In a game that first crawled due to a deluge of walks (but few runs) and then saw dueling late-inning paroxysms in each team’s final time at the plate, the Braves eventually emerged victorious. But boy, was it a winding path to get there.
At the beginning of this contest, things seemed like they were going to drag on forever with little to show for it. After a one-walk, no other action first from Martin Perez, the Braves took aim at Michael King, who dominated them a few weeks ago in San Diego, and…
…he did not dominate this time. In fact, King walked the first three batters he faced, grimacing and looking generally uncomfy all the while. A groundout from Michael Harris II plated a run, but both Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski kind of lost the plot and went down looking. Yastrzemski, in particular, looked at five straight pitches to end the inning… the Braves’ track record with guys skimping on rehab **** ignments this year is looking abysmal.
Staked to a small lead, Perez did his normal thing — it just happened to work out this time. He walked two in the second, but then recovered with two punchouts. The Braves got a couple of singles against a resurgent-ish King in the bottom of the inning, but Ozzie Albies struck out on a changeup that was literally in the other batter’s box. There was another walk from Perez, this time of the leadoff variety, in the third, but nothing else. King followed suit, but again, nothing doing from the bats. Perez had a quicker fourth, three up and three down thanks to a double play. Meanwhile, the Braves kinda-sorta tried to rally against King with a leadoff double from Mauricio Dubon and an infield single by Brewer Hicklen, but two weak flyouts kept it a 1-0 game.
Some combination of “Perez didn’t have a rehab **** ignment and had thrown 75 pitches” and “Perez had a 3/4 K/BB ratio in four innings” ultimately convinced the Braves to go to the bullpen for the fifth. Dylan Dodd came in and was delicious, throwing an 11-pitch frame with two strikeouts and a first-pitch groundout. King stayed in, and worked around a two-out single. Didier Fuentes followed Dodd and had to work a little harder (18 pitches), but had his two strikeouts, one groundout inning all the same. King’s night finished with a flourish, a nine-pitch frame that featured a strikeout of Hicklen. He rebounded and once again mystified the Braves despite the rocky start, with a 7/4 K/BB ratio — a 7/1 K/BB ratio after the first three batters.
#perez #looking #groundout
At the beginning of this contest, things seemed like they were going to drag on forever with little to show for it. After a one-walk, no other action first from Martin Perez, the Braves took aim at Michael King, who dominated them a few weeks ago in San Diego, and…
…he did not dominate this time. In fact, King walked the first three batters he faced, grimacing and looking generally uncomfy all the while. A groundout from Michael Harris II plated a run, but both Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski kind of lost the plot and went down looking. Yastrzemski, in particular, looked at five straight pitches to end the inning… the Braves’ track record with guys skimping on rehab **** ignments this year is looking abysmal.
Staked to a small lead, Perez did his normal thing — it just happened to work out this time. He walked two in the second, but then recovered with two punchouts. The Braves got a couple of singles against a resurgent-ish King in the bottom of the inning, but Ozzie Albies struck out on a changeup that was literally in the other batter’s box. There was another walk from Perez, this time of the leadoff variety, in the third, but nothing else. King followed suit, but again, nothing doing from the bats. Perez had a quicker fourth, three up and three down thanks to a double play. Meanwhile, the Braves kinda-sorta tried to rally against King with a leadoff double from Mauricio Dubon and an infield single by Brewer Hicklen, but two weak flyouts kept it a 1-0 game.
Some combination of “Perez didn’t have a rehab **** ignment and had thrown 75 pitches” and “Perez had a 3/4 K/BB ratio in four innings” ultimately convinced the Braves to go to the bullpen for the fifth. Dylan Dodd came in and was delicious, throwing an 11-pitch frame with two strikeouts and a first-pitch groundout. King stayed in, and worked around a two-out single. Didier Fuentes followed Dodd and had to work a little harder (18 pitches), but had his two strikeouts, one groundout inning all the same. King’s night finished with a flourish, a nine-pitch frame that featured a strikeout of Hicklen. He rebounded and once again mystified the Braves despite the rocky start, with a 7/4 K/BB ratio — a 7/1 K/BB ratio after the first three batters.
#perez #looking #groundout
6 days ago
