Three Cuts: Braves open floodgates in 7th to overpower Brewers
ATLANTA -- When the bottom of the seventh inning started, the Brewers and Braves together had two runs on four hits. The score was tied one apiece, but every Atlanta hitter came to the plate (three twice) in the Braves' half of the inning and scored seven runs after they belted seven hits.
The Braves added two more runs in the eighth inning and took the first of this shortened two-game series, 10-1.
Here are three observations from Thursday's Atlanta win:
While a massive outpouring of runs was unexpected, it wasn't the strangest thing to happen in the Braves half of the seventh inning.
After the Braves ran Matt Garza from the game with a run on three hits, Milwaukee brought Will Smith in to pitch. Smith threw to one batter (Pedro Ciriaco, whom Smith hit with a pitch) then started to throw to Jace Peterson, but was ejected from the game before he could finish with the Braves second baseman.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he could see something on Smith's forearm, and the substance was so easily noticeable, he even picked up on it while Smith was trowing his warmup pitches.
"It was glistening through the lights; we could see it in the dugout," said Gonzalez. "I never went out there until he went to it. You can look at the video. He came in and I think the whole time he pitched to [Pedro] Ciriaco he never went to his wrist. But the first or second pitch to Peterson he went to it and that's when I went out to the home plate umpire to check."
After a meeting on the mound with the umpires, Smith was promptly tossed and slowly left the field.
It was about as plain as it could be," said Gonzalez. "It was pretty blatant, really. I'm sure they [the umpires] got a better look than I did from the dugout. But it didn't take them very long to eject him."
As Smith slowly walked toward the Brewers dugout, he frequently turned to the Braves dugout to share his displeasure with the home team. Gonzalez said he didn't care how upset the Brewers reliever was at being ejected, he cared only for his team, and scoring runs.
The Braves added five more runs in the seventh before the Brewers were able to stop the bleeding. But the damage was already done, and the Braves held a 8-1 lead when the dust settled.
After the game, umpire Jim Joyce made a statement.
"He offered his arm," said Joyce. "I touched it and immediately knew it was a foreign substance, unfortunately for [Smith] he has to be ejected.
"I'm not going to make [the ejection] dramatic, because it is what it is and it's clear cut. Like I told [Brewers manager] Craig [Counsell], I have no recourse. This is immediate and fatal unfortunately. I just report it to the league and the league deals with it."
After the game, first baseman Freddie Freeman said the words every person in Braves nation was thinking.
"Julio was awesome tonight," said Freeman. "He was Julio of old."
Teheran not only set a season high with eight strikeouts, but he finished the seventh inning, which marked the first time in 2015 he'd lasted that long into a game. He only gave up one run on two hits and walked just one batter too. It felt like his best outing of the season.
In addition to the great outing, three of Teheran's last four starts have been solid. He gave up just three hits in six inning with zero runs against Cincinnati on May 3, was blasted for six runs by Washington in his next outing, then went 5 2/3 innings against Miami on May 15, allowing one run on nine hits.
Then Thursday's masterful performance happened.
Over his last four starts, even with the six-run debacle, Teheran's ERA sits at 3.04. He struck out 25 and walked seven. Take out that bad start and his three-run stretch goes to 0.96.
"He had command of all his pitches tonight," said Gonzalez. "He kept them off balance and made some pitches when he had to.
"I think so," Gonzalez answered to whether or not Teheran had returned to his ace-like form with this last outing. "When a pitcher rallies three or four starts in a row like that, you've got to feel good about him."
After Carlos Gomez walked to start the fourth inning, Gerardo Parra laced a ball to center field that Cameron Maybin had to hustle to get. Maybin hopped up with the ball in deep center field and gunned a throw to second to nail Parra.
"That's not a easy throw," said Gonzalez. "[With] your back up against the wall he made an accurate throw in the air and [Andrelton] Simmons made a terrific tag. They could have easily had another guy in scoring position."
The next batter, Ryan Braun, hit a sacrifice fly to score Gomez, and then Adam Lind followed with a single. Had Maybin not made that throw, Parra would have scored the Brewers' second run on Lind's hit. Instead, Milwaukee settled for one.
The assist was Maybin's third of the season, one shy of a career high four he set in both 2010 and 2012.
Since he had already saved a run earlier, Maybin got into the seventh-inning action with a two-run single to keep the run parade going. He went 1 for 4 on Thursday extended a hitting streak to six games.
During Maybin's six-game stretch, he's 8 for 20 (.400) with three walks, only one strikeout and five RBI. His current batting average sits at .255, which is amazing considering where he was less than a month ago.
On April 27, Maybin entered the game as a pinch runner and finished the day without an at-bat and a 2015 average of .135. He was inserted as the regular center fielder after extensive work in the batting cages on April 28, and since has gone wild.
In the 19 games since April 27, Maybin has gone 19 for 57 (.333) with 12 RBI, five extra-base hits, nine walks and 10 strikeouts. He's raised his batting average 120 points to .255 in less than a month.
