Swisher’s 2 Home Runs Not Enough as Atlanta Braves Drop Game, Series to Cubs 9-7
By Dan Horton
The Atlanta Braves were in Chicago Saturday afternoon for a 4:00 PM EST start. Williams Perez was the man for Atlanta as he tried to not only right his own ship, but the Braves as well. Atlanta has dropped the first two games of this long 4-game set in the Windy City.
The Cubbies got on the board first, shocker, I know. Perez was rocky at best to get things going. A lead off triple to Dexter Fowler and a walk to Kyle Schwarber put runners on 1st and 3rd. Perez retired Chris Coghlan on strikes for out number one. Anthony Rizzo grounded to Freddie Freeman at first for what probably should have been an inning double-play.
As fate would have it, Freddie caught a bad hop and bobbled the ball long enough to allow Fowler to score from third. Freeman did record the out at first, but the run was in. Perez ended the inning with no more damage being accrued.
The Braves responded very nicely! A lead off, hustle double by A.J. Pierzynski and a opposite field homer for Nick Swisher put the Braves on top 2-1. It was Nick’s second round tripper as a Brave and 4th on the season.
With two down in the Cubs second, Addison Russel blooped in a single that fell just out of the reach of a sliding Cameron Maybin. Jorge Soler had singled earlier in the frame and moved into scoring position on a Dan Haren ground out. Soler was running on contact with 2 out and scored easily from second, tying the game at 2 a piece.
Cubs star Anthony Rizzo broke the tie in the 3rd with an opposite field homer of his own. After the first out was made by Coghlan, Rizzo teed off on the Perez offering. Fortunately, it was of the solo variety. Still, his 25th long ball on the year gave the Cubs the lead 3-2.
The 4th for Atlanta started off promising. Back to back singles from AJP and Adonis Garcia made it seem like a very lucrative inning could develop. However, back to back popups and a ground out killed that idea.
No one in that inning saw very many pitches. The patience, or lack thereof lately, in this lineup is discouraging. Not making the pitcher’s work, trying to get deep into counts, and seemingly trying to to do too much at the plate is becoming contagious. The opportunity for a big inning in the 4th was there, but for some reason, everyone was pressing. At least it looks like it to me.
They would get something brewing again in the 5th. A one-out ground-rule double from Nick Markakis and a long single by Maybin put Braves at the corners. The single by Maybin signaled the end of the day for Haren. He wasn’t too thrilled about it either. Haren only lasted 4 1/3.
Freddie Freeman tied the game again with a LONG double to center that bounced off the wall. Markakis scored and Maybin stopped at 3rd. AJP then sent a hard hit single to Coghlan that he couldn’t handle on a dive. The ball trickled to shallow center and both Maybin and Freeman scored. So much for the lack of hits with runners in scoring position comment … 5-3 Braves!
Our man Nick (Swisher that is) blasted his second long ball of the day, this time from the right side of the plate, to left field again. That brought AJ around to score and push the lead to 7-3 Bravos, and cap off the scoring in the 5th. Finally, a big inning, a five run inning to be precise; such a sight for sore eyes.
Perez pitched himself into trouble in the Cub half of the 5th. Having tallied only one out, Perez surrendered a single to Fowler and a walk to Coghlan. He was able to get Rizzo to fly out to Maybin for out number two. However, Cubs rookie Kris Bryant wouldn’t let the opportunity go to waste. Bryant roped a double to left and scored both Fowler and Coghlan to put the Cubs within two.
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Perez labored all day long and he couldn’t get out of the fifth. He left a change up out over the plate to Miguel Montero and he shot it to right. Bryant trotted home to make it 7-6. Just when it looked like the game was out of reach, the Cubs come roaring back. But as we’ve come to learn this season, no lead is safe with this staff.
Matt Marksberry, in for the 6th, gave up the lead on a home run to Addison Russell … but did he? Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez challenged the home run call. I thought it was a great challenge, but the umpires apparently couldn’t determine if the ball was interfered with BEFORE going over the netting or not.
It was obvious that the fan reached out over the net, but where it hit the fan was, I guess, the deciding factor. Either way, tie game in ChiTown. Aside from the home run, Marksberry looked good in an inning and a third, striking out 4.
The score held at 7 all until the bottom of the 8th. With Edwin Jackson on, he served up back to back jacks to Montero and Soler to go ahead 9-7, completing the Cubs come back bid. The Braves could not hold a 4 run lead and now trailed 9-7. Six unanswered runs given up by Atlanta pitching.
Seven runs should be enough to win you ball games, as long as you have a reliable bullpen to hold those leads. Right now, they don’t and the Braves lose game 3 of the 4 game series 9-7.
On a day where the bats came to life and put up 7 runs and double digit hits, it was still not enough. All losses are tough, but this one stings. To have the pen falter and Williams Perez off most of the day, you just hate to see this kind of loss hung on the team.
Tomorrow’s starters are Matt Wisler (5-3, 4.65) for Atlanta and Jason Hammel (6-5, 3.37). First pitch is slated for 2:20 PM.