Friday, April 19, 2013

Game 15 Recap: Atlanta Braves (13-2) at Pittsburgh Pirates (7-8)

Braves began their 10 game road trip that would span the cities of Pittsburgh, Denver, and Detroit after splitting a two game series at home against the Royals. Julio Teheran looked to get his first win of 2013 after his previous two starts resulted in no decisions. Jeff Locke got the ball for the Pirates tonight as he looks to build off of his strong start in which he defeated the Reds.

First Inning:

News Photo: Upton of the Atlanta Braves rounds third base…


PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 18: B.J. Upton #2 of the Atlanta Braves rounds third base after hitting a lead-off home run in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18, 2013 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Braves were shutout in Wednesday's loss to the Royals. BJ Upton quickly got the Braves on the board with a lead off solo HR to LF, his 2nd of the season. Jason Heyward and Justin Upton each struck out to pick up the first two outs of the inning. Chris Johnson then lined a single to CF. Dan Uggla flied out to Travis Snider to end the Braves 1st. Julio Teheran took the mound for his third start of the season and quickly struck out Starling Marte. Teheran then found himself in trouble as he allowed a walk to Travis Snider and Andrew McCutchen hit a bloop double to RF. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Garrett Jones hit a sacrifice fly to BJ Upton, scoring Snider to tie the game 1-1. Neil Walker followed with a 5-pitch walk, but Teheran got out of the inning when Pedro Alvarez grounded out to Uggla.

Second Inning: 
Jeff Locke went back on the mound for his second inning of work and gave up a lead off single to Juan Francisco. On a 1-1 count to Simmons, he hits into a 5-4 fielder's choice. With Gerald Laird at the plate, Simmons was caught trying to steal 2B for the second out of the inning. Laird then forced a 2-out walk before Teheran flied out to Snider to end the inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Teheran gave up a solo HR to Russell Martin, giving the Pirates the 2-1 lead. Clint Barmes and Jeff Locke followed with consecutive ground outs. Teheran struck out Starling Marte for the second time to end the second inning.

Third Inning:

News Photo: Chris Johnson of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after…

PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 18: Chris Johnson #23 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the game on April 18, 2013 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

BJ Upton and Heyward began the third inning with 2 quick ground outs. Justin Upton forced a 4-pitch, 2-out walk. On a 1-0 count to Chris Johnson, he laced a towering 2-run homer to dead CF to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Uggla followed with a ground out to Neil Walker to end the Braves half of the third. Teheran again found himself in trouble as he gave up a lead off double to Travis Snider. McCutchen flied out to Justin Upton in LF, keeping Snider at 2B with 1 out. On a 1-1 pitch to Garrett Jones, Teheran hits him, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Neil Walker then ground into the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Braves led 3-2 after three.

Fourth Inning:
Juan Francisco led off the fourth with a ground out to Barmes. Andrelton Simmons flied out to Marte for the second out. Laird then reached 1B on a fielding error by Pedro Alvarez. Teheran followed with an infield single and suddenly the Braves were threatening with two outs. Locke put an end to that rally as he struck out BJ to end the inning. Pedro Alvarez led off the Pirates half of the 4th with a solo shot to CF to tie the game 3-3. Teheran then hit Russell Martin, his second hit batter of the night. Clint Barmes followed with a fly out to BJ Upton in CF for the first out. Locke moved Martin over to 2B with a sacrifice bunt. For the third time in the game, Teheran struck out Marte to end the fourth.

Fifth Inning:
Jason Heyward led off the fifth with a fly out to Snider in RF. Justin Upton then ripped a solo homer to LF for his 9th 4-bagger of the season, giving the Braves a 4-3 lead. Chris Johnson followed with a base on balls, but is gunned down by Russell Martin as he was trying to move to 2B on the wild pitch by Locke. Uggla forced a 5-pitch walk with two outs. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle decided to go into his bullpen early and Justin Wilson came in to finish the inning. On Wilson's second pitch of the night, Francisco grounded out to Walker at 2B to end the top half of the fifth inning. Teheran again allows a lead off baserunner with a Travis Snider double to RF. Snider then moved to 3B on Teheran's wild pitch. McCutchen was unable to bring the runner home as he grounded out to Francisco at 3B. Garrett Jones was able to bring Snider home as he hit a 2-out double to RF, tying the game 4-4. Teheran struck out Neil Walker for the second out and intentionally walked Pedro Alvarez to bring up Russell Martin. Martin made him pay by reaching on an infield single, loading the bases for Clint Barmes. Barmes could not break the game open as he flied out to BJ to end the inning.

Sixth Inning:
The sixth inning started off nicely for the Braves as Simmons earned himself a 5-pitch walk. Laird laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Simmons into scoring position with one out. Reed Johnson came to the plate to pinch hit for Teheran and BATTLED with Justin Wilson, but unfortunately, flied out to Snider for the second out. Simmons moved up to 3B on the Wilson wild pitch with BJ at the plate. Clint Hurdle then signaled Justin Wilson to intentionally walk Upton and force a lefty-lefty match up with Heyward. Hurdle's strategy was a success as Wilson struck out Heyward to end the top of the sixth. Anthony Varvaro relieved Teheran and quickly struck out pinch hitter Alex Presley and Starling Marte. Varvaro capped off the 1-2-3 inning with a Travis Snider ground out to Chris Johnson at 1B. 4-4 tie after six.

Seventh Inning: 
Justin Upton led off the seventh with a fly out to Marte in RF and Chris Johnson followed by striking out for the first two outs of the inning. Uggla forced his second walk of the night, but was stranded on 1B as Francisco struck out. Varvaro went back out to the mound for his second inning of work. Andrew McCutchen grounded out to Simmons to begin the inning. Varvaro wrapped up his two inning outing with strikeouts of Garrett Jones and Neil Walker.

Eighth Inning:

News Photo: Evan Gattis of the Atlanta Braves hits a…


PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 18: Evan Gattis #24 of the Atlanta Braves hits a two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning, putting the Braves up 6-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18, 2013 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)


Simmons again led off the inning with a walk. Just like he did in the sixth, Laird moved to Simmons into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Evan Gattis came to the plate to pinch hit for Varvaro and absolutely crushed a Jared Hughes 2-0 pitch for a 2-run homer, giving the Braves the lead again, 6-4. On the next pitch, BJ roped a double to LF, but Heyward lined into a 6-unassisted double play to Clint Barmes. Eric O'Flaherty was summoned to the mound to pitch the eighth and quickly retired the side as Alvarez, Martin, and Barmes flew out to Justin Upton in LF, grounded out to Francisco at 3B, and flew out to BJ in CF respectively.

Ninth Inning:

News Photo: Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves pitches in…

PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 18: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the ninth inning against the 
Pittsburgh Pirates during the game on April 18, 2013 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Braves defeated the Pirates 6-4. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Vin Mazzaro came in to pitch the ninth for the Pirates and quickly retired Justin Upton who popped out to Martin in foul territory. Chris Johnson singled to RF, his third hit of the game. Uggla followed with a single through the left side of the infield. Francisco again struck out on three pitches. A Russell Martin passed ball moved Uggla and Johnson to 2nd and 3rd with two outs, but Simmons stranded both runners as he grounded out to 1B. Craig Kimbrel came on to attempt to record his seventh save of the season. And that he did as he struck out the side in order sealing the 6-4 win for the Braves.

Player(s) of the Game - Evan Gattis/Braves Bullpen
Evan Gattis had been scuffling a bit in his last few games, going hitless in his last twelve at-bats. He quickly ended that slump with a 2-run homer, his fifth of the season, to LF which untied the game and put the Braves ahead for good. Braves bullpen once again was spectacular as they completely shut down the Pirates bats. In four innings of work, the bullpen allowed no hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out five, three of which belonged to Kimbrel. Braves lead the majors in bullpen ERA (1.36).

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