Atlanta Braves lose in extras against Nationals, despite Dickey’s gem

After the series opener ran into a three-hour sun delay, the second game of the Braves-Nationals series started on time, despite very similar conditions from the day before.

Hot off of a dominant 5-2 victory against the division rival Nats, the Atlanta Braves gave the ball to 44-year-old R.A. Dickey. Typically, you’d hope Dickey would just keep the Braves in the game long enough for the Braves’ offense to get past Max Scherzer and into the Nats’ bullpen, but Dickey has been pitching well, and that trend continued Friday night.

Through five innings, there wasn’t much to talk about in regards to the Washington Nationals’ offense. Atlanta Braves’ starter R.A. Dickey had allowed no hits and just a lone walk through five scoreless.

Ender Inciarte led off the 4th inning with a double into the right-center field gap, and scored on a Brandon Phillips single to give the Braves a 1-0 lead against Scherzer, last year’s NL Cy Young award winner.

The 6th inning would play out in similar fashion for the Nats, Stephen Drew doubled down the right field line, and Matt Wieters drove him in with a single of his own. 1-1 after 6 innings.

Heeeeere’s Freddie!

Well, Freddie Freeman was having none of this ‘tie game’ nonsense. The Atlanta Braves’ third baseman (still getting used to saying that) led off the top of the 7th with a shot to left field that barely stayed fair,  but cleared the high wall nonetheless. This was his first home run since coming off the DL. 2-1 Braves.

The Braves’ one-run lead was in jeopardy during the next half-inning. A Ryan Zimmerman single and a wild throw from Dickey that plunked Anthony Rendon set up a 2 on, 2 out dilemma. Brian Snitker went out to talk to Dickey after he drilled Rendon, decided to leave the veteran in the ballgame.

Good move, Snit.  R.A. induced a pop-up just behind 2nd base, and got out of the inning with the lead still intact. 100 pitches over 7 innings yielded a 4th straight quality start for the knuckleballer, and put him in line for the victory.

More about that later.

Scherzer’s gem just wasn’t enough.

Max Scherzer was very Scherzer-eqsue against a pretty good Braves lineup, and he had to be to give his club a fighting chance against Dickey’s great outing. ‘Mad Max’ went 7 & 2/3 strong innings, giving up 4 hard fought runs on 6 Braves hits, fanning 10 and walking a man in the 8th.

Scherzer was forced out of the game at 120 pitches after walking Inciarte and allowing a Brandon Phillips single, and the Braves began licking their lips at the smell of the Nationals’ bullpen.

Oliver Pérez relieved Scherzer to face Freddie Freeman, who sent a single into the 5.5 gap, scoring Inciarte and Phillips, who moved up to 2nd on a defensive indifference, to make it a 4-1 ballgame. Advantage, Braves.

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José Ramirez relieved R.A. Dickey, and did an excellent job. Despite a walk, José struck out two batters and got pinch-hitter Adam Lind to line out to Nick Markakis to end the inning.

Jim Johnson, however, was about as good as bad can be. The Braves’ closer blew his 7th save of the season, and ruined Dickey’s chances of getting a much deserved win.

First Bryce Harper singled. Then Ryan Zimmerman walked. Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy followed with RBI singles, and Matt Wieters ended Johnson’s night with a sacrifice fly to tie the game, 4-4.

Sam Freeman was finally able to come in and pop up Brian Goodwin for the final out of the 9th inning to send the game into extra-innings.

To extras, we go…

The Braves couldn’t string together a rally in the 10th. Matt Grace walked Inciarte and Freeman, and Matt Albers came in to double up Matt Kemp to remove the Braves from a run-scoring situation.

The bottom of the 10th was where Braves fans’ hopes of a sweep died. Ian Krol wasn’t his best self Friday night. He allowed 3 singles, including a walk-off hit by Daniel Murphy over Matt Kemp‘s head that likely would have been a double if the Adrian Sanchez had not scored to end the game.

Notes:

• R.A Dickey has notched 4 straight quality starts, and his trade value may be the highest it’s been all season, although still not terribly high. One more start may be all the vet sees with the Atlanta Braves
• Freddie Freeman has raised his batting average 8 points from .341 to .349 since coming back EARLY from a broken wrist on Tuesday
• Max Scherzer notched the 60th 10-strikeout game of his career against the Braves. This is the most of any pitcher in the MLB since his career began
• Jim Johnson gave up multiple runs for the 7th time this season, and also blew his 7th save of the year. I’ve been saying since last year that Arodys Vizcaino should be closing games for the Braves.
• José Ramirez struck out multiple batters in an inning for the 11th time this season. The Braves’ reliever has
• Braves’ skipper Brian Snitker was tossed from the game after a questionable ‘no swing’ call on a check swing from Matt Weiters, who clearly took a swing at a 1-1 pitch before his game-tying sacrifice fly
• Dansby Swanson‘s struggles against the slider continued, as Scherzer set him down 3 times on the night

Next: Reeling in your SRod

This loss against the Nats was one of the most disappointing of the year for the Atlanta Braves, but Julio Teheran looks to continue his success on the road in the third game of this four-game series, while Braves hitters will face another tough pitcher in Stephen Strasburg.