Three Cuts: Braves lose 4th straight as uncharacteristically poor defense haunts team
The Braves fell to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday in slovenly fashion. Atlanta managed just two hits against starter Aaron Harang and none off reliever Ken Giles and committed four errors.
The Phillies plated their winning run in the bottom of the ninth when a slow roller was mishandled by Freddie Freeman and Freddy Galvis put the game in ice, 1-0.
The loss is the fourth in a row for the Braves and moves their record to 8-8.
Here are three observations from Atlanta's loss:
Coming into Friday's game, Atlanta led the majors in fielding percentage and had committed just four errors as a team.
The Braves doubled their error total in just nine frames.
The ninth inning was especially sloppy. After Galvis singled he was advanced to second with a sacrifice bunt. Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski then had a pitch bounce off his mitt and to his right.
Galvis got a good jump toward third base and Pierzynski didn't get much gas on his throw to Kelly Johnson. That put the winning run 90 feet away with just one out.
The Braves had to move their defense to cut off the potential winning run at the plate. Ben Revere knocked a slow grounder to Freeman who grabbed for the ball, but didn't bring it up with him when he moved to throw home.
Freeman suffered two errors in the game -- the ninth-inning drop and had a ball pop out of his glove. He was also involved in another error (this one charged to Alex Wood) when Wood tried to pick Odubel Herrera off at first in the bottom of the first inning.
The fourth error was might have been a bit of an iffy call. Chris Johnson couldn't come up with a hard-hit grounder that pulled him in toward short and angled at center field.
The first three errors didn't hurt Atlanta directly, not like the final one did. But, they did keep base runners on the diamond longer than they should have been. That indirectly hurt the Braves because it extended two early innings for Wood .
When the bullpen has been working too hard because starters can't pitch deep in games, four errors in one game is nowhere close to optimal.
Wood has been quick to mention all season that he hasn't put everything together in any one start this season. He's only pitched into the seventh inning twice in four starts, but he's never finished that frame (no Braves starter has made it out of the seventh).
In his four starts he's sporting a 3.00 ERA but only has a 1-0 record. His outing against the Phillies Friday helped improve his personal numbers, but Wood didn't come away with a victory.
Wood went 5 2/3 innings and allowed five hits. Philadelphia didn't score a run off him. But the Braves didn't do anything for him either.
As was the case last season, Wood pitched well enough to win, but the scoreboard didn't show that.
In 2014, Wood allowed two runs or fewer in 19 of his starts, He only won eight of those games, however, because of poor run support.
Wood threw 101 pitches on Friday, the most of his young season, and impressed his manager Fredi Gonzalez.
"Woody was good," said Gonzalez. "He mixed his pitches well, his secondary pitches he threw for strikes and he gave us -- really everybody out of that bullpen gave us -- an opportunity for a win."
But when the Braves hitters only muster two hits, good things typically don't happen.
As for feeling good on the mound finally, Wood said the first time he looked up at the scoreboard he was at 95 pitches. He felt like it was less than that.
Don't get too caught up in the fact that Harang is pitching in a Phillies uniform after making 33 starts in Atlanta last season with a 12-12 record ans a 3.57 ERA. Forget about how much his 1.37 ERA would look at the back end of the Braves rotation.
The Braves and Harang moved on, and this hitters left in Atlanta must find a way to put more balls in play against their former teammate -- and any pitcher for that matter.
Gonzalez spoke highly of the former Brave.
"He could throw any pitch at any time, and he had about as good of command with all his pitches as I've ever seen him," said Gonzalez. "And I've seen some really good outings out of him.
"He had his command going, and when he can mix his secondary pitches he's going to do something like he did tonight."
Harang threw eight strong innings and allowed just two hits -- a double to Pierzynski to right field and a Johnson single. He struck out six Braves hitters.
To explain just how efficient Harang was look at his pitch count. He threw just 104 pitches in eight innings. Wood had 101 in 5 2/3. Harang only threw two more strikes (66) than Wood (64), meaning he wasn't blowing hitters away.
Harang's curve ball was working well and he was able to mix in the cutter and a changeup too. Just as important -- maybe more so -- Atlanta hitters weren't able to set up anywhere because Harang moved locations so well.
If you don't know what pitch is coming, and have little clue whether it's going to be inside or outside on the plate, it's hard to dig in and swing for contact, much less power.
