Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Braves get crushed on four solo homers – one of which came from the pitcher – and fall to the Reds in game one of the four game series. Braves had four hits in this ball game and two of them came in the 9th inning. Shelby Miller pitched great, but no offense led to his first loss of the season.
Reds 5 – Braves 1
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Markakis RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .338 | .446 | .377 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .247 | .297 | .365 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .298 | .359 | .536 |
| Kelly Johnson LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .308 | .479 |
| Jonny Gomes PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .225 | .333 | .425 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .279 | .347 | .372 |
| Alberto Callaspo 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .268 | .333 | .357 |
| Christian Bethancourt C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .135 | .179 | .189 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .246 | .308 | .281 |
| Eric Young CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .161 | .212 | .290 |
| Shelby Miller P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .000 | .143 | .000 |
| Donnie Veal P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Ian Thomas P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Philip Gosselin PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .211 | .250 | .263 |
| Team Totals | 28 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 31 | .143 | .226 | .214 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby Miller, L (3-1) | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 2.17 |
| Donnie Veal | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 |
| Ian Thomas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.70 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 4.00 |
Atlanta Braves unable to hit Cincinnati’s Leake
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: If the MLB was more like the NHL and they gave away Stars of the Game Awards, Mike Leake would of definitely been the player of the game on Thursday. He went eight very strong innings without giving up a run on two hits. Also at the plate, he hit his fifth home run of his career. Leake has always been a solid pitcher in the NL, but never someone couldn’t hit. Braves made him look like a front runner for the NL Cy Young award….though this isn’t the first time the Braves have done such a thing.
Cincinnati, which ranks second in the NL with 31 homers, went up 4-0 in the eighth on Frazier’s seventh homer and 5-0 in the ninth on Hamilton’s second.
The Braves have dropped three in a row and eight of 10.
Atlanta starter Shelby Miller (3-1) gave up six hits and three runs — two earned — with three walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings.
It marked the third straight game that the top of the Braves’ rotation struggled. Atlanta’s starters began the night with a 5.11 ERA over their previous 14 games.
Struggling Braves RHP Julio Teheran insists he’s healthy
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: During the past few games, Julio Teheran continues to struggle on the mound. Ever since he was hit on the knee (which everyone is claiming isn’t bothering him) he hasn’t been the same. Teheran needs to get back on track and be a leader of this pitching staff. Shelby Miller was the first starting pitcher to last seven innings and that was on Thursday.
“If there’s anything wrong with my arm, I wouldn’t want to be out there and do something to make it worse,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell met on Wednesday with Teheran, who assured them he’s healthy. Gonzalez believes his primary problem is pitch selection. And he plans on Teheran turned around in that area.
“He manages his fastball, both sides of the plate, elevates it and sinks it and his other stuff is off the fastball,” Gonzalez said. “For whatever reason in the last couple starts he’s doing it the other way around. (Thursday) when he throws his side (session) he’s got to get back to that: four-seam (fastball), two-seam and locate his fastball and pitch off of his fastball.”