Atlanta Braves Falter Late With A Couple Ghastly Plays and Wild Pitches

Braves Play Well Thru 7, But Have Ugly Late Innings, Lose 4-3

Atlanta Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz pitched a fantastic game, but the Colorado Rockies came back late in the game to stun the Braves at Turner Field.  This was game two of the three-game series between the Braves and the Rockies.  Game one was extremely ugly with a blowout loss, but game two we had in the bag!

Our Runs

With two outs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, Ender Inciarte hit a sharp line drive to right field.  He was able to slide into second base for a double (he slid very late at second, but luckily he was not injured on the slide).  Next batter up, A.J. Pierzynski.  With two outs and a 0-2 count, Pierzynski blasted his first home run of the season to right field.  Braves up 2-0!

We wouldn’t see another run touch the plate until the bottom of the 7th inning.

Inciarte led off the inning with a walk on four pitches and then Pierzynski singled on an awesome bunt down the 3rd base line.  Erick Aybar grounded into a double play, but this moved Inciarte to 3rd.

Braves offense again answered with two outs as this time it was Foltynewicz himself with an RBI single to center field scoring Inciarte.  Braves up 3-0

That’s all folks…Braves offense had seven hits and took a 3-0 lead into the top of the 8th inning.

Folty’s Nasty Start

Foltynewicz was by far the star of the night.  Not only did he have the RBI single, but he pitched into the 8th inning.  Prior to the 8th inning, Folty gave up only two hits – one should have been an error by Adonis Garcia at third as a mid-play somehow turned into a hit – one walk and had five strikeouts.

Folty headed into the 8th inning with 95 pitches under his belt, but was cruising.

Ryan Raburn led off the inning with a sharp ground ball to center field.  With the game still 3-0 Braves, Manager Brian Snitker stuck with his starter.

“He was on the attack and just really, really good,” Snitker said of Folty after the game.  “It’s a shame we couldn’t hold on and get him a win.

Then the Mark Reynolds at-bat happened.

The Call That Changed The Game

On a 3-2 pitch to Reynolds, Folty and the entire Braves fan base thought we had a strikeout.  Folty hit the outside corner and as we saw on FOX pitch tracker, it was a strike.  BUT the umpire didn’t call it that way.  You could clearly see the displeasure from Folty after the call was made.

Here is the pitch that was called ball four.  This could have changed the outcome of tonight’s game.

“We’ve talked about that and that’s something he’s got to work on.  I realize in a competitive arena, one thing you have to do is control your emotions and that’s something we’ve talked about more than once.  That’s part of the learning process for this young man because he’s a competitor.”

When asked about his reaction to the pitch after the game, Folty responded with a polite “no comment”.

After this walk, Folty gave up a single to Nick Hundley that scored Raburn.

Then, it got extremely ugly as the Rockies entered our bullpen.

“Especially against a lineup like that, they’re hot and a great lineup.  I was pitching my butt off tonight and it’s just really unlucky the way it unfolded there in the 8th (inning).  I put my bullpen in a bad situation”

The 8th Showers

Hunter Cervenka replaced Folty and threw a wild pitch by Pierzynski that scored Reynolds.  Braves still up 3-2.

DJ LeMahieu then hit a ball to Gordon Beckham at second base which he almost makes a spectacular play, but couldn’t make the throw to first base.  Freeman wasn’t able to scoop the ball in the dirt and the ball got past him.  Hundley scores to tie the game.

In the top of the 9th inning with Jim Johnson pitching, Trevor Story singled to right field to start us off.

With Reynolds batting, Johnson threw a wild pitch past Pierzynski – yes, we’re getting tied of typing “wild pitch”.  This moved Story to third base.

Reynolds then hits a ball to short, which Aybar comes up firing to home.  BUT Aybar short-hops Pierzynski and the ball gets by him.  Braves down 4-3

Atlanta has now been charged with eight wild pitches in the past two nights.  Unreal.  Previously in the history of the Braves, they have never had more than seven wild pitches in a series.

“We can’t do that, that’s something we’ve got to get away from and it’s something we haven’t been doing.  We’ve been playing really good defense and it’s tough when it’s against a team like this.  You can’t give them more than 27 outs and we did and it hurt us.”

Folty’s Positives

Like I talked about above, Folty pitched great.  He was hitting close to 100 mph for much of Saturday night’s game.  The 24-year-old was on the mound for the Braves seven complete innings and three batters into the 8th inning.  It’s a shame the Braves couldn’t get this victory for Foltynewciz.

These have been back-to-back great starts from him as his previous one against the White Sox was great – 7 innings pitched, five hits, no runs, no walks, 10 strikeouts.

“I’ve been going out there and throwing really great stuff.  Fastball command has been awesome and my off-speed is coming together.  I’ve been really happy with how I’ve been pitching lately and just have to keep rocking from there.”