Atlanta Braves Win 10-1 With Julio, Wild 7th.

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Of all things that happened in last night’s 10-1 victory over Milwaukee, I do hope that one thing in particular doesn’t get lost in the shuffle:

Julio Teheran pitched 7 innings with just 83 pitches and gave up only 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 (debatably) earned run.

This was his best outing of the year – and while there was some serious arguments going on as to whether Teheran’s velocity was up to par (the FOX sports gun was consistently reporting 88-90 mph fastballs), there was no doubt to his dominance:  8 strikeouts and truly never in serious trouble all night.  I even expect that if that second hit hadn’t occurred, the official scorer might be reviewed and reversed himself on the first one – a Jace Peterson miscue that led to Milwaukee’s only run.

For quite a while, though, Matt Garza matched Teheran batter for batter.  The Braves managed to ‘Seitzer’ out a run in the 1st inning with a Markakis 2-out RBI, but that was pretty much it… making the score 1-1 after the seventh inning stretch.

Beginning of the End

In the bottom of the seventh, Jonny Gomes and Alberto Callaspo both singled to open the frame.  That alone brought me to tweet ‘Rally Time!’, given the rarity of such an event.

I had no idea.

Andrelton Simmons attempted a bunt, and as seems to be the case with nearly every he does, Simba didn’t exactly make it routine:  the bunt was popped up toward the mound, though fortunately away from Garza’s follow-through.  Gomes ran on the play, but Callaspo froze in no-man’s land – fearing a catch… which nearly happened.  Instead the ball found grass.  Callaspo was out at second, but it left the Braves with a 1st and 3rd situation with 1 out.

Milwaukee pulled in the infield to hopefully have a chance at Gomes, but Christian Bethancourt eked a ground ball single past Elian Herrera at 2nd, plating the go-ahead run.

Brewers relief pitcher Will Smith (13) shown just before being ejected from the game. Note discoloration on right forearm. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Then things really got comical.

Will Smith is a southpaw reliever who hails from the Atlanta area.  He’s been in the majors since 2012, with the Royals and Brewers, recently converting to a relief role.  He did not have a good night Thursday.

On an 0-2 count, he (barely) hit Pedro Ciriaco, loading the bases.  With Jace Peterson up and having thrown another strike, he then touched the back of his right forearm.

At this point, Fredi Gonzalez asked for a consult with home plate umpire Chris Segal.  After a few moments, Gonzalez returned to the dugout and then Segal convened an umpire convention at home plate.  After a few more moments, they moved their meeting to the mound and asked Segal about a pile of goop present on his right arm.

One touch of it, and Smith was tossed.  He didn’t exactly go quietly, either, which might factor into the inevitable suspension that will be coming for him.

The official word is that Smith was ejected for a “foreign substance on arm”.  This amounted to sunscreen and rosin, as we were told.

Frankly, he was ejected because it was blatantly obvious – especially as it was shown on television… a violation more of decorum than of rule or practice.

Smith’s belated explanation was that he used the mixture for added grip in the bullpen and forgot to wipe it off before entering the game.

That’s nice except that rather than calling for time and wiping it off in-game, he instead opted to use his stash… ergo this explanation falls flat.  Even at least one Brewers’ beat writer attempted to support him on that faulty login.

That’s when Fredi pounced – when he actually went to the arm for more.

This argument raged on for a while last year with Craig Kimbrel.  It’s hard to see from the picture at right, but Kimbrel uses essentially the same recipe and stores it under the bill of his cap.  At one point last year, though, it was getting a bit more obvious – as you may be able to see – and thus the idea of pitchers “getting a better grip on the ball” became part of the baseball conversation last summer… precisely because it wasn’t terribly discreet.

Rationale

Milwaukee Manager Craig Counsell issued a very interesting and thinly veiled threat last night when asked about whether he would ever do what Gonzalez did:

"“When I’m seeing three of our guys getting hit in the head … not really,” Counsell said. “No, I don’t.”"

I apologize that I whiffed on the context of this statement earlier:  this is/was not a threat to the Braves:  Counsell is suggesting that it’s a whole lot better for the safety of the game if the pitchers know where the ball is going – and having a “better grip” is key to that.

In fact, the opposite seems to be the case insofar as Counsell’s intentions:

Freedie Freeman echoed this “grip” logic… and with the “decorum” part of the equation:

Meanwhile, the Game?

After that, the wheels completely fell off of Milwaukee’s bus:

• Neal Cotts relieved Smith
• Peterson singled, scoring Simmons.
• Michael Blazek relieved Cotts.
• Cameron Maybin singled, scoring two more.
• Freddie Freeman singled, scoring Peterson.
• Markakis doubled, scoring Maybin.
• Jonny Gomes reached after an inexplicably Chuck-Knoblach-bad throwing error by new second baseman Hector Gomez… scoring Freeman.

All of that happened with just one out.  Finally, Callaspo and Simmons made consecutive outs to end it:  7 runs, 7 hits, an error, an ejection, 4 pitchers, and a hit batsman.  Oy.

The Braves actually added two more inconsequential runs in the 8th to get to that final 10-1 tally.

Pot Simmering

Sep 25, 2013;

(27)

(16). Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves took full advantage of a ‘down’ Brewers club in getting back to the .500 mark:  20 and 20. They had just 4 K’s on the night with 3 walks, an HBP, and 11 hits – strung together like a chain.

Now it remains to be seen exactly how things will play out from here… it is a four-game series, after all, and this was just Game 1 against the very frustrated Brewers (15-27) and their new manager.

I’m not suggesting retaliation any more, but certainly the Brew Crew has to be annoyed at losing in this manner.  If anything else odd happens, then those emotions could start to boil over during this long weekend.

Why, oh why does it always have to be the Brewers lately??

Next: Could Trade Options Open As Pitching Improves?