Jun 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher
Julio Teheran(49) pitches against the New York Mets during the second inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
A late Sunday start time and a large Father’s day crowd saw a pitchers duel through 6 2/3 innings before the Braves took the lead.
Braves Sweep
If you had told anyone on Thursday that a Braves sweep of the Mets was coming when they were facing Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergard and Matt Harvey they would have either laughed out loud or had you committed. On Friday the unthinkable began when the Braves came back to beat the deGrom. On Saturday The Mets scored two in the first but the Braves scored one in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and two in the sixth to send Thor packing. Today it was Matt Harvey’s turn to try and stop the bleeding and prevent the sweep.
Julio Teheran started off a little shaky with a first inning walk. That was as close as the Mets would get to a threat after that thanks to some superb defense.
In the second Kelly Johnson made a diving stop to his left to save a double. Cameron Maybin followed that up by coming in hard to catch a dying quail that looked like a sure hit and end the inning. In the Third Eury Perez made a fine play slamming into the wall to making a fine catch on a foul ball down the left field line. After that Julio was in charge.
Wilmer Flores had a single in the fifth – the first hit of the game – and Teheran walked Curtis Granderson with two out in the sixth but no one else looked like squaring him up. Teheran departed after seven inning having thrown 78 pitches – 50 for strikes – allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five, all on his slider. The problem for the Braves was that Harvey was good too.
The Braves had obviously decided to work the count hard on Harvey. After three innings Harvey had thrown 61 pitches. He had an eight pitch fourth which slowed the buildup but the fifth saw him give up a double to Jace Peterson and while the Braves didn’t score Harvey threw 16 pitches.
Harvey had a quick 11 pitch sixth and seemed to be cruising in the seventh when with two out Ryan Lavrnaway hit what everyone in the park including Harvey thought was a home run. The ball hit the yellow line at the top of the fence and bounced right to Michael Cuddyer who turned to throw to second but no one was covering the bag as the Braves catcher chugged in with a double.
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