Game Recap/Box: Atlanta Braves Fall To Giants in Game 2, 4-2
May 29, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher
Tim Hudson(17) throws to the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports.
Other than Tim Hudson’s jersey, there were a couple of bright spots last night, if you wanted to look for them:
- Mike Foltynewicz with another excellent, efficient outing: 94 pitches in 6-2/3 innings. 8 strikeouts, just 1 walk. In fact, the only thing that really marred his performance was one 1st inning pitch that Buster Posey was waiting on.
- Freddie Freeman exorcised a frustration demon in the 9th with a 433-foot blast to the batter’s eye in straight-away center field. After 20 strikeouts in the past 2 weeks and no homers since Cinco de Mayo, that was good to see… and… no strikeouts last night.
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On the other hand, the team just isn’t hitting very well, though one could probably argue that with four quality pitching performances in a row, it’s tough to really get anything going. The starting combination of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Chris Heston, and Tim Hudson has done a number on the Atlanta offense:
- Heston: 7.1, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 6 K
- Hudson: 7.0, 5 hits, 1 run, 0 BB, 4 K
- Greinke: 6.0, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 BB, 9 K (Win)
- Kershaw: 7.0, 4 hits, 0 runs, 0 BB, 10 K
- Total line: 27.1, 16 hits, 2 runs, 3 BB, 29 K (1-3 record)
The real problem from last night, though, was that Jim Johnson failed to hold the Giants in place, giving up 2 walks, 2 hits, and 2 runs in the 8th inning… making Freeman’s blast merely academic (though a couple of walks afterwards kept our interest in the 9th). Folty took the loss, but Johnson effectively earned it for him.
The Braves had a threat going in the 3rd inning, but couldn’t get the big hit from Freddie at that point, which could have put Hudson on the ropes. Otherwise, he was not seriously challenged, with groundball outs being the order of the day.
So now Tim Hudson has beaten every major league club except for Oakland (he might get a chance July 24-26 during a series across the Bay). Unfortunately, the task doesn’t get any easier, with Tim Lincecum on the mound tonight – another 10pm EDT start.