Three Cuts: Wood ejected, offense held in check as Braves fall to Pirates
ATLANTA -- A series that offered two chapters of drama closed with something else entirely.
Alex Wood was ejected and while a struggling Braves bullpen didn't let the Pirates tack more on, Atlanta's offense went dry in a 3-0 loss Sunday at Turner Field.
The Braves stranded 11 base runners as Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole worked his way out of two bases-loaded jams.
"We had some situations with the right people we just didn't punch one through there," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.
From Wood's day to the offense's and more, taking three cuts from Atlanta's loss.
Given the recent trouble Atlanta's bullpen encountered -- more on that and the weekend's steps to try and rectify it later -- losing Wood after five innings was the last thing the Braves wanted to see.
It's what they got as the left-hander was ejected in between the fifth and sixth innings for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Mark Carlson.
"My thought is Woody can't get thrown out of that game," Gonzalez said. "He's giving up three runs and our bullpen is our bullpen. He's got to keep his composure a little bit. ... I don't know what was said. If I thought it was a heated conversation I would have went out there a little bit sooner, but they were just talking and Woody was walking away and that's what I talked to Mark about."
For Wood it was his first ejection since Sept. 18, 2013 vs. the Nationals and this one had its similarities. Against the Pirates, Wood took exception to two pitches, including a 3-2 knuckle curveball against Cole that was called a ball.
"I didn't even know I was tossed until I was up (in the clubhouse) and heard it on the TV," Wood said. "Said something to him, never cussed at him, said I thought two of the pitches were strikes and we were about 30 feet away from each other. He didn't hear me; walked a little closer. He said something I didn't hear what he said. I said it to him again. He didn't hear what I said again and I said it to him one more time and walked away.
"As I was walking away I guess he decided it was going to be good to throw me out of the game, which I didn't think was appropriate."
In that ousting in '13 Wood threw a 3-2 pitch to Jayson Werth that CB Bucknor said was outside and began jawing with the umpire.
Wood (4-3) ran into trouble after that at-bat vs. Cole, giving up back-to-back singles to Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer to load the bases before Starling Marte and Jung Ho Kang RBI hits put the Pirates up 3-0.
He wouldn't get a chance to make up for that half inning, his ejection giving way to Cody Martin as Wood allowed seven hits and there earned runs over five innings with five strikeouts and a walk.
Wood's ousting brought an early end to what's been a strong rivalry between he and Cole.
His first college start at Georgia was opposite Cole and UCLA, with Wood getting the victory after fanning 11 with one run allowed over seven innings.
But in the pros, Cole has gotten the best of their meetings, with Pittsburgh winning all three of their head-to-head matchups, the latest giving the Pirates the series win.
In all, it was a rough way to end what's been the best run of Wood's young career.
He came in on a run of three straight starts -- all wins -- in which he had allowed one earned run and had walked three over 22 innings with 11 strikeouts with a .259 batting average against.
Joey Terdoslavich's swinging third strike with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning seemed to sum up the Braves' day.
They stranded nine runners through six innings and 11 in all, and after averaging over seven runs through the last seven games, came up empty.
Twice Atlanta had the bases loaded against Cole and twice he found a way to neutralize them.
"He's pretty tough," Gonzalez said. "He cranks up a couple different pitches and he's 95, 96 mph or maybe even higher a couple of times."
In the third inning, after Freddie Freeman was hit by a pitch with one out to put a Brave on every base, but Nick Markakis struck out swinging followed by a Juan Uribe groundout to end the inning.
Then in the sixth, consecutive two-out walks to Andrelton Simmons and Todd Cunningham -- added to Uribe's single -- again had the Braves with three runners on, but Cole got pinch hitter Terdoslavich to bite on an 88-mph slider for the strikeout.
Those 11 left on were the second most for the Braves this season after the 12 they stranded on May 12 (Reds) and April 28 (Nationals), but it also marked the second time in three games vs. the Pirates they hit double figures in that department. They left 10 on in Friday's 10-8 loss.
Despite Atlanta's recent offensive outbursts, this marked the fifth time it has been shut out this season -- all coming in the last 16 games -- this was only the second time it had happened at Turner Field.
The struggles of Atlanta's bullpen are evident to anyone that's see the latter stage of a game of late, but from a more tangible standpoint, its 4.98 ERA is the game's highest by .18 over the 29th-place Reds.
Flirting with a collective 5.00 ERA is dangerous territory, with the last team to do so the 2010 Diamondbacks, who went on to lose 97 games that year. No Braves team has gone over 5.00 since 1990, when they were at 5.01. That year, Atlanta also dropped 97.
There was a positive to come out of Sunday as Martin, Brandon Cunniff and Trevor Cahill combined to throw four scoreless innings, but the Braves are looking for long-term solutions.
Will they find them in veterans David Aardmsa and Dana Eveland? Atlanta inked both to minor league deals this weekend after they exercised out-closes with their former franchises.
Aardsma left the Dodgers after posting a 2.41 ERA in 20 appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City, striking out 23 with seven walks in 18 2/3 innings. But the 33-year-old hasn't pitched in the majors since 2013 with the Mets when he had a 4.31 ERA in 39 2/3 innings.
Likewise, Eveland also wore a Mets uniform the last time he appeared in an MLB game in Sept. 6 of last season. Signed by the Red Sox he had a 1.54 ERA with 20 Ks and three walks in 23 1/3 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket, but opted out after failing to get promoted to Boston.
The 31-year-old, who spent '13 in Korea, had a 2.63 ERA in 27 1/3 innings for New York.
They could help to bolster a middle relief that has struggled to bridge the gap to Jim Johnson and Jason Grilli (15 saves) and before Sunday had one starting pitcher since May 29 -- Wood in July 1 win in Arizona --figuring into a decision.
Considering the Braves have already used 16 different relievers this season, a figure that's tied for most in the NL, trails only the A's and Rays in all of baseball with 18 apiece and is one more than they used all of last season, they know what they have -- or don't have -- in the Gwinnett to Atlanta pipeline. With the expectation it won't take long before Aardmsa and Eveland are called it, he shouldn't have to wait long to see if trying to upgrade without having to dig into their organizational depth pays off.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney
