The Braves could not figure out Trevor Richards today. At least, through the first five innings that is. The Marlins right hander was magnificent, but so was Julio Teheran for the Braves.
The first Atlanta baserunner did not come until the third inning when Ozzie Albies walked. Then, the Braves got two more runners on in the fourth via walks to Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis, but still could get nothing going.
On the other side Teheran was holding the Marlins to nearly nothing as well. Miami could manage just two hits through six innings against the Braves veteran. Teheran’s season ERA is down to just 3.03 and he struck out five more batters today.
Finally Atlanta was able to break through in the hit column after Freeman roped a single to center field in the top of the sixth. Then, the Braves offense posted the first run of the game in the top of the seventh after Austin Riley hit a hustle double, was advanced to third on a deep fly ball and scored on a Tyler Flowers sacrifice fly to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning the Braves turned to Anthony Swarzak who was great once again. Swarzak struck out two as he pitching into the eighth inning before being pulled in favor of Sean Newcomb. Newcomb could not retire the only batter he faced (a right hander?) and was immediately pulled in favor of closer Luke Jackson.
Jackson was able to squeeze out of it and send things into the ninth with the 1 run lead still intact.
The Braves really struggled offensively today and could never really get anything going. Austin Riley deserves a ton of credit for the one run that Atlanta was able to put up as his hustle was a huge factor in getting that lead. The Braves again went down quietly in the top of the ninth and it was all up to Jackson.
The first batter in the ninth inning was Starlin Castro who was struck out quickly. Then old friend Martin Prado came to the plate and lined a single to right field to put the winning run in the batters box. Thankfully Jackson was no match for J.T. Riddle and Jorge Alfaro who struck out to finish off this great win.
It feels like this was the first time in awhile that the Braves won a true “pitchers duel”. The biggest part today was Julio Teheran who really has seemed to find something that is working for him in 2019 and the Braves need it in the worst way. Stay tuned.