Atlanta Braves offense shuts off in the second half; lose 5-3 in extras

Brandon McCarthy went six innings while Johan Camargo hit a 3-run home run, but the Braves couldn’t beat the Nationals in 14 innings

The Atlanta Braves won the first two games of the series behind strong outings from Sean Newcomb and Mike Foltynewicz and got a good one from Brandon McCarthy but it wasn’t enough.

The Nationals got an early lead in the second with a long 2-run home run by Michael A. Taylor. McCarthy remained calm and eventually settled in to give the Braves a chance.

Gio Gonzalez had a perfect game going into the fifth inning but Nick Markakis broke that up with a single to right. Immediately thereafter, Tyler Flowers knocked a single into right as Markakis pulled up to third. Both hits were on first pitches for the at-bat.

Up came Johan Camargo with runners at first and third. After two balls, Camargo hammered his fifth homer on the season. Braves take the lead 3-2!

Freddie Freeman made an amazing sweeping catch to get Bryce Harper out in the sixth. Harper lined a fast one towards Freeman who made the catch, fell back but got up in time to get the out.

In the bottom of the inning, he hit one to left for a 2-out double but the Braves couldn’t score him.

Changing Paces

McCarthy pitched a good 6 innings Saturday afternoon.  He struck out seven batters and even retired the last eight that he faced before being pulled on a hot Atlanta afternoon.

Sam Freeman came into the game in the seventh and almost immediately gave up the lead. Freeman first met Juan Soto and three pitches later, gave up a game-tying home run.

Freeman has not been as effective as he was last season and it seems like he’s often the cause of a lead lost or more damage. However, surprisingly he only has a 3.22 ERA; maybe he only seems worse because of the outstanding performances of Dan Winkler and Shane Carle.

Speaking of Carle, he came out for the eighth and struck out two, including Bryce Harper on a wicked corner-painting job.

SunTrust Park also hosted a special guest, Drax himself:  actor and former WWE superstar Dave Bautista. He even took on Blooper!

Extra Baseball Coming Up!

A.J. Minter pitched the top of the ninth and faced the minimum for the Braves to have a chance to walk off.

However, Sammy Solis faced Freeman and Markakis who both grounded out. Shawn Kelley came out to face Flowers and struck him out to send the game to overtime.

Most of the Braves bullpen held up their end as well, all of them having at least one day of rest thanks to Mike Foltynewicz‘s gem Friday night.

Jesse Biddle, after having early trouble, finished the day with eight strikeouts over three innings of relief. That’s not a typo.  He was the first to have eight K’s in relief for the Braves over any outing length since 1970.  But even beyond that…

Braves Gone Cold

22 batters up, 22 batters down for Atlanta. That was how the Braves were after a 2-out Charlie Culberson single with two outs in the seventh. The Nationals bullpen were doing their part just as the Braves were.

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However, in the 14th inning, with the roster cutting down, Miguel Socolovich took the mound for the Braves. Coming in, he had an ERA of 9.00 in three games.

It was during that part of extra inning games when you get that feeling that the opponent team could be the one to score first and it doesn’t seem good. That was this inning when Socolovich came in.

Mark Reynolds flied out to start the inning but that too was hit slightly deep center.

Following him was Max Scherzer to pinch-hit. Yes the Nationals ace and HE smacked a single through the middle! Again, that uneasy feeling remember?

Taylor flied out before Wilmer Difo hit one into the deep gap for a RBI triple and you can hear the awwww in the crowd (and maybe some clapping from the few Nationals fans). Right after that, Spencer Kieboom hit the first pitch to single in another run. Socolovich walked Brian Goodwin before getting Trea Turner to ground out.

*Turner’s hitting streak ends at 13… which included five strikeouts.

Sean Doolittle came on to close it for the Nationals, getting Peter Bourjos and Ozzie Albies to fly out and Ender Inciarte to line out. Braves lose 5-3 in 14 innings.

Of Note

While the Braves hitters were doing a lot of U-turns at the plate, there was a curious bullpen decision that loomed larger as the game wore on:  Dan Winkler and Arodys Vizcaino didn’t pitch today… which gave them both 2 full days off (though both warmed up Friday evening).

It’s easy to complain here that the best relievers were left in their chairs Saturday afternoon.  That said, it takes both a strong defense and a viable offense to win these games, and the Braves’ hitters were utterly unable to produce anything for 4 innings early on and 6+ innings late.

Next: The Braves Need You To Vote

The Braves continue their attempt to take the series tomorrow at 1:35 PM ET. Anibal Sanchez versus Jeremy Hellickson.