for Martin
The Braves leadoff man went hitless for a 2nd straight game, going 0 for 5 and leaving runners at 2nd and 3rd in two different innings. Prado was also robbed of a hit by Espinoza in the 3rd and by Burnett in the 9th.
Chipper’s Day: Mixed Emotions
Chipper Jones had an interesting 2nd game as he continues his comeback from knee surgery. For the 2nd game in a row he got Atlanta’s first hit, singling with two out in the top of the 1st. He then drove in Atlanta’s first run of the game with an RBI-single in the 4th. He was also robbed of a hit by Burnett for the final out of the game. CJ hit into his first double play of the year in the 7th.
Chipper also made good and bad plays in the field. He made a nice backhanded stop and then dove glove first for the force at third to get Hanson out of the 2nd with only one run scoring. In the 4th, Chipper was unable to field a Werth ground ball to his left but Gonzalez backed up and kept the runner from scoring. In the 8th, Chipper couldn’t come up with a backhanded attempt on a grounder down the line by Zimmerman. CJ wouldn’t have been able to get an out on the play even if he had come up with it cleanly, but he should have stopped the ball from getting through. Instead, the ball deflected off of his glove into foul territory, allowing a 6th Washington run to score.
Freddie Freeman Update
Freeman got his first two hits of the season on Saturday, going 2 for 4 with a double. He nearly gave the Braves the lead in the 2nd on a sharp grounder to the right side but Espinosa made a nice play and threw to first for the third out of the inning. Freeman’s luck evened out in the 6th when Werth got turned around while going back on his liner to deep right.
A-Gon Shines
Alex Gonzalez was Atlanta’s best player on Saturday. He went 3 for 3 with a walk and a homer at the plate, and also made a nice play backing up CJ to save a run in the 4th.
Final Notes
The Braves had 10 hits in the game but went just 1 for 6 with RISP, left 9 men on base, and hit into a GDP…The Braves were only charged with 1 error and 1 unearned run, but they could have been charged with as many as 4 errors and 3 unearned runs…Lannan deserves credit for coming back after the delay and getting through 5 innings. He allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and a walk with 3 K’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment