Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: The Streak is Over! Braves Top Nats 4-1.
Jul 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher
Jason Grilli(39) and catcher
A.J. Pierzynski(15) celebrate their win over the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. The Braves won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
It can be done – the Atlanta Braves can defeat the Nationals.
A four-run outburst in the fourth inning was all that was necessary to bolster Matt Wisler in his third major league start while he went out and displayed the comeback poise of a veteran. He spent 5.1 innings pitching away from trouble when warranted and missed bats when he needed to go for the kill. The final tally was no runs, 1 hit, 5 scattered walks*, and 6 strikeouts. He goes to 2-1 and drops his ERA to 2.60.
* – some of those walks were semi-intentional; some were courtesy of umpire C.B. Bucknor… so no, I’m not concerned at that total.
Five relievers carried the Braves from there – only Nick Masset running into a bit of trouble. Jason Grilli mercifully ended the contest with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record his 22nd save which sent the 19,393 fans (or thereabouts) braving the weather home happy.
Catcher A.J. Pierzynski had an eventful evening. Right away, a “conversation” was in progress with umpire Bucknor about certain pitches and certain calls. After the second inning, it seemed that one of that pair wouldn’t see the end of the game… and I’m pretty sure it was going to be Pierzynski that would be excused. But circumstances seemed to improve over time: strikeouts mounted for Wisler and Pierzynski got himself an offensive contribution.
Boom, go the Bats… Down went the Nats
Nats Starter Doug Fister was throwing pitches ‘up’ much of the night – and as our erstwhile radio crew of Don Sutton and Jim Powell reported, that’s a really good sign for opposing hitters.
There were 11 ground ball outs, but 10 flies… and 2 big flies among 7 Braves’ hits.
In the decisive 4th, Cameron Maybin ripped a single up through the middle, followed by a Nick Markakis fly to short LF. Then Pierzynski beat the shift – he hit over it into the right field seats. 2-0 Braves. Juan Uribe then followed with a shot of his own to straightaway CF. 3-0.
Even with these back-to-back jacks, Atlanta wasn’t finished. A Kelly Johnson single was followed by a groundout to the right side of the infield by Andrelton Simmons which moved Johnson to second. Eury Perez was then handed an intentional walk with 2 outs so that the Nationals could face Matt Wisler.
That turned out to be a mistake. On an 0-2 count, Wisler managed to stroke the ball into right field for a single – his first major league hit. That came with an RBI and made it 4-0.
From there, the pitching made that number stand up, which was particularly good to see after this same Nationals club whacked the ball around early and often against Wisler just last week. But this time he clearly had a plan and executed it well. The result: a Braves win, breaking a losing streak of 9 in a row to this Nationals team.
Data compiled and presented via Brooks Baseball. Link: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zoneTrack.php?month=7&day=01&year=2015&game=gid_2015_07_01_wasmlb_atlmlb_1/&prevDate=0701