Game 3: 4/3 @ Washington
Final: Braves win (11-2)
Record: 2-1
Headline: Braves break open finale to take first series of the year.
Recap
The Braves turned a tight game with the Nationals into a rout on Sunday to take the rubber match and win the opening series of the year. Tim Hudson survived early trouble before finding a dominating groove, and the Braves bats came to life late to turn this one into a laugher.
The Nationals played nearly perfect baseball on Saturday, as they held off the Braves for their first win of the season, evening the series at 1-1. On Sunday, the Nationals looked more like themselves, offering the Braves quite a bit of help along the way to their 11-2 victory.
Martin Prado’s luck changed from the very start of Sunday’s game, as Danny Espinosa couldn’t come up with Tino’s grounder to the right side leading off the 1st, and Prado beat it out for his first hit of the season. Espinosa made all of the close plays during the first two games of the series, but it was just the opposite in the finale. Nate McLouth hit a ground ball to first and beat the relay to avoid the double play, bringing Chipper to the plate with one on and one out. Jordan Zimmerman then got Chipper to hit a cinch double play grounder to Espinosa, but the 2nd baseman booted it and could only get the out at first, keeping the inning alive. Brian McCann then blooped a hit into left center to score McLouth and put the Braves on top, 1-0.
It would turn out to be that kind of day for the Nats, although the score stayed tight for most of the game. Washington answered Atlanta’s early score in their first trip to the plate against Tim Hudson. Huddy got into trouble with a 1-out walk to Jayson Werth and a wild pitch that moved Werth to second. Hudson got Ryan Zimmerman for the second out, but then Adam LaRoche lined a hit to left. On the play, Jones got in the way of Werth for an obvious interference call, and it resulted in the runner being given home plate, tying the score at 1-1. Mike Morse followed with a hit to put runners at the corners with two out for Saturday’s villain, Rick Ankiel. Ankiel nearly hurt the Braves again, but his curving liner to center was caught by McLouth—who did a good job staying with it—to end the inning with the score tied.
Espinosa singled to right leading off Washington’s 2nd, and at that point Hudson had faced 7 batters and had allowed 3 hits, a walk, a wild pitch, a lineout, and a run. But Hudson would get things turned around quickly and for good. Two pitches later he got Ivan Rodriguez to hit into a double play, and he would retire each batter he faced the rest of the way, setting the final 17 down in order. It turned into a vintage performance for Huddy.
Meanwhile, Jordan Zimmerman did his best to match the Braves’ ace. Following Mac’s bloop RBI hit in the 1st, Zimmerman set down 10 of the next 11 Braves batters, allowing just a walk. The score was still 1-1 going into the top of the 5th, when Zimmerman’s defense failed him again. Alex Gonzalez led off the inning with a fly ball to deep right center. It seemed like either Werth or Ankiel could have had a play on it, but they let it drop and A-Gon hightailed it all the way around to third for a leadoff triple. Freddie Freeman then got the job done with a grounder to short that brought home Gonzalez to put the Braves ahead, 2-1. The rally seemed over, but Hudson battled for a walk, and Prado followed with a double into the gap in deep right center. Hudson was held up at third as the throw came back in, but Espinosa dropped the ball and let it trickle away from him out in shallow right and Hudson broke for home. Atlanta’s ace pitcher gave Braves fans a scare with a head first slide into home, but he managed to score without killing himself in the process.
Zimmerman came back to get McLouth and Jones, stranding Prado at 3rd, and he shutdown the Braves in the 6th. It was still a 3-1 game when Todd Coffey took over for Zimmerman in the 7th and got the first two Braves hitters with ease. That’s when Prado got involved again. Tino lined a hit to right in front of Werth and turned it into a hustle double, sliding in ahead of the throw to second to put a runner in scoring position for McLouth. McLouth drew a 4-pitch walk and Doug Slaten came on and walked Chipper to load the bases for McCann with two out. Mac then crossed up the shift with a three-hopper to the left of second base that went just under the glove of Ian Desmond for a hit. Two runs scored to make it 5-1, Atlanta.
The Braves had broken the game open, but they turned it into a blowout in the 8th, scoring 6 runs on 6 hits to make it 11-1. Hudson needed 86 pitches to get through 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. The bullpen got the final 6 outs, as the Braves won the finale 11-2, taking 2 of 3 from the Nats in Washington in the opening series of the 2011 season.
Some More Patience
In their third game of the 2011 season, the Braves finally showed the patient, intelligent approach at the plate that was crucial to their success in 2010. After drawing just 3 walks combined in their first two games, the Braves took 6 walks on Sunday. Walks were key in several of the Braves rallies.
A Very Positive Sign
The Braves’ 8th inning rally could have easily been squelched just as soon as it started. An aggressive style of play—or at least, a more aggressive style of play than the Braves might ordinarily play—helped make that 6-run rally possible. It was an uplifting sight for fans who have felt that the Braves have been a bit too cautious and predictable offensively in recent years. Jason Heyward led off the inning with a single to right, bringing up A-Gon. The count ran full on Gonzalez and the Braves sent Heyward from first on the payoff pitch, even with the score 5-1 in the 8th. Gonzalez hit the ball hard to third for what would have been a fairly routine 5-4-3 double play. However, Heyward beat the throw to second and banged into Espinosa, knocking him down and allowing Gonzalez to reach safely. Instead of having 2 outs and the bases empty, the Braves had 2 on with nobody out. Moments later, Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and then Brian Broderick balked home a run, the first of 6 the Braves would score in the inning.
Final Notes
A day after scoring 3 runs on 10 hits and 2 homers, the Braves scored 11 runs on 12 hits without a homer…Prado got off the schnide with a 3 for 5 day, including 2 doubles. ..Atlanta went 6 for 13 with RISP…Brian McCann secured the Braves first stolen base of the season in the 1st inning.
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