Matt Olson and Michael Harris both homered, and Acuña had three hits, but it was not enough.
The Atlanta Braves took on on the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first game of their final series of the season, with hopes of finishing strong.
Joey Wentz took the mound for the Braves and started out strong. He retired the first two hitters he saw. He gave up a single to Bryan Reynolds, but then struck out Pittsburgh legend Andrew McCutchen swinging on four pitches.
Profar grounded out, but then Olson took on step closer to his fifth thirty HR season of his career with his twenty-ninth blast of the year to make the score 1-0.
Ronald Acuña followed that up with a hit of his own with a single and then moved to second on a wild pitch. Baldwin then grounded out and Kim struck out to end the inning.
It is safe to say that Wentz did not continue his strong start info the second. He walked the first batter he saw and then paid for it when Pham hit a dinger to make the score 1-2 with no outs. He recorded a strikeout, but then Yorke singled and moved to second on a wild pitch, then Davis singled to score Yorke from second to make the score 1-3. Davis stole second, but then Wentz was able to retire the next hitter with a line out but then Nick Gonzales singled to score yet another run to make it 1-4. Wentz finally got Reynolds to ground out after a mound visit to stop the hemorrhaging.
In the bottom of the second, Ozuna singled, but that was the only offense that the Braves could muster. Wentz seemed to settle down. He got McCutchen to ground out and after giving up a single to Horwitz he retired Pham via fly out and then struck out Canario on a nasty slider.
It looked like the Braves may strike back in the third. Profar walked on four pitches. Olson struck out, but then Acuña and Baldwin walked back-to-back to load the bases. Unfortunately, after a mound visit Keller settled down and struck Kim out and then got Harris to ground out. The Braves were unable to plate any runs with three walks in the same inning.
Wentz kept the ball in the fourth and gave up a single right away to Yorke, but sat down the next three. In the Braves’ half Ozuna and Alvarez struck out, but then new Brave Brett Wisely walked and moved to second on a wild pitch and then Profar had another walk. Keller was then replaced and then Matt Olson struck out to end the inning.
Wentz was clearly gassed in the fifth. Reynolds singled and then McCutchen walked. Wentz was then replaced with Hunter Stratton. Wentz ended his night with 4.0 IP giving up four ER, eight hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Stratton then walked the first hitter he saw to load the bases. Fortunately, he struck out the next two hitters and then induced a ground out to end the inning with no further damage.
Mike Burrows came in the game for the Pirates. Ronald Acuña singled, but that momentum ended early when Baldwin flied out and then Kim grounded into a double play. Newly added Joel Payamps came in to pitch. He had a very similar inning to Burrows. He gave up a single and then induced a GIDP.
Michael Harris then came up to bat in sixth and on the fifth pitch became the twelfth player in franchise history to record a 20/20 season to make the score 2-4.
Unfortunately, that was the only offense in the inning. Payamps stayed in the game for the Braves in the seventh and was able to retire the first two hitters, but then Horwitz came up to the plate and blasted his tenth HR of the season to make the score 2-5 and then after an eight pitch at-bat to Tommy Pham, the game went into a rain delay. After about fifty minutes the game resumed and Dylan Dodd game in and Pham grounded out on the first pitch back.
In the bottom of the seventh Profar popped up and Olson lined out, but then Acuña singled for his third hit of the night and then Baldwin boosted his ROY case with an RBI double to cut the deficit to two runs. Kim then just missed one and flied out to deep center to end the inning.
Dodd stayed in the game to pitch the eighth. He sat down all three hitters with relative ease via two groundouts and a pop up. Kyle Nicolas came in the game for the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth. Michael Harris then stayed hot on the day with a double on the second pitch. It almost went out of the yard going 377.0 ft to left field. Ozuna worked a full count, but then struck out on a slider in the zone. Alvarez then flew out, but Harris moved to third. Eli White then came in to pinch hit for Wisely. Unfortunately, this strategy did not work as he struck out to leave Harris on third.
Nick Allen came in to play second base and Pierce Johnson came in to pitch in the ninth. Triolo doubled on an 0-2 count on a good pitch that was outside of the zone. Nick Gonzales then singled on a ground ball to Nick Allen, and then in a super rare occurrence, Allen had a throwing error and a run scored to make the score 3-6. Johnson was able to strike out Bryan Reynolds for the first out of the ninth, but then gave up a single to McCutchen to put two runners on. Horwitz then hit his second HR of the night to put the game out of reach at 3-9. Johnson stayed in the game and struck out Pham. The top of the inning finally ended with a Suwinski groundout.
Dennis Santana came in the game for the Pirates to pitch the ninth. Profar grounded softly to him for the first out. Olson then grounded out after a hard fought at-bat where he saw seven pitches in which he only had one ball. Acuña came up to bat as the last hope looking for his fourth hit of the game. Much like Olosn, he had a hard fought battle at the plate seeing eight pitches. But, he ultimately popped out to first to end the game.
The Braves got blown out with missed opportunities at the plate with runners on and the pitching as a whole failing. However, we saw some positives. Acuña had three hits and a walk, Harris became a member of the 20/20 club, and Olson is now one HR shy of his fifth thirty HR season.
The Braves will face the Pirates again tomorrow at the same time and the same place.
Category: General Sports
