Atlanta Braves: Dallas Keuchel labors through rough start against the Phillies
By Steven Teal
3. Keuchel 4th inning struggle proves to be too much
Braves starter Dallas Keuchel came into Tuesday’s game as one of Atlanta’s hottest pitchers.
Keuchel entered Tuesday’s game sporting a 0.97 ERA over his previous six starts. He was able to retire the first eight batters and unfortunately, the first hit allowed was to opposing starter Vince Velasquez.
I don’t know what it is about the Atlanta Braves pitching staff and allowing hits to pitchers but it has been problematic this year.
As good as Keuchel was early on, the fourth inning was one to forget. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong during that inning.
Keuchel 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Allowed 5 hits, including 2 infield singles and 2 HRs, in a five-run fourth. Hoskins' 2-run shot came against a fastball off the plate. Pirela's 2-run shot came against a slider Keuchel would've liked to have back.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 18, 2019
The Phillies scored all 5 of their runs during the fourth inning on Tuesday night. The biggest blows coming from two 2-run home runs off the bats of Rhys Hoskins and Jose Pirela.
That inning seemed to be doomed after Josh Donaldson moved to his left to field a ground ball that was likely more suited for Dansby Swanson to take. That miscue led to the Hoskins home run that would tie the game at 2 apiece.
Right after that, Scott Kingery lined a single that was deflected off of Keuchel’s glove that once again would have been an easy out for the defense to make. Hard to really blame Dallas there because instincts take over at that moment.
That hole was just too deep for the Braves to dig out of as Velasquez settled down after that and kept the offense at bay. The Braves bullpen did a nice job at covering the final 12 outs of the game and the offense did it’s best to come back but just couldn’t quite get it done.
Keuchel will bounce back from this start just like he did after the Marlins game earlier this year. He’s going to be an important piece for Atlanta during their playoff run.