Atlanta Braves have a day to remember on several fields

And we thought that Cooperstown might be the most memorable place to be on this Sunday afternoon.  Lots of important action happening on the field of play, too.

The Atlanta Braves bats finally were able to get something going early on today in the finale of this 4-game set against the Dodgers.  And it was a really good day to get their starting pitcher that run support as Atlanta sees their first one hitter in SunTrust park.

So while Chipper had his day in upstate New York, this day in Atlanta belonged to Sean Newcomb.

Almost

It went to two outs and two strikes in the 9th inning.  Shortstop Chris Taylor.  a worm-burner between 3rd and short.  Right after a fly foul that barely reached the seats (remember:  STP has narrow bits of foul territory).  Right after a high pitch that could have been a called final strike.

That close to a no-no.

The history – and there is a lot of history – of the Braves counts 14 no-hitters.  The last of these came against the Dodgers in 1994 by Kent Mercker.  His April 8th date marked their earliest no-no during any season.

The earliest in history came way back in 1892 against the Brooklyn Grooms… a fore-runner of the Dodgers.  1944 and 1950 also saw the Braves shut down other Dodger teams, so they’ve been a frequent victim of outstanding Braves’ pitching.

Since coming to Atlanta, Phil Niekro (a Hall of Famer who was also in Cooperstown today) accomplished the feat against the Padres in 1973 and a combination of Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena did it again to San Diego in 1991.

Newcomb now joins Mike Foltynewicz and Shelby Miller in taking no-hitters into the 9th innings in recent years.

Enough Offense

The scoring came in the 1st and 3rd innings thanks to timely extra base hits.

Freddie Freeman singled in he 1st and was doubled home by Nick Markakis.  In turn, he was doubled home by Kurt Suzuki… all of that coming with 2 outs in the inning.

In the third, Markakis homered to drive in Ozzie Albies to make it 4-0.  Markakis had a 3 for 4 day, scoring twice and driving in 3 of the 4 runs.  He’s hitting a robust .320 now.

8 Strikeouts, 1 Hit

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The excitement for Newcomb built through the entire game.  Lots of crisp fastballs were the order of the day punctuated by the occasional curve.  Late in the game, he was still pumping low-to-mid-90’s on his fastball and painting the outside corner.

Only Yasiel Puig reached before the 9th.  That happened via a walk to lead off the 6th inning.  A flyout and 2 strikeouts left him stranded there.

After the hit by Taylor, Newcomb was pulled from the game immediately – entirely due to his 134 pitches.

If you’re into pitching ‘game scores’, Newcomb had an 85.  That’s impressive.

Dan Winkler finished up, though Taylor took 2nd uncontested and gave up a hit himself to score Taylor (charged to Newcomb, unfortunately).  A Kemp groundout ended the game and preserved a 4-1 victory.

New from elsewhere:  The Braves also gained ground against the Phillies (losers to the Reds 4-0) and over the Nationals (5-0 at the Marlins).  That latter game could certainly have implications on the fate of the Nats’ quest for the post-season.

Congratulations, Sean – you owned the Dodgers today… and one scratch hit doesn’t take a thing away from that.  You definitely had it all working today!