Atlanta Braves Even Up Series in San Fran with 3-1 Win
By Dan Horton
The Atlanta Braves rewarded Mike Foltynewicz with a win on the road in San Francisco; even up series with 3-1 win.
It was a rather uneventful Saturday night at AT&T Park. Over the first six innings, Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz had allowed only 3 hits and run.
A homer from Brandon Crawford gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. That score held until the top of the fourth.
In fourth, Adonis Garcia started the inning off with a single left field. Freddie Freeman followed that up with a double to right.
The next hitter was Matt Kemp, who proceeded to deposit a long home run over the center field wall. It was Kemp’s 26th of the year and RBI’s 82, 83, and 84.
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Giants pitcher Albert Suarez started the fifth. After a lead off single to Ender Inciarte, he was pulled in favor of Javier Lopez.
Atlanta had an opportunity to extend the lead in the sixth. However, a nice play from Giants right fielder Gorkys Hernandez snuffed out the chance.
After a 2 out double from Tyler Flowers, Jace Peterson was put on intentionally. Braves rookie Dansby Swanson singled to right.
Flowers was attempting to score but Hernandez, on a shallow liner, thre out Flowers, and it wasn’t even close. The decision to send Flowers was not a bad one since Folty was waiting on deck, and already with a lead, took the chance.
A slightly scary moment occurred for Braves fans in the fourth inning. A fine play from Swanson under-shadowed how the play came to be.
Giants infielder Joe Panik laced a come-backer that caromed off of Folty’s backside. Swanson made a very alert recovery to still get the out, but the eyes were on Folty.
He waved off trainers indicating all was well and continued to finish the inning. Folty not only finished the inning, but he had one his best outings of the season tonight.
Mike lasted 7 and 2/3 strong, effective innings. He allowed 1 run on 5 hits, walked 1 while striking out 6. Folty threw 103 pitches. 71 of them were for strikes. A walk to Angel Pagan in the 7th ended his night.
Mauricio Cabrera and Jim Johnson finished off the Giants in the 8th and 9th.
Next: Braves Stumble in Opener to Giants
The Braves go for a series win tomorrow at 4:05 EST. In the final game of the set, Atlanta will give Aaron Blair another shot. Blair is 0-5 with a 7.99 ERA. The Giants will counter with slugger, sometimes pitcher Madison Bumgarner. MadBum is 12-8 with a 2.44 ERA.