Three Cuts: Peterson's triple saves Braves, earns split with Giants
In one of the more exciting games for the season for the Braves, Atlanta fought to take back two leads and scored four unanswered runs in the ninth inning to beat the Giants 7-5 and salvage a series split.
Here are three observations from Atlanta's win Sunday in San Francisco:
When Giants starter Madison Bumgarner breezed through the first four innings of Sunday's game without allowing a hit or a base runner, the Braves could have chalked the day up to facing one of the best pitchers in baseball and given up.
Instead, they started chipping away at Bumgarner.
From the fifth to the seventh inning, when Atlanta hitters chased Bumgarner from the mound, the Braves reeled off five hits and scored a run in the fifth (an RBI single from Chris Johnson that scored Jonny Gomes, the guy that broke up the perfect game) and two in the seventh (another Juan Uribe blast -- more on this later).
When Donnie Veal gave up a two-run blast to Joe Panik, blowing the lead the Braves had just swiped from the Giants, Atlanta could have just folded. The bullpen has ben trashed this entire road trip, why should Sunday be any different.
When Jace Peterson let an easy-ish ground ball skip over his glove and roll into right-center field, allowing the Giants to tie the game at three in the seventh, he could have tucked his tail between his legs and moped for the rest of the game.
That's not how the Braves have been playing baseball this season, and it's now how Sunday ended.
In the top of the ninth, Freddie Freeman brought the Braves to within one run of the Giants with a solo blast. Then Andrelton Simmons walked and ended up at second after an error kept the inning alive and two runners on.
A.J. Pierzynski singled to right field to load the bases, which brought Peterson to the plate.
Peterson drove a liner into the gap in right field and cleared the bases. He ended up at third with his second triple in as many days.
When given the option to give up or fight and claw his way back from the earlier mishap, Peterson drove in three runs to help Atlanta beat the Giants.
This mentality has been infectious at times during the season. If this 25-25 Braves team can find a way to tap into it more often, good things could happen.
No one is running away with this division. The Nats are only three games up on the Braves, and the Mets are a half game behind Washington. As the season rolls on, the Braves will be given opportunities to fight and claw their way back into the hunt for the division.
Will they fight?
If Sunday is an indicator, the answer will be yes.
Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford launched back-to-back solo shots off Braves starter Julio Teheran in the bottom of the second inning.
At the point the sky was falling for Teheran.
Teheran's velocity is down.
Teheran's arm angle is off.
Teheran has to be hurt and not saying anything.
What happened next was that Teheran finished the second, and made it through the next three innings without allowing a hit. He finished the days without a decision, threw six innings, allowed three runs on four hits and walked four.
The outing wasn't particularly sharp, but when Teheran only allows four hits in a start, he usually wins.
On the topic of honesty, however, there may be something on target with the folks that were screaming that Teheran was having problems.
Teheran's walks per nine ratio (BB/9) is outrageous at 3.84, compared to his 2.08 clip from last season. He's also allowing 1.77 home runs per nine (HR/9) instead of the 0.90 he gave up in 2014.
And his velocity has been down. In Sunday's start, Teheran averaged 89 MPH on his two-seamer and 90 on his four-seam fastball. Last season his four-seam pitch averaged 92.2 MPH while his sinker (the two-seamer) averaged 89.5 MPH.
Two seasons ago Teheran was at 93 MPH and 90.5 on the four-seam and two-seamer, respectively.
Teheran's 4-2 record doesn't reveal an issue. But his reduced strikeout rate, the massive upticks in walks and homers and his velocity issues scream that something is going poorly for the 24 year old.
On May 25 Juan Uribe was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In fact, he drew a walk in a pinch-hit appearance aganst the Braves. Two days later he was starting at third base for the Braves.
Atlanta traded Alberto Callaspo, Eric Stults, Ian Thomas and Juan Jaime to Los Angeles for Uribe and Chris Withrow. In early returns, the advantage seems to be on the Braves' side of the deal.
Uribe has started four games since arriving in Atlanta and appeared as a pinch hitter once. He's sporting a .333 average (5 for 15) with two home runs, four RBI and an OPS of 1.139 (.389 on-base percentage plus an .750 slugging percentage).
On Saturday Uribe gave the Braves some breathing room with a two-run blast in the ninth inning. He repeated the action on Sunday, lasering a two-run shot in the seventh to give the Braves a 3-2 lead.
The lead supplied by Uribe didn't last for the Braves, but his worth -- both with the bat and defensively -- has already been felt in an Atlanta uniform.
