Dickey’s Strong Outing Supported By Atlanta Braves’ Offense In 6-3 Win

Atlanta Braves gets a much needed win, thanks to a great outing by Dickey and some good hitting.

Prior to Sunday, the Atlanta Braves had won only 3 of their last 10 games – the amount of games played in August thus far. They entered Sunday looking to avoid getting swept by the Cardinals. This would be the last time the 2 teams face each other this season.

A Pitcher’s Game

R.A. Dickey (now 8-7), with extra rest, took the mound for Atlanta, going up against the Cardinals and Michael Wacha (now 9-5).  The Braves are the only club that Wacha has not recorded a win against, but he came in with a 7-1 record at home this year, so something had to give.

The Braves had a promising start to the game when Ender Inciarte and Brandon Phillips started off with singles, Phillips reached with a bunt single to 3rd.

However, Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play – something that has been an issue for the Braves lately. Nick Markakis then also grounded out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, Dickey walked Tommy Pham but picked him off at 1st for the 2nd out. It was originally called safe but was overturned on a Braves’ challenge.

After Dickey gave up a single to Paul DeJong, he struck out  José Martínez to end the inning.

The Braves would go hitless for the next 2 innings as Wacha constantly drew ground outs and occasional line outs. Dickey wasn’t slacking either, giving up only a single in the 3rd.

Braves Strike First

Freeman reignited the Braves’ bats in the 4th with a single to center. Following that was a single from Markakis and a walk to  Tyler Flowers.

With bases loaded, Danny Santana sneaked a hit to right to score the first run of the game.

Then an Ozzie Albies fly-out and some hustling from Markakis added a 2nd run for Atlanta.

With 2 outs, Dansby Swanson singled to load the bases again, however Dickey would ground to the pitcher to end the inning. Braves lead 2-0.

Atlanta immediately added to their lead the next inning with another lead-off single from Inciarte.

Next up, Phillips cranked one into the Braves bullpen for a 2-run homer, extending the lead to 4-0. That would be home-run #10 for our current 3rd-baseman.

Wacha got the next 3 batters out, but that would be it for him as Luke Voit came on to pinch-hit for him in the 5th. Dickey, however, continued to cruise for 7 total innings.

The Legend of Inciarte Continues

Ender Inciarte is good.  Nuff’ said. No, but really, in the top of the 7th, Inciarte hit another lead-off single for his 3rd hit of the day. He even stole 2nd before reaching 3rd on a ground-out by Phillips.

The Cardinals intentionally walked Freeman to set up a double-play opportunity. Markakis did ground one but managed to beat the throw which allowed Inciarte to score.

Flowers lined out to end the inning but the Braves had pushed the lead to 5-0.

Dickey Battling and Near Meltdown of Bullpen

In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals stirred some trouble for Dickey. Kolten Wong took a pitch to deep right for a 1-out triple. Then a single from Carson Kelly broke the shut-out bid and scored the Cardinals’ 1st run.

That followed with a walk to Greg Garcia, allowing Dexter Fowler to come out and pinch-hit. However, Dickey managed to strike out Fowler and induce a ground-out from Matt Carpenter to end the inning to complete his outing.

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Jim Johnson pitched the 8th and gave up a solo home-run to DeJong.  If that wasn’t already un-comforting, Martinez would slide one past Swanson for a hit. Grichuk then dropped a single in left before Sam Freeman came in to take over. Freeman couldn’t stop the threat, giving a RBI single to Wong.

This prompted another pitching change, bringing in Jose Ramirez. Ramirez made the threat bigger when he hit Kelly with a pitch to load the bases. Luckily, he struck out Garcia and got Molina to ground out to end the inning. -Deep sigh of relief-

In the top of the 9th, the Braves looked to add an insurance run and they did just that.  Jace Peterson, pinch-hitting, tripled to deep center and soon-after scored on a wild pitch.

Finally, Arodys Vizcaino come on to close it out for the Braves. Vizcaino would be the one bright spot out of the ‘pen for the game, pitching a shutout inning to preserve the much-needed victory.

A ground-out, a fly-out and a strike-out solidified a much needed win for the Braves.

Next: Is Acuña The Next Heir To The Throne?

Now, the Braves fly to Colorado to take on the Rockies in a 4-game series. Julio Teheran gets game 1, followed by Sean Newcomb, Mike Foltynewicz, and Lucas Sims. Game 1 is expected to start at 8:40 PM ET.