Atlanta Braves Stumble Into the Second Half

Rockies show the Braves why they have one of the top offenses in the NL…even without being in the light air of Coors Field.

Upon reflection, maybe John Coppolella should have listened more urgently to those calls asking about the availability of Lucas Harrell.

Harrell, in what might have been thought of as a showcase game for him, was pounded early and often by Colorado:  7 hits and 7 earned runs in the first 4 innings, along with 3 walks besides.  How bad was it for Harrell?  The carnage included a throwing error by him and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Harrell’s departure set up an odd set of opposing pitchers:  Joel De La Cruz for the Braves and starter Jorge De La Rosa for the Rockies.  But it was the latter hurler who had the upper hand early in the game as the home team’s offense came out of the gate looking like zombies.

Abbreviated Efforts

The bad news piled up, early and often tonight – first via the early runs from Colorado; next from an injury that will cause issues later.

The Braves did get two runners on in the second frame, but Erick Aybar snuffed that by hitting into a double play.

In the fifth, Atlanta finally broke through with a pair of doubles by Ender Inciarte and the pinch-hitting Brandon Snyder.  Another hit by Adonis Garcia promised to make it 7-2, but Carlos Gonzalez threw a strike from right field to get Snyder at the plate by a hip… ending that threat.

The threat was renewed in the sixth with consecutive hits by Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis, and Jeff Francoeur.  That made it 7-2.  Just as quickly, though, outs from Pierzynski, Inciarte and Aybar cut that rally short.

After being the victims of a triple play in Chicago, the Braves almost handed the Rockies one of their own.  In the top of the 7th with 2 runners on against Ian Krol, a shot was hit toward third, where Adonis Garcia trapped the ball, then whipped it around the horn for a 5-4-3 double play.  Freddie Freeman then fired the ball back to third base where Erick Aybar was organizing a protest that Nolan Arenado should have run to third.

That’s actually true, except the tagging second base removed the force play on him, and Arenado – who knew the rule – was able to return there safely.  Had the Braves tagged the Rockies’ third baseman along the way, then the triple play might have been possible (though it was close at first base).  If nothing else, that play allowed Krol – and Mauricio Cabrera, who followed him – to avoid any more damage before the stretch.

Seventh inning for the Braves:  rinse and repeat… two runners on, but after Boone Logan entered the game, he threw one pitch and Freeman hit it into an inning ending double play.

The theme seems to be that Atlanta couldn’t stand the prosperity of having 2 runners on and less than two outs.  Thus the chances to derail De La Rosa (and his supporting cast) were there, but without the “big hit”, few were cashed in, and thus the game stayed out of reach.

‘It’ Happened Again

Better news was supposed to be happening in the 9th inning, when Arodys Vizcaino came in – in a “non-save, no-stress situation” – to get back on track after some rough outings and with a cured elbow that had bothered him of late with an infected skin issue.

4 pitches into his outing, that changed as it seemed evident that Vizzy tweaked his right-side oblique.

That’s not good… if that eyeballed diagnosis is confirmed, he’ll be done… probably until at least some point in September.  No trade chance and now no back-ender for the bullpen.

That makes for an interesting mash-up in the bullpen… we’ll have to see how the Braves handle it.  The broadcasters noted that among other things, Eric O’Flaherty is getting close to returning.  Whether it becomes a closer-by-committee situation or something else, the Braves lost a key member of the relief corps tonight.

Dario Alvarez took over for Vizcaino tonight.

Alvarez didn’t help matters.

While 2 runners were charged to Vizcaino (1 via a questionable error on Peterson; the second via the walk completed after he departed), Alvarez finished loading up the bases with walks, then allowed a Grand Slam at the hand of pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn.  Not the result he had been delivering in most outings.

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One quick note:  C Anthony Recker got his first Atlanta AB in the 9th… and singled sharply to right center.  Nicely done.

Otherwise, it was a quiet finish for the home club as they fell by a total of 11-2.  We’ll see how Julio Teheran comes back from his All-Star appearance on Sunday; tomorrow it’s Mike Foltynewicz against the Rox.