ATLANTA — Here are three things we learned from the Braves' 3-1 victory over the New York Mets at Turner Field.
Way back in April and May, the rookie Gattis announced his presence in the big leagues by racking up six homers and 16 RBI in back-to-back months — a glorious run that included his dad being interviewed live on FOX Sports South during his first MLB dinger.
Fast forward to the present, as Gattis — on the heels of a week-plus stint in the minors — tallied three hits in his September debut, cracking a pair of singles and then a game-tying homer in the seventh inning (1-2 count).
For six-plus innings, the Braves had largely been stifled by Mets pitcher Carlos Torres. But the 30-year-old righty placed a non-evasive fastball over the middle of the plate in the 7th, allowing the brawny Gattis — who could have been a body double for Chipper Jones during spring training — to extend his arms and blast the ball over the left-center wall.
"You know what? He went down to (Triple-A Gwinnett), took it the right way and worked on his swing," marveled Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez of Gattis. "He got 13 at-bats that he might have not gotten (in the majors) — and it worked.
Gonzalez then added: "Every once in a while, you go down (to the minors) and get your stuff right. And that was a big at-bat."
The stadium rocked in celebration, as the 27-year-old Gattis rounded the bases. But that was a mere tremor, compared to the booming, rumbling cacophony of noise created from B.J. Upton's follow-up single and Andrelton Simmons' back-breaking, two-run homer — also to left field.
If the press didn't know any better, they might have sworn Simmons' blast — only his second homer since July 25 — had come during the playoffs.
After all, how can only 21,221 people make that much noise?
Instead, it was the decisive blow for a Braves club (85-53) that's cruising toward a National League East title (Sept. 14?) and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Not bad for a balanced team that's likely devoid of any league MVP candidates (at least in the top three).
"(Simmons) just keeps getting better and better, especially offensively," Gonzalez said. "Defensively, we're already seeing (what he's capable of)."
With the victory (and the Nationals' win over Philly), the Braves' magic number for the NL East has now been reduced to 10.
On Tuesday, Medlen was temporarily dealt a bad hand in the sixth inning, when Mets outfielder Eric Young Jr. notched a one-out, two-strike triple — a ball that might have been handled by a more experienced left fielder.
Instead, Gattis momentarily lost track of his surroundings in the outfield, seemingly misjudging the distance between himself, the wall ... and ultimately, the ball.
With Young at third base, Daniel Murphy then drove him home with a double — clinching New York's only run of the evening.
Beyond that, though, Medlen was an efficient force for his team, yielding seven hits and zero walks, and striking out seven batters over seven innings. Digging deeper, Medlen encountered no more than five Mets in any single frame.
Of his last eight outings (including a three-inning relief appearance in a marathon game with the Nationals), Medlen has five wins, a 2.76 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 43/6 K-BB rate.
Comparatively speaking ... from July 31 to Sept. 30 last year, spanning 12 starts and 83.2 innings, Medlen absurdly amassed a 9-0 record, 0.97 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 84/10 K-BB ratio. And of the dozen starts, Atlanta had a spotless 12-0 record.
Put it all together and the 2013 version of Medlen is subtly making his case for starting Game 1 or 2 of the National League Division Series round at home — against either the Cardinals, Pirates or Reds (wild-card winner).
"I thought (Medlen) was outstanding," said Gonzalez, who originally feared his pitcher would be a 'hard-luck' loser after surrendering the triple-double combo to Young and Murphy in the sixth inning.
Medlen, however, wasn't as crestfallen about that sequence, although he acknowledged that Torres (three runs, six strikeouts) was "dealing" on the mound.
"We always find a way to have big innings, and it was no different today," Medlen said.
Regarding the pitch count (95 pitches, 64 strikes), Medlen offered one keen observation about the Mets' aggressive plan in the early innings.
"I couldn't help but laugh on the mound when the first six pitches were swung at (one single, two groundouts, two strikes) — that's my style," mused Medlen.
"When you get a couple four-hour games (from Sunday and Monday), it's good to get a shorter one (in duration). I was just trying to make good pitches ... keeping the ball down."
Prior to this three-day run of Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, I hadn't covered a Braves home game in roughly three weeks. And it's been even longer since I could witness, firsthand, the art of Kimbrel logging a save.
So, tonight marks the perfect time to revisit Kimbrel's absurd dominance over the last four months, a period of supremacy that will likely go unmerited by the cluster of baseball writers tracking votes for NL Cy Young.
Since May 9, spanning 44 appearances and 44.1 innings, Kimbrel boasts a 0.20 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 62/14 K-BB rate and 33 saves.
And for the season, he has a 3-2 mark, 0.94 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 44 saves (just two shy of a career high).
Match that up against Clayton Kershaw (14-8, 1.89 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 201/47 K-BB rate), Jose Fernandez (10-6, 2.33 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .186 opponents' batting average), Madison Bumgarner (11-9, 2.91 ERA, 1.04 WHIP), Zack Greinke (14-3, 2.78 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 119/41 K-BB) and Adam Wainwright (15-9, 3.14 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 187/29 K-BB) ... and it's hard to envision Kimbrel falling short of second place.
And yet, it'll probably be a distant second place, given Kershaw's unopposed greatness — and that closers, for whatever reason, don't win Cy Youngs anymore.
To wit, since 1989, only Eric Gagne (1.20 ERA, 55 saves in 2003), Dennis Eckersley (1.91 ERA, 51 saves in 1992) and Mark Davis (1.85 ERA, 44 saves in '89) have captured the hardware reserved to the National and American leagues' best pitchers.
Maybe if Kershaw wasn't from another planet, Kimbrel would get his just desserts.
