Atlanta Braves Shut Down By Cardinals’ Dominant Pitching

Atlanta Braves begin their 10-game road trip at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals… and get shutout.

Jaime Garcia versus Joel De La Cruz isn’t exactly a match-up of aces, but they both pitched well enough to give their squads a chance. Joel De La Cruz, in his fourth start of the season, is unfortunately still looking for his first win of the year.

Game Action

Another day, another hit for Ender Inciarte.

The first at-bat of the game looked a lot like how the Braves figured most would coming into this season, with an Ender Inciarte hit. Inciarte wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 16 games with a shot up the middle on the second pitch of the game. Man, is that guy hot right now, or what?

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In the bottom of the second, De La Cruz uncharacteristically gave up two four-pitch walks, then gave up a line-drive single to Jaime Garcia, bringing in the first, and only, run of the game for either team.

In the top of the third, De La Cruz found himself reaching for the rosin bag as he continued to have some trouble finding the strike zone. When he was missing, he was missing bad. He got out of the inning, in part, because Adonis Garcia somehow did this:

The top of the fourth was the best chance for the Braves to get on the board all night. With runners on first and third after an Inciarte walk and a Gordon Beckham hit to center field, the Braves failed to cash in. Freddie Freeman strikeout. Matt Kemp strikeout. Adonis Garcia ground out.

That strikeout by Freddie was one of four on the night, following a series with the Pirates in which he struck out seven times. Clearly, Freddie is having a hard time seeing the ball right now.

It wasn’t just Freddie, though. No one in the Braves’ starting lineup was able to figure out Garcia’s off-speed stuff, and he struck out 11 batters over eight innings.

That’s about it. Here’s a cool Frenchy assist from the sixth inning:

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Next up: Roberto Hernandez takes the mound for game two against the Cards!