Once again, the Braves lose because good pitching doesn’t get enough offensive support.
I had predicted – guaranteed, even – a Braves win last night. All of the stats seemed aligned: one of the best pitchers around going against one of the worst offenses. It even seemed that it was plausible to consider that a no-no could be on the table.
Alas, it would have nearly taken that kind of perfection to win against the Phillies last night. The best actor was still Matt Wisler, who scattered 8 hits, though the Phils plated 3 runs from that despite decent damage control.
Trouble was, there were only 6 hits from the home team. The ball was being hit hard, but seemingly right at the Phillies, time and time again.
In particular, the bottom of the third inning was particular frustrating. Chase d’Arnaud led off with a double. Erick Aybar then stung the ball to deep RF – just missing at least a double for himself, but it was a loud out.
d’Arnaud did make it to third base on the liner, but that brought up Wisler. The Phillies brought the infield in and Wisler wasthisclose to making them pay for it. He ripped a balldown the third base line that ricocheted off 3B Franco… but for some reason, SS Freddy Galvis was wandering around in the immediate area. He snagged the carom and threw out Wisler at first, with d’Arnaud unable to advance.
Well, that still left a two-out, runner-on-third situation for Nick Markakis. He also got good wood on an Adam Morgan pitch. Unfortunately, Adam Morgan’s glove was in a good enough spot to stop it from screaming into center field.
End of inning… end of scoring threat.
Sure, there was a run scored in the 4th – on a double play – but other than a brief bout of optimism via a Freddie Freeman homer to lead off the ninth, the Braves ultimately didn’t do enough against a pitcher that certainly seemed vulnerable.
We’ll rewind the video (yes, I’m that old) and watch it again tonight: Jhoulys Chacin and Jerad Eickhoff tonight at The Ted… 7:10pm.
Next: More Blame Game