Atlanta Braves Clippings Thursday, July 23, 2015 Braves.com
Teheran's K-heavy effort offset by rough frame
By Carlos Collazo and John Donovan / MLB.com | July 22nd, 2015
ATLANTA -- The Dodgers concluded their three-game series against the Braves at Turner Field on Wednesday afternoon with a 3-1 victory behind the arm of Mike Bolsinger, who gave Los Angeles seven strong innings.
Though Bolsinger didn't have the eye-catching numbers that opposing starter Julio Teheran put up, he held Atlanta batters to just one unearned run and three hits while retiring 14 consecutive batters from the third inning into the seventh. Los Angeles only managed to score during a three- run fifth inning, but it was more than enough to back Bolsinger's 98-pitch effort.
"Good all day," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of his starter. "[He] wasn't walking anybody, [he was] throwing strikes and it seemed like he was able to kind of do what he wanted with the breaking ball. So good for us, we needed it today."
Teheran had arguably his best start of the season for the Braves, showing improved fastball command in the early innings and tying his career high with 11 strikeouts, including four straight strikeouts to start the game.
"He pitched well enough to win the game today," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It might have been his best outing he's had all year."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED The great Grandal: After missing two starts thanks to a foul tip off his face mask, Yasmani Grandal announced his return to the Dodgers' starting lineup by going 2-for-3 with a walk, including the leadoff double that sparked a three-run fifth inning. Grandal raised his average to .287 and his OPS to .930.
A stuttering step: The Dodgers' three-run fifth began with a misplay by Atlanta right fielder Nick Markakis. Grandal led off the inning by lining a 1-0 pitch to right. Markakis, a two-time American League Gold Glove Award winner, initially took two steps in before quickly retreating, but the ball carried over his head for a double. After Carl Crawford's groundout pushed Grandal to third with one out, Alberto Callaspohit a sharp grounder past second baseman Jace Peterson to tie the score at 1.Jimmy Rollins followed with a run-scoring double and Joc Pederson added a run with a two-out single.
Kendrick at the keystone: A day after the Dodgers' defense had a rough game, Howie Kendrick put on a leather show. He started the first by robbing Peterson of a single with a diving stop to his right, then helped end the inning by starting a 4-6-3 double play. His defensive display continued in the sixth inning, when he essentially retired the side in order after three straight ground balls came his way.
"I thought Howie was incredible today," Mattingly said. "He made a bunch of good plays at second base. One time just getting the lead runner [at second base] in an area that a lot of guys won't make that throw, he's willing to do it. He had a couple of diving plays up the middle."
QUOTABLE "I'm just having fun. I think I kind of lost that along the way back in July. I was thinking too much, and I think that's what hurts me the most is when I start thinking too much. And now I'm just kind of back to smiling, just having fun." -- Bolsinger
"It has been a different year. I'm just trying to work it out and control what I can control." -- Teheran
REPLAY REVIEW Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons snuck in behind Grandal at second base in the second inning and received a pickoff throw from Teheran. Grandal was initially called safe by second-base umpire John Hirschbeck, but Simmons immediately signaled the Atlanta dugout to challenge the play. After a quick 56-second review, the call was overturned and Grandal was called out to end the inning.
WHAT'S NEXT Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for Los Angeles in the opener of a four-game series at Citi Field against the Mets on Thursday, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. PT. You have to go back 21 innings before you find the last time Kershaw has allowed a run, and the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner has posted a 0.58 ERA over his past four starts.
Braves: Atlanta hits the road for a 10-game swing that begins Friday in St. Louis at 8:15 p.m. ET, with rookie left-hander Manny Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA) matching up against another rookie lefty, the Cardinals' Tim Cooney (0-0, 3.33 ERA). It's the first meeting of the season between the two teams. The Braves will also play the Orioles and Phillies in the swing before they return home Aug. 3 against the Giants.
'Best outing' not enough in Teheran's 11-K start
Strikeout mark ties righty's career high as Braves fall to Dodgers
By John Donovan / Special to MLB.com | July 22nd, 2015
ATLANTA -- Julio Teheran had one of those games on Wednesday afternoon that we've come to expect from the Braves' Opening Day starter.
Teheran pitched well. He struck out more than a few batters, matching a career high with 11. He got into a little bit of trouble, but he mostly got out of what he got into. And the Braves, in the end, had nothing to show for it but a 3-1 loss to the Dodgers.
"He pitched well enough to win the game today," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said after the Dodgers avoided a sweep despite seven stellar innings from Teheran. "It might have been his best outing he's had all year.
"That's baseball. It's a cruel, cruel game that we play."
Teheran dropped to 6-5 on the season, giving up all three Los Angeles runs on six hits. It was the fourth time in his career that he has notched 11 K's in a game. Teheran is 2-2 in those games, including losses in his past two. Last season, on July 21, he dropped a 3-1 decision to the Marlins after striking out 11 in seven innings.
On a steamy Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, Teheran looked ready from the start -- maybe even earlier.
"He warmed up pretty well … not that that really matters," Atlanta catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.
Teheran struck out the side swinging in the first inning and then got Andre Ethier swinging to start the second.
Teheran cruised through the first four innings, giving up only a hard-hit single that handcuffed Atlanta first baseman Kelly Johnson in the second inning. In the fifth, though, he ran into the hard luck that sometimes seems to follow him.
The first batter, catcher Yasmani Grandal, crushed a 1-0 pitch directly at Nick Markakis in right field. The two-time American League Gold Glove Award winner took a couple quick steps in, but the ball whizzed over his head for a double. A batter later, Alberto Callaspo punched a grounder past a drawn in infield to tie the score at 1. The Dodgers scored two more that inning, on a double from Jimmy Rollins and a two-out single from Joc Pederson.
The Braves, meanwhile, managed only three hits -- all singles -- and went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
"Sometimes I pitch well and it doesn't work out," said Teheran, who lost his first game at Turner Field since Sept. 19 of last season. "I'm just trying to keep at it and concentrate, and trying to give a chance to my team to come back."
Teheran's ERA actually dropped a couple pegs, from 4.53 to 4.49, after Wednesday's effort, but the loss ended a personal six-game win streak in Atlanta's friendly confines. Now, he and the Braves head out on the road for a 10-game trip that starts Friday in St. Louis.
"It has been a different year. I'm just trying to work it out and control what I can control," Teheran said. "It has been a really hard year, but I'm trying to battle."
Rookie lefties open Braves-Cardinals series
By John Donovan / Special to MLB.com | July 22nd, 2015
Atlanta's Manny Banuelos and St. Louis' Tim Cooney square off Friday in a showdown between rookie left-handers as the Braves and Cardinals begin a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
It's the first game of a 10-game road trip for the Braves that will take them through St. Louis, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The Cardinals, after a scheduled makeup Thursday in St. Louis against Kansas City, have 10 more at home starting with the series against Atlanta.
Three things to know about this game • Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA) has a fastball that tops out around 90 mph, but it's his changeup that has been effective in his three big league starts. It comes in just a little above 80 mph and, mixed in with an occasional curve, it has kept opponents off stride. Banuelos has had some problems with command, but he hasn't allowed more than one earned run in any of his starts.
• Cooney (0-0, 3.33 ERA) has averaged nearly a strikeout an inning in his five Major League starts, relying on a fastball that averages just under 90 mph, a change, a curve and a slider. He went 5 2/3 innings and struck out seven without giving up a run in a no-decision against the Mets in his last outing. The Cards lost that game in 18 innings.
• The opener marks the first meeting of the season between the two longtime National League rivals, so it also represents Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward's first regular-season game against his former team. The Cards own a 271-240 edge against the Braves since they moved to Atlanta in 1966. The two teams will wrap up the 2015 regular season with a three-game set at Turner Field on Oct. 2-4.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves quotes after loss to Dodgers
By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Quotes complied by Michael Cunningham and Matthew Bain
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Julio Teheran
“He pitched well enough to win the game today. Unfortunately, (Mike) Bolsinger gave up one run. The run we got we did a nice job of situational hitting. They make an error, we get to move up the runners and then (Cameron) Maybin had the only RBI on a fielder’s choice. Julio did a nice job. Our bullpen did a nice job.”
On Teheran’s strong start
“He really was aggressive the first four or five innings. The velocity was up. It was a good outing by him. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t give him any run support.”
On Teheran’s slider
“It might have been his best outing he had all year and he got an ‘L’ for it. But that’s baseball. It’s a real cruel game that we play. But I was real pleased, real happy with the performance.”
On Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger
“He didn’t give in. Even in some counts that were 3-0, 3-1, fastball counts, he didn’t give in. He was able to throw his breaking ball over in those counts and it kind of frustrated us a little bit.”
On Alberto Callaspo’s diving stop of Nick Markakis ground ball in ninth
“That’s a big play. That ball is down the line there and we score one, for sure, and then we get the tying run on base and then we cando anything we want. He made a nice play, you can’t take that away from him.”
On the home stand
“These last two teams we’ve played—we played .500 on the home stand—the Cubs are a good club and these guys (the Dodgers) are in first place in their division. To take two out of three, it’s big. It’s nice to go into the off day and now we go into a big road trip and now we hope we come back with some series wins.”
On if Markakis misplayed double over his head in fifth inning
“I think that ball was over his head as soon as it came off the bat. I don’t think he misread anything. I think that ball was hit pretty darn good.”
**JULIO TEHERAN
On his overall performance
“The whole game I feel really good. You can see the number of strikeouts that I did today. Everything was working today. In the fifth inning I couple a couple times behind and you know how their hitters are. You can fall behind and they make you pay for it.” On if his slider was as good as it’s been all year
“Yeah. My slider was good. I hear that my fastball was coming out really good from my hand.”
On if he felt like he could set the tone early
“Yeah. I was consistent the whole game. The couple walks that I did, those weren’t the pitches I wanted to make. I don’t want to give anything easy to them, just trying to make my pitches.”
On what he was thinking while trying to fight through the fifth
“Just a couple walks that I did and they doubled and the base hit. Just trying to pound the zone and they were able to hit my pitches.”
On the pickoff
“Every time I have a chance, me and Andrelton (Simmons) we’re just trying to save some runs and if we have a chance we’re at least going to do it.”
On if he thinks he got the runner out on the pickoff
“Yeah. I think I got him.”
On if this was a satisfying homestand to start the second half
“Yeah I mean we’ve been doing a great job. And even myself. I was excited to start this game because we wanted to sweep this team. But we’ve been playing really good. Just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”
**A.J. PIERZYNSKI
On Julio Teheran
“He was good. Obviously the one inning got away but he pitched well. Seven innings, a few hits, in the strike zone more. The other guy was just really good and tough and we just couldn’t get any offense going.”
On if Teheran’s slider was best it’s been
“Yeah, without a doubt. I know Roger (McDowell) made a little mechanical adjustment with him. The slider was definitely as good as I’ve seen it. He also had a good curveball, he had a good changeup he threw a few times. He kind of had it all going. It just got away from him in the fifth for a couple runs. He was able to get it back together and get us through seven innings but we just didn’t score any runs.”
On Teheran’s strong start
“He warmed up well, he warmed up differently. They made some adjustments in his motion and it carried over into the game. The key was he was ahead in the count, he was making guys swing the bat. He was putting the ball where he wanted to which is what he has to do.”
On winning the series
“They are a really good team. They are in first place for a reason. They can pitch. Their bullpen is very underrated. They have guys can come out of there. To win the first two was nice. We would have liked to got greedy but it didn’t work out. Enjoy the off day and then get ready for the road trip.”
On Bolsinger
“He was good. He just changed speeds over and over again. He was tough. Give the guy credit. He changes speeds and makes it tough on a hitter. Changed his motion, changed his tempo of his motion. He paused, he wouldn’t pause. He just tried to mess up your timing. That’s what he does and he was good today.”
**CHRIS JOHNSON
On the series
“It was a good series. We’ve just got to keep wining ballgames. We are still not where we want to be. We want to be in first place.”
On Julio Teheran
“Julio was great. Gave up three runs and we would like to give him a win. But you tip your hat to their guy. He was pretty good. He kept us off balance. He threw a lot of off speed and we just couldn’t make adjustments. You’ve just got to tip your cap to him.”
Teheran sharp, but Braves lose to Dodgers
By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Timing and location have closely correlated with Braves starter Julio Teheran’s fortunes this season.
He’s usually been very good at home and not very good on the road. Teheran’s outings often are shaky in the first inning, but he tends to recover.
Against the Dodgers on Wednesday at Turner Field, Teheran was excellent early and effective through seven innings. The bats didn’t back him up, though, and the Braves lost 3-1.
Teheran tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts. He was perfect in three of his first four innings while facing one more than the minimum of 12 batters. The Dodgers were late to swing at his fastballs and lunging at his breaking pitches.
It turned out all the Dodgers (54-42) needed was a three-run fifth inning to sink Teheran (6-5). The Braves (45-50) failed to sweep three games against the National League West leaders.
“It might have been his best outing he had all year, and he got an ‘L’ for it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “But that’s baseball. It’s a real cruel game that we play. But I was real pleased, real happy with the performance.”
Entering Wednesday, Teheran’s results had been good at home (5-0, 2.18 ERA) and bad on the road (1-4, 6.95). His 6.16 ERA in the first inning of his 19 previous starts was among the worst by NL starting pitchers; his 3.61 ERA in innings two through seven was evidence of the way he can recover.
Teheran was sharp from the beginning against the Dodgers, who couldn’t do anything against him until the fifth inning.
“The whole game I feel really good,” Teheran said. “You can see the number of strikeouts that I did today. Everything was working today. In the fifth inning, a couple times (I fell) behind, and you know how their hitters are. You can fall behind, and they make you pay for it.”
Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal led off the fifth with a double. Right fielder Nick Markakis was late to turn and run as the ball sailed over his head to the wall.
“I think that ball was over his head as soon as it came off the bat,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t think he misread anything.”
The next batter, Carl Crawford, grounded out to move Grandal to third base. Alberto Callaspo singled to score Grandal, Jimmy Rollins doubled to score Callaspo and Pederson hit a two-out RBI single for a 3-1 Dodgers lead.
Just like that, Teheran’s dominance had faded and the Braves were in a hole. They couldn’t get out of it against Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger, who allowed just one base runner from the fourth through seventh innings.
Bolsinger (5-3) limited the Braves to three hits through seven innings while walking one batter and striking out four.
“He was tough,” Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “Give the guy credit. He changes speeds and makes it tough on a hitter. Changed his motion, changed his tempo. He paused; he wouldn’t pause. He just tried to mess up your timing. That’s what he does and he was good today.”
The Braves had a chance to rally when Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen walked Cameron Maybin to lead off the ninth inning. But Jansen retired Markakis, Kelly Johnson and pinch hitter Juan Uribe to secure the victory.
Teheran had matched Bolsinger until the fifth inning.
He started the game by striking out Joc Pederson, Howie Kendrick and Adrian Gonzalez in order. Teheran recorded two of his three outs in the second inning by strikeout and was perfect in the third and fourth.
Teheran also helped stake himself to a 1-0 lead with some nifty bat work in the third inning. He squared to bunt with two strikes before hitting a sharp line drive that shortstop Jimmy Rollins couldn’t handle.
After that error, Jace Peterson moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Maybin scored Simmons with a ground out to Rollins. That was all the offense the Braves could muster.
Dodgers 3, Braves 1
By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How the game was won: Julio Teheran was great Wednesday afternoon. He tied a career high with 11 strikeouts while allowing three runs over seven innings. But Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger was better, allowing one unearned run on just three hits while striking out four over his seven innings.
Los Angeles scored all three of its runs in the fifth. Yasmani Grandal began the inning with a double to deep right. Alberto Callaspo singled him in, Jimmy Rollins doubled in Callaspo and Joc Pederson singled in Rollins.
Cameron Maybin knocked in Atlanta’s only run on a groundout in the third, scoring Andrelton Simmons.
Number: 4. The Braves’ series win against the Dodgers is their fourth in their last five home series. They’ve won 10 of their last 15 games at Turner Field.
What’s next: Atlanta has the day off Thursday before starting a 10-game road trip in St. Louis on July 24. Manny Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA) is slated to open the series against the Cardinals’ Tim Cooney (0-0, 3.33 ERA).
Julio Teheran: Getting better but not there yet
By Mark Bradley - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whenever I cover a game Julio Teheran starts, I tell myself, “Be ready. This could be a no-hitter.” He came four outs from such a feat two years ago against Pittsburgh — I was on hand — and I fully expect him to negotiate those final four outs soon.
Wednesday’s game had the feel of that day versus the Pirates. Batters weren’t just missing but missing badly. He struck out the side in the first. He was unlucky in the second when Yasmani Grandal’s grounder was botched by Kelly Johnson, who can play many positions, but apparently not first base.
I thought it was an error. Mike Stamus, the official scorer (and a good one), deemed it a hit. But I spent the next few innings thinking that what happened to the Cubs’ Jon Lester here Saturday — a one-hitter reverted to being a no-hitter after a scoring change — could happen to Teheran. I stayed ready.
Through four innings, Teheran had been the Teheran of the past two seasons, not the halting version we’ve seen too often this year. (He was pulled from Friday’s start against the Cubs with two out in the fifth inning of a tie game.) He’d struck out seven and picked off one. He’d made Adrian Gonzalez, one of the game’s most polished hitters, look feeble. Then Teheran got unlucky again.
Grandal led off the fifth with a drive into right. Nick Markakis broke inward, then scurried back. The ball carried over his head for a double. There’s no way it could have been scored an error, but Jason Heyward — to drop a name — catches that one.
Carl Crawford grounded to first, pushing Grandal to third. Alberto Callaspo, briefly a Brave, slapped a single past a drawn-in Jace Peterson. The game was tied, but Teheran had a chance to escape the inning. Then Jimmy Rollins, who entered the game hitting .204, lined a double into the gap in right-center.
Now it was 2-1 Dodgers, and Teheran was looking at no no-hitter, no shutout and — given how Mike Bolsinger was dispensing with Braves — maybe no victory. Damage control was now a must. Teheran fanned Bolsinger. Two out, runner on second, Joc Pederson up.
Teheran had struck out Pederson — the rookie who leads the National League in whiffs — in the first and third, both times on four-seamers gauged at 94 mph. Here Teheran overthought. “I threw him a slider,” he said. “I didn’t thrown one to him the first two times. It was a pitch I wanted to throw.”
It was, alas, a pitch that lent speed to a bat incapable of touching those four-seamers. Pederson singled to right to make it 3-1. That’s how this would end.
“He pitched well enough to win the ballgame,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. Then this: “It might have been his best outing of the year.”
One of the 24-year-old’s best starts of 2015 became another loss — his fifth, against six wins. Teheran matched a career best with 11 strikeouts. (He’d had 11 against Pittsburgh in June 2013.) “The whole game I felt good,” he said. “Everything was working — except for that one inning.”
And that’s the point. With the Braves’ hitters doing next to nothing, Teheran needed to pitch something close to a shutout to win. His stuff seemed sharp enough for that to happen, but in the course of six hitters, the game was gone.
If you’re the Braves, you’re tickled that this prized young pitcher, whose ERA had soared above 5.00 last month, worked his fourth quality start in the past six. Still, you wonder about that one bad inning.
There’s no longer an issue with Teheran’s fastball. He’s touching 94 on a consistent basis and again overmatching so many hitters that you’re surprised when anybody hits him hard. But he couldn’t quell the only real threat the Dodgers mustered, which is baseball’s way of telling that the best young pitcher this team has developed since Steve Avery isn’t fully formed.
“I know it’s been a difficult year,” Teheran said, “but that’s part of the game. I have to keep working hard.” If he does, I believe there’ll come a time when everything falls into place, and that time won’t just last long enough for Teheran to get his no-hitter. It will last long enough for him to win a Cy Young or two. But he’s not there yet.
Lack of run support bites Teheran
By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Julio Teheran lost his first game at home Wednesday afternoon against the Dodgers. Ironically, he pitched better Wednesday that he had in some of his six wins.
He tied a career high with 11 strikeouts and allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings. He also picked off Yasmani Grandal at second to end the second inning. He ranks second in the major leagues in pickoffs, with five.
“The whole game I feel really good,” Teheran said. “You can see the number of strikeouts that I did today. Everything was working today. … My slider was good. I hear that my fastball was coming out really good from my hand.”
Entering the game Teheran ranked 22nd in the majors with a 4.6 run-support average. He could have used some of that against Los Angeles.
“Julio was great. Giving up three runs, we’d like to give him a win,” Chris Johnson said. “But tip your cap to their guy. He was pretty good. He kept us off-balance, threw a lot of off-speed and we just couldn’t make the adjustments.”
Braves’ bats mustered one run on three hits against Mike Bolsinger (5-3, 2.79 ERA) in Los Angeles’ 3-1 win. Teheran (6-5, 4.49 ERA) fell to 5-1 at home with a 2.37 ERA.
“It might have been his best outing he had all year, and he got an ‘L’ for it,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “But that’s baseball. It’s a real cruel game that we play.”
Braves rookie Wisler settles in on the mound
By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s easy to forget that Matt Wisler is a kid who’s closer to high school age than to age 30. It’s also easy to forget he simply was a name Braves fans could get excited about in early June.
Since he was called up June 19, the 22-year-old is 4-1 with a 3.60 ERA in six starts. His fastball rarely tops 94 mph. His slider is on its way to becoming a top-level pitch, but it’s not there yet.
He isn’t a strikeout guru, fanning only 23 in his 35 innings. His pitch-to-contact style leaves him susceptible to hits, with 37 allowed so far.
It has to be something absent from the stat sheet that makes him effective, then.
“He gives you the impression that he’s got more maturity in him than — he’s a rookie, really less than a rookie. … He has a mound presence to him, he has a composure that when stuff happens he doesn’t give in,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday.
“Yesterday he really pitched with one pitch for five innings — his fastball. His breaking ball didn’t come out until the sixth inning. But there’s something else about him that gives him an edge or gives him a little extra that you don’t think he’s a rookie. And I think the way he composes himself around the four days that he doesn’t pitch. When he gets on the mound there’s a presence there.”
Wisler said he’s starting to settle into what’s become a regular gig in the big leagues.
“I feel good up here. I feel good with my stuff right now,” he said. “You know, working with (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) and everything. The defense has been great up here, so starting to feel (like) part of the team.”
He has a place in between Gwinnett and Atlanta, so transitioning back to the minor leagues would at least be easy in terms of his living situation. But he’s confident he won’t be a G-Brave again.
“I feel like as long as I keep going out there and performing the way I know I can, I think I’ll stay up here. I’m not really worried about that,” he said.
“The main thing I’m worried about is getting better every day and hopefully making my next start up here. Keep giving these guys the best chance to win.”
Wisler already has beaten a couple of big-name pitchers: Jacob deGrom in his debut and Doug Fister on the second time around. Next up: July 26 in St. Louis against NL Cy Young contender Michael Wacha (11-3, 3.20 ERA).
If he beats Wacha he’ll be 4-0 in July, a month that’s been mostly kind to the Braves’ starting rotation. Entering Wednesday’s game, Wisler was 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA in July and Shelby Miller had a 3.12 ERA despite going 0-2. (Braves’ bats haven’t been nearly as kind to him as the month.) Manny Banuelos was 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA and Julio Teheran was 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA.
Alex Wood has labored through three of his four July starts, compiling a 6.87 ERA. He did, however, improve to 2-1 this month by beating the Dodgers on Tuesday. His pitched 6 2/3 innings in that game, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out three.
TOTAL RECALL 1995: ED MANGAN
By I.J. Rosenberg - For the AJC
Braves then-general manager and now president John Schuerholz used to say that while Terry Pendleton may have won the National League MVP in 1991, his best acquisition may have been one that spends most of his time playing in the dirt.
Before Pendleton or Sid Bream, Rafael Belliard or even Juan Berenguer, there was the hiring of groundskeeper Ed Mangan.
Mangan, who learned the craft from noted turf consultant George Toma, took what was perhaps the worst field in baseball at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and turned it into Eden. For once, players such as Pendleton and Belliard didn’t have to worry about multiple bad hops, and the outfielders such as Ron Gant and David Justice wouldn’t trip over holes in the field.
Mangan built the field at Turner Field and will do the same at the new stadium opening in 2017, and he continues to be the NFL’s field director for the Super Bowl, where he works with Toma.
He said when the Braves won the championship in 1995, his biggest concern after Game 6 was securing all the equipment.
Q: When the final out was made in ’95, where were you?
A: There were some fans that were able to make it on the field. So we wanted to make sure we secured the bases and home plate and the pitching rubber. Unlike today where everything is authenticated, back then it wasn’t. I think all that was sent over to the Braves Foundation.
Q: Did you get a chance to celebrate?
A: Well, yes because we were on the field, but we had a job to do. Regardless, it was real exciting, and we got to experience it all.
Q: Did you get a World Series ring from that season?
A: Yes, I did. It is in the safe right now, but I pull it out from time to time to wear when I get dressed up.
Q:. Are you excited about putting in a field at the new stadium?
A: Yes, it will be a whole new system, and it will be similar to a swimming pool where the whole field has a liner on the bottom, and we will be able to control all the water going on and off the field. Also, at Turner, the infield and the hips are Paspalum grass and we have Bermuda in the outfield. At the new stadium it will be all Paspalum. It will be unique.
Q: Do you get bothered when the club has a concert on your field?
A: It’s part of the job. We just have to make sure that we fix everything. We have a little sod farm out behind center field, and we can actually take a piece from that, put it in and play on it the same day.
Braves among top in baseball beer prices
The Braves’ payroll is near the bottom of the league. Their beer prices, however, among the steepest in major league baseball.
According to Team Marketing Report’s latest Fan Cost Index, the $7.25 suds ($0.45 price per ounce) sold at Turner Field are among the most expensive in the sport.
The average price for a brew across baseball is $5.98. While Arizona sells the cheapest beer at $4, of the 32 ball clubs, the Los Angeles Angels’ per- ounce price of $0.28 is the smallest in baseball.
Eight other baseball stadium beers are deemed pricier than Turner Field. Based on the data collected in a survey of all ballparks, the Boston Red Sox charge ($7.75 – $0.65 per ounce) for their smallest beer option at Fenway is a at least $0.15 more than any other team in the majors.
But then again, everything is more expensive in Boston. The average non-premium season ticket price of $52.34 is baseball’s highest. (And let’s not forget the $35 for parking.)
You can take heart, the Braves’ average non-premium season ticket price of $19.14 is third lowest behind San Diego and Arizona.
Fox Sports
Did $10,000 dispute cost Tigers Hall of Famer Smoltz?
Jon Paul Morosi
If it weren’t for a dispute over $10,000 three decades ago, John Smoltz might enter the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend wearing a Detroit Tigers cap.
The Tigers were Smoltz’s favorite team while he was growing up in Lansing, Mich., and the team signed him out of the 1985 amateur draft. But then Detroit traded him to the Braves on Aug. 12, 1987, for veteran starting pitcher Doyle Alexander.
Alexander went 9-0 that year for the Tigers, who needed each of those victories to claim the American League East on the season’s final day. Yet, the cost was Smoltz’s Cooperstown career. For decades, Tigers fans have rationalized their anguish by convincing themselves they couldn’t have had both the ’87 division title and Smoltz’s history-making 213-win, 154-save career.
But that’s not entirely accurate.
Turns out, those with knowledge of the trade talks believe Braves general manager Bobby Cox ultimately would have taken Smoltz or left-hander Steve Searcy, the Tigers’ other top pitching prospect at the time. Thus it was theTigers’ choice to part with Smoltz rather than Searcy, who went on to a 6-13 career record and 5.68 ERA for the Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies.
Two decades of baseball history — including the Braves’ 14 consecutive division crowns, five National League pennants, and one World Series title — hinged on one dubious decision (in Detroit) and good fortune (in Atlanta).
The backstory begins shortly before Smoltz was set to begin classes at Michigan State in the fall of 1985. Smoltz had lasted until the 22nd round of that year’s draft, in large part because major-league scouts believed he was destined to attend MSU — where he had accepted a full baseball scholarship and would be allowed to play basketball for legendary coach Jud Heathcote.
But the summer of ’85 had been the best of Smoltz’s baseball life. He dominated on the mound in one tournament after another and pitched in the Stan Musial World Series. Smoltz even hit a walk-off home run — on his final high school swing — for Lansing Waverly against rival Lansing Sexton to win the local Diamond Classic tournament.
Tigers Midwest crosschecker Bill Schudlich and area scout Ken Madeja followed Smoltz closely that summer, watching his games and negotiating with his father, John. On the night before Smoltz was to begin classes at MSU, Schudlich and Madeja were at the Smoltz home in Lansing, finalizing the terms of a $100,000 signing bonus.
There was, however, a catch: The figure on the contract was $90,000 because the Tigers said that’s all they had left in the budget. That sum would be split between one payment in 1985 and another after Jan. 1, 1986. The final $10,000 — which wasn’t in writing — would be added to Smoltz’s Double-A contract once he reached that level.
The three staggered payments were abnormal for an amateur player’s first signing bonus. “You’re going to have to trust us,” the younger Smoltz remembers the Tigers telling him.
Bill Lajoie, the Tigers’ general manager at the time, had built the 1984 World Series champions but during that era the team never invested heavily in its farm system — even on something as basic as hiring a pitching coach for every minor-league affiliate.
In the spring of 1987, Smoltz was preparing to join the Tigers’ Double-A team in Glens Falls, NY — which meant he was due to receive the last $10,000 of his signing bonus. There was only one problem: Lajoie had no plans to pay it because of the team's miserly approach to the minor leagues, a lapse in his memory, or some combination thereof.
“Truth be told, Bill had forgotten all about it,” recalls Schudlich, now in his 51st year as a baseball scout, currently with the Cleveland Indians. “We had said to John, ‘Whatever you’re going to get, we’ll tack on $10,000 the following year.’ The next year comes and goes, [farm director] Dave Miller is handing out contracts, and, all of a sudden, where’s the 10 grand? Bill said, ‘What 10 grand?’ I said, ‘Bill, don’t you remember?’”
Smoltz still has a vivid recollection of being summoned to the general manager’s office at Tigertown in Lakeland, Fla., one day that spring. “Lajoie called me into his office over the loudspeaker, which usually meant you were released,” Smoltz remembers. “And he told me, ‘You aren’t going to get more than the minimum.’ ”
Smoltz, only 19 at the time, was stunned. His father, who had met with Lajoie at Tiger Stadium during the negotiations, was upset at the change in course. And Lajoie, it turned out, had chosen the wrong family on which to attempt a power play.
Smoltz’s father (John Adam Smoltz) worked at Tiger Stadium as an usher at the 1984 World Series. John’s grandfather (John Frank Smoltz) also had worked at the old ballpark, as a popular member of the grounds crew; he was known as “Father John” among those who worked there.
So, John Adam Smoltz had the connections necessary to reach former Tigers owner John Fetzer, who notified club president Jim Campbell. Lajoie then was ordered by Campbell to honor the contract and add $10,000 to Smoltz’s Double-A salary for 1987.
Madeja believes that Lajoie’s bitterness over paying the final $10,000 weighed heavily in the GM’s decision to offer Smoltz — rather than Searcy — to the Braves.
“Bill was upset that John’s dad called him out on that extra money,” Madeja says. “I couldn’t believe that he was going to stiff (Smoltz) on that. You stiff that kid, and his dad’s going to tell every high school coach in the state about it. How am I going to walk into another kid’s house after that? You can’t operate like that.
“It’s bad enough Bill didn’t want to pay fair bonuses. You can’t renege on an offer. I don’t care if it’s a handshake or a written contract. You pay it.”
Lajoie died in 2010 at age 76, and Schudlich delivered the eulogy at his memorial service. Though Schudlich confirmed that Lajoie was angered when Smoltz’s father contacted Fetzer regarding the $10,000 payment, he disputes the notion that Lajoie traded Smoltz to the Braves out of spite.
“I don’t agree with that,” Schudlich says. “Bill didn’t want to lose Smoltz. Everyone thought John was going to be a big leaguer, but Bill wanted Alexander. He didn’t think they’d take Smoltz. He thought they’d take Searcy for sure. He was the best pitcher (at Triple-A). Smoltz was just a throw-in on the list (of prospects for the Braves to consider). I think Bill’s reaction was, ‘Smoltz? You want Smoltz?!’
“Even people with the Braves said, ‘Who in the hell is Smoltz?’ ”
The Tigers’ handling of Smoltz was a major reason Madeja resigned exactly two months after the trade — Oct. 12, 1987, when the Tigers’ season ended with a defeat in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins. Alexander was the losing pitcher.
Two weeks later, Madeja joined the Seattle Mariners, for whom he’s signed Derek Lowe, Matt Mantei, Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz, among others. Nearly three decades later, Madeja still works for the Mariners as a special assistant to general manager Jack Zduriencik.
If Lajoie had traded Searcy instead of Smoltz, Madeja might not have quit and signed that quartet of pitchers for the Tigers. But Madeja acknowledges the trade was “the best thing in the world” for Smoltz, who was 4-10 with a 5.68 ERA at Glens Falls prior to being dealt.
“No question about it,” Madeja says now. “He was good in Lakeland his first year (1986), then he was struggling in Double-A in 1987. He only had his manager, and then he’d see the roving pitching coach every six weeks or so. He was spinning his wheels. Then the Braves got him, and they had someone looking over him all the time. It was the best thing for him, development-wise.”
The Braves became the team of the 1990s, thanks to four Hall of Famers (Cox, Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine) and soon to be five (Chipper Jones). Their streak of consecutive postseason appearances began in 1991 and was snapped in 2006 — the year the Tigers returned to the playoffs for the first time since Alexander’s Game 5 loss.
Smoltz probably would have become a Hall of Famer no matter where he pitched, but for him there’s still one lingering what-if: Had he attended MSU, Smoltz’s basketball career would have bridged the Scott Skiles and Steve Smith eras in East Lansing. Maybe Smoltz would have helped the Spartans reach a Final Four ... and then perhaps he, like Danny Ainge before him, would’ve had the distinction of being selected in the NBA Draft after the MLB Draft.
That’s why, after Smoltz learned of his election to Cooperstown in January, the call he received from Heathcote was the most unique.
“You could’ve made it to the Basketball Hall of Fame,” the old coach told him, “but you chose baseball instead.”
Heathcote’s opinion aside, it’s safe to say Smoltz made the right decision. The same can’t be said for the Tigers, who would’ve been wise to trade Searcy instead of a future Hall of Famer.
USA Today
As Padres struggle, their off-season deals boost Braves, Nationals
Jake Lourim, USA TODAY Sports
With three huge deals in a 48-hour span in December, and another just before Opening Day, the San Diego Padres were the unofficial “winners” of the off-season, making a bold set of transactions that supposedly vaulted them into contention in 2015.
It can be argued the impact was more profound on four other franchises.
With baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline looming, the Padres may re-tool yet again and deal some of the players they acquired in the winter. Meanwhile, the prospects and struggling veterans they scattered across the major leagues are grateful for the opportunities the Padres created.
“All of us,” says pitcher Matt Wisler, traded from San Diego to Atlanta in April, “are starting to establish ourselves a little bit.”
The moves started on Dec. 18, when the Padres made a five-player trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers to acquire Matt Kemp. The next day, they acquired Justin Upton from the Braves, and then came the big one — an 11-player, three-team trade with the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays, with outfielder Wil Myers San Diego’s biggest prize.
Finally, hours before Opening Day, they sent four more players and a draft pick to Atlanta for closer Craig Kimbrel and the other Upton brother, Melvin Jr.
That’s a lot of money, a lot of players — 28 in total, plus cash and a draft pick — and a lot of clubs, but the end result was that five teams’ fortunes were changed drastically. And while the trades’ impact is far from complete, its effect on the 2015 landscape is undeniable.
From the Braves’ perspective, fans saw All-Stars going out, and none coming in. But it appears now that Atlanta was onto something.
“The Kimbrel thing is a little bit more complicated than just trading Kimbrel,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez says now. “We got good, quality baseball players back.
“It still wasn’t a ‘We’re all in’ type, because you’re getting rid of a four-time All-Star with the Atlanta Braves’ save record. But it was a deal we had to make.”
Gaining a few extra years of experience in the clubhouse and taking on $59.2 million in payroll for Kemp, Kimbrel and the Upton brothers — four of the team’s five highest-paid players — was intended to get the Padres closer to contention. Instead, they are 44-51 after losing the second of three games to second-place San Francisco and face deficits of 9 1/2 and seven games in the division and wild-card races.
And they trail the Braves by a game in the latter race.
Atlanta appeared to initiate a vigorous rebuild with the deals. But contributions from a few newcomers have put it closer to the hunt than many expected.
Asked if he thinks about the lasting effects of those trades now, Gonzalez says no — not yet, at least, because the Braves have more help still coming.
“But the guys that we have here? Yeah, I’m excited about them,” Gonzalez said.
The first move the Padres made last winter was for Kemp. A two-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner in his prime, Kemp regained some of his lost power in 2014, hitting 25 home runs for the Dodgers. But it hasn’t translated to this season, as he’s hitting .256 with eight home runs in 351 at-bats. He’s also owed $21.25 million this season ($18 million of which the Dodgers are paying) and $21.75 million a year from 2016-19, $3.5 million of which will be paid by the Dodgers.
In exchange, the Dodgers picked up catcher Yasmani Grandal, who at 26 became an All-Star for the first time this season. Grandal’s on-base-plus- slugging percentage (OPS) is .930, 219 points higher than Kemp’s, and he’s earning just $693,000.
“It feels great to be part of something, to be in the race,” Grandal said. “Obviously it’s something I haven’t experienced before. These guys have been through it for the past two, three, four years. It just feels great, the fact that you get to come in the second half and you’ve still got something to play for.”
In Justin Upton, the Padres acquired a two-time All-Star who hit .270 with 29 homers in Atlanta last season.
But he hasn’t quite matched that in 2015, either, batting .252 with a .757 OPS and 15 homers in 326 at-bats.
In return, the Braves added a potential building block in 25-year-old second baseman Jace Peterson, who has blossomed in the leadoff role this season. Though he’s cooled off lately, he’s hitting .247 with a .671 OPS. “He took the opportunity the Braves gave him and ran with it,” Wisler said. “Obviously he’s having a great year so far. He’s a hard-working dude. It’s great to see a guy like that perform well.”
Gonzalez said the scouting report on Peterson was that he was an athletic second baseman without much experience — the Padres couldn’t find a spot for him in the big leagues, but the talent was there.
When the spring started, Atlanta had a competition at second base between Peterson, Pedro Ciriaco, Phil Gosselin and Jose Peraza.
When it ended, there was no competition.
“We felt so comfortable a month and a half of the season that we moved Peraza to center field,” Gonzalez said.
Just hours before Opening Day, Atlanta gave up an All-Star closer in Kimbrel but also got rid of Melvin Upton Jr.’s contract, which totals $31.9 million in 2016 and 2017. Melvin Upton is hitting just .211 with two home runs in 31 games. Kimbrel has converted 26 of 27 save opportunities, but is owed at least $25 million over the next three seasons.
In return, the Braves continued to stock up, adding big-league center fielder Cameron Maybin and Wisler. Maybin, 28, is having a long-awaited solid season, hitting .284 with a .350 on-base percentage and 16 stolen bases.
And after a terrific debut on June 19, Wisler has continued to contribute, going 4-1 with a 3.60 ERA in six starts.
Maybin, the 10th overall pick by the Detroit Tigers in 2005, played three seasons for Gonzalez after a trade to the Florida Marlins, years marked by injuries and inconsistency.
Gonzalez’s presence, coupled with the friendly atmosphere of the Braves’ clubhouse, made it an intriguing destination for Maybin.
“We got a really well-rounded group, so that always makes it fun to come to the ball park and strap it on with these guys,” Maybin said. “I think that all kind of goes hand in hand with having success. When you’re having fun, it usually makes the game a little bit easier to play.”
As a high draft pick eventually traded in a package for Miguel Cabrera, Maybin has faced expectations his entire career. He’s flourished in learning to ignore them.
“The only people I really go out and try to prove anything to (are) my family, because those are people who always believed in me,” Maybin said. “I only try to prove people right who always believed in me. I don’t spend time trying to prove people wrong, because there’s always going to be people who doubt you or don’t believe in you.”
Gonzalez knew about Maybin when the two reunited in April. He could not say the same for Wisler.
Wisler, a 22-year-old right-hander, was the most polished of the minor-league prospects the Braves received. In his big-league debut June 19, he proved it, allowing only one run over eight innings without issuing a walk.
“To be totally honest with you, I was hoping we’d get him (up) earlier,” Gonzalez said. “We didn’t, our baseball people said he wasn’t ready, he wasn’t ready, but you keep looking at the numbers and you go, ‘Wow, this guy’s pretty good.’
“This guy competes. He’s got composure. He’s got some presence on the mound. Those are things that are hard to teach.”
The only Padres package that didn’t involve Atlanta was the 11-player deal last December, in which San Diego picked up former Rookie of the Year Myers — who hasn’t played since June 13 with a wrist injury — and three other players, in exchange for five players.
One has figured prominently in the Nationals’ pennant drive; another could be a key piece of their future.
Starting pitcher Joe Ross went 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings over three starts for Washington in June. With Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg back on the DL, Ross earned another start Tuesday and didn’t disappoint, allowing two earned runs and five hits over 6 1/3innings and didn’t walk a batter.
“He stepped in his first start and acted as if he’d been here before,” says Nationals manager Matt Williams. “And of course his other two starts were even better. We have a comfort level that he can come up here and do what he can do to help us win every game that he pitches.”
Now, the club plans to keep him in the rotation until Strasburg returns.
“Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the season, my first year with the Nationals,” Ross said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have a really good opportunity, making four starts up here and starting the year at double-A, and up and down from triple-A. I’ve had fun. That’s really my main focus.”
Meanwhile, shortstop Trea Turner could supplant pending free agent Ian Desmond in 2016. Turner, the 13th overall pick in 2014, has hit .323 in the minor leagues this year. “The Padres have a really deep system there,” Wisler said. “They traded away a lot of good guys and got some really good guys in return for us.”
In all, the Padres, the biggest players, gained five players who have played in the big leagues for them and lost seven. The five players they gained have totaled 3.7 wins above replacement this season.
The seven they dealt — much younger and cheaper — have almost matched that number with 3.2.
General manager A.J. Preller did not respond to a request to comment for this story. In June, when asked whether he had any regrets over the off- season rebuild, he told USA TODAY Sports, “I’ll tell you in October.”
The Braves, who were in two of the four trades, traded four players for eight, and three big leaguers for three. They lost 3.3 WAR and gained 2.1, but shed nearly $60 million in future salaries.
And, with Smith and others on the way, the WAR difference could tip in the other direction soon. The Braves’ goal was to sacrifice a few wins this year — when beating the Nationals for the division was already a long shot — for more in the future.
Even with both Uptons in the lineup last season, the club finished 14th in the NL in runs per game.
So they made their clubhouse a few years younger, and in doing so may have recharged it.
“It’s still fun to be together more than anything,” Wisler said. “If you’re going to make a move, making a move with guys that you’re comfortable with and familiar with, that always just helps the process.”
The Braves hope the rest of their new players follow Wisler’s lead. The results of the trades are positive for now, even if success comes with a little failure.
“I’ve never thought I had anything figured out in this game,” Maybin says. “I’m still learning, still getting better. I don’t think anybody’s ever figured the game out, but you continue to progress and try to get better.”
Sports on Earth
SMOLTZ'S BRAVES UNDERACHIEVED
There are greater mysteries than why the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s and beyond grabbed just one World Series championship.
Then again, maybe not.
They did the unfathomable: 14 consecutive division titles, which remains a record among the four major professional sports leagues in North America. During much of that run, they had two players (Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine) who are already in the Baseball Hall of Fame. They had another (John Smoltz) who will give his induction speech this weekend in Cooperstown. They had another (Chipper Jones) who is destined to become a first-ballot guy in 2018.
Not only that, they had Bobby Cox as their manager, and he joined the Hall last year with Maddux and Glavine.
Just one World Series championship for that group?
"Yeah, I know, and I understand where you're going," Smoltz said Tuesday in an interview for Sports On Earth. As a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I covered the entire run of those Braves, and that included the pitching miracle that was Smoltz, one of the game's all-time flamethrowers. He was potent throughout his career despite a slew of injuries and flipping back and forth between starting and closing. Just consider these numbers: 213 wins, 154 saves, a career ERA of 3.33 and WHIP of 1.176. That's not even including how big he was in the postseason (2.67 ERA and 199 strikeouts in an incredible 209 playoff innings).
But here's what Smoltz said of his strikingly gifted Braves, "No doubt we should have won three world championships."
Actually, four. Perhaps five.
"It definitely hurts to think we had that many chances (for world championships), but it doesn't make you feel bad in a robbed sort of way," Smoltz said. "It's in the sense that we didn't make those situations count as much as we should have."
About those situations ... let's begin with the first Fall Classic in Atlanta baseball history.
"In 1991, that was a wash between us and the (Minnesota) Twins when the streak began, but we definitely should have won that World Series," Smoltz said, referring to drama by the moment for a couple of worst-to-first teams. In the end, Jack Morris slightly outpitched Smoltz during a Game 7 for the ages that concluded with the Twins surviving in 10 innings. Then came 1992, when the Braves reached the World Series again, this time against the Blue Jays, who beat Atlanta in six. Toronto had the better team, but it's worth noting that all the games the Braves lost in that Series were by one run.
"Yeah, nobody expected us to get back to the World Series at that point, and we got back," said Smoltz. "But 1993 was the heartbreak year for us. That's when we were really a good team, and we lost to a (Philadelphia) Phillies team that we shouldn't have lost to."
With John Kruk as their poster boy, many of those Phillies were out of shape (OK, fat), sloppy and inferior to a Braves bunch in its first season with the Big Pitching Three of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz.
The Phillies knocked the Braves out of the NLCS anyway.
"Of course, in 1994, we don't know what would have happened, although Montreal was really good," Smoltz said of a players' strike that left the Expos holding a six-game lead over the second-place Braves in the NL East. The Braves rebounded in 1995, and they did so emphatically. They grabbed their only World Series title in Atlanta franchise history (the Milwaukee Braves won in 1957, the Boston Braves in 1914) by silencing the noisy bats of the Cleveland Indians in Game 6 of that World Series. Smoltz said, "That's when we got the monkey off our back."
Sorry, John, but not really. Before and after the '95 championship, Smoltz's Braves challenged the Brooklyn Dodgers of the late 1940s through the mid-1950s for the title of Baseball's Most Underachieving Team. Come to think of it, you can give somewhat of a break to those Dodgers of Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider and Roy Campanella. What stood between them and a title most of those seasons was a pinstriped dynasty, stretching from Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle.
Sure, for Smoltz's Braves there was that dynasty for the Yankees in the mid-1990s through the first decade of 21st century led by Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. It's just that the rise of those Yankees was created by the Braves failing to seize their moment.
Let's return to 1996, when the Braves were defending champs, with all of their Hall of Famers intact. They took Games 1 and 2 of that World Series at Yankee Stadium, and after a Game 3 loss at home, Atlanta led the Yanks 6-0 midway through Game 4.
Then, after New York chipped away, Jim Leyritz capped off the comeback with a game-tying three-run homer off Mark Wohlers. The Braves eventually dropped that Game 4. They also lost Games 5 and 6, and just like that, the Yankees were off to the first of four World Series championships in five years before adding a fifth in 2009.
There also was "The Eric Gregg Game" for Smoltz's Braves. Gregg was the nearly 400-pound umpire who worked home plate during Game 5 of the 1997 NLCS between the Braves and the Florida Marlins. To the chagrin of Braves hitters, Gregg's strike zone went from wide to wider to absolutely ridiculous. Cox once told me, "If we win that game, we win everything. I mean, the pennant, the World Series, everything."
So, to hear some Braves tell it, without Leyritz and Gregg, they have three World Series championships in a row through 1997.
Here's the truth: Even with Leyritz, the Braves should have beaten the '96 Yankees after such dominance early during that World Series. As for Gregg, you never heard the Marlins complain about his strike zone. They kept their mouths shut, hit and won. The Fish also took Game 6 of the 1997 NLCS, which means the Braves couldn't blame Gregg that night -- not with Gregg and his strike zone umpiring on the bases.
The post-1996 Braves never flirted with another championship, the closest coming in 1999 when they lost to the Yankees (again), this time in a sweep. They even lost in the first round of the playoffs during five of the last six years of their run.
"I still think 1996 was 100 percent the year that changed everything for us, because if we win, it sets the stage for us winning maybe four out of five times in the World Series," Smoltz said. "Look at the player moves that were made after we lost to the Yankees in 1996. The latter part of the 1990s was rebuilding and restructuring. When we lost to the Yankees again (in the 1999 World Series), and when we were swept by the Cardinals (in the 2000 NL Division Series), we were an injury-filled team that got there somehow. In those latter years of the streak, we didn't have anywhere near the pitching depth we had earlier ... "
Smoltz paused, before adding, "But I hear what you're saying. During (a long stretch) of that streak, we had four Hall of Famers playing."
And one Hall of Famer managing.
And one World Series championship.
The Sports Xchange
Dodgers' Bolsinger shuts down Braves
By Guy Curtright
ATLANTA — The Los Angeles Dodgers were in desperate need of a quality start from the back end of their rotation, and right-hander Mike Bolsinger supplied it Wednesday. Bolsinger allowed just three hits and an unearned run over seven innings and the Dodgers salvaged the final game of the series with a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at a sweltering Turner Field.
Bolsinger (5-3) didn’t allow a hit after the third inning and retired 14 batters in a row before a walk broke the streak with two outs in the seventh inning.
“Good for us. We needed it today,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Bolsinger’s outing.
The Dodgers, who lead the National League West with a 54-42 record, had fallen to 20-25 on the road with losses in the first two games of the series as neither starter got to the fifth inning.
Bolsinger walked just one and threw 66 of his 98 pitches for strikes while ending a seven-start winless streak in which he had made it through six innings just once.
“For Mike, it’s a matter of being able to get the ball on both sides of the plate a little bit with his fastball,” Mattingly said. “That sets up the breaking ball.”
Bolsinger’s last win had been on June 8 against Arizona, when he allowed three hits and held his former team scoreless.
“I was feeling the curveball and the slider really well (warming up), so I knew I was going to throw it a lot, especially with the team I was facing,” Bolsinger said. “Looking at the scouting report, they were vulnerable with off-speed.”
“He changed speeds over and over,” Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “He wants to mess up your timing. Giving him credit.”
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen walked the leadoff batter in the ninth inning, but closed out his 17th save in 18 chances with a pair of strikeouts.
Braves starter Julio Teheran (6-5) was in control like Bolsinger except for the fifth inning, when the Dodgers scored all their runs off the right- hander.
Teheran tied his career best with 11 strikeouts. He allowed six hits and walked three in seven innings.
It was the first loss at home for Teheran this season after five victories and dropped him to 0-4 against the Dodgers.
Teheran, who allowed just one hit through four innings, fanned the first four batters and had seven strikeouts through the third inning.
“He made some mechanical adjustments and his slider was really good,” Pierzynski said. “He had it all going, but it got away from him a little bit in the fifth inning.”
The Dodgers scored three times to turn a deficit into a lead. Catcher Yasmani Grandal doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a one-out single by third baseman Alberto Callaspo.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins then put Los Angeles ahead with the second double of the inning and center fielder Joc Peterson delivered a two-out single to make it a three-run inning.
“Everything was working today except for the fifth inning,” Teheran said. “Then I got behind a few times and they made me pay.”
The Braves (45-50) had taken the lead with an unearned run in the third as Teheran helped himself by putting the ball in play.
Rollins dropped his soft liner following a leadoff single by shortstop Andrelton Simmons; and, after a sacrifice bunt, center fielder Cameron Maybin produced an RBI groundout.
NOTES: LHP Brett Anderson, who had to come out of Tuesday’s game in the third inning with a sore left Achilles, had an MRI on Wednesday that showed just inflammation and the Dodgers were hopeful that the starter could avoid a trip to the disabled list. … The Dodgers changed bullpen pieces, optioning LHP Adam Liberatore to Oklahoma City and recalling LHP Ian Thomas from the Triple-A team. Liberatore was 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 35 games, striking out 26 and walking nine in 26 innings. Thomas made two appearances for the Dodgers earlier after being part of the late-May trade that sent 3B Juan Uribe to the Braves. … The Dodgers continue their 10-game trip with a four-game set in New York against the Mets beginning today. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-6, 2.68 ERA) will start the opener against RHP Bartolo Colon (9-8, 4.86). … The Braves are off today before beginning a 10-game trip at St. Louis on Friday.
Associated Press
Teheran gets no help from bats as Braves fall to Dodgers 3-1
By GEORGE HENRY (Associated Press)
ATLANTA (AP) -- Despite matching a career high with 11 strikeouts, Julio Teheran still can't solve the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Teheran dropped to 0-4 with a 6.07 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers in a 3-1 loss Wednesday - this despite having not lost at home since last Sept. 19.
''It was a good outing by him,'' Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ''It was just unfortunate that we didn't give him any run support. It might have been his best outing all year and he got an 'L' for it, but that's baseball.''
Atlanta's offense was no match for Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger, who mixed up his curveball and slider to frustrate the Braves.
Teheran (6-5) struck out seven of the first 10 batters and had the Dodgers guessing through the fourth before struggling with his command in the fifth. The right-hander allowed six hits, three runs and three walks in seven innings.
''The whole game I felt really good,'' Teheran said. ''You can see the number of strikeouts I had. Everything was working today.''
With Teheran elevating his pitches in the three-run fifth, Yasmani Grandal led off with a double that right fielder Nick Markakis appeared to misjudge.
Grandal came home from third on a single byAlberto Callaspo, who scored the go-ahead run on a double from Jimmy Rollins. Joc Pederson's single made it 3-1.
Atlanta, despite having won 10 of 15 at Turner Field, has dropped eight of 11 overall.
Having used their bullpen for 9 1-3 innings in first two games of the series, the NL West-leading Dodgers were hoping Bolsinger would pitch past the sixth for the first time in his last eight starts.
Los Angeles avoided its first three-game losing streak since June 15-17 against Texas.
Bolsinger (5-3) commanded his curveball well enough to retire 14 straight batters before a two-out walk of A.J. Pierzynski in the seventh. The right- hander allowed three hits and a run with a walk and four strikeouts in seven innings.
''He just changes speeds and makes it tough on a hitter,'' Pierzynski said. ''Changes motion, changes the tempo of his motion. He'd pause. He wouldn't pause. He was just trying to mess up your timing. He was good today.''
Kenley Jansen pitched around a leadoff walk toCameron Maybin in the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances, getting strikeouts of Kelly Johnson and pinch-hitter Juan Uribe to end the game.
Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the third on Maybin's RBI groundout.
GET THE GLOVE DOWN
Teheran picked off Grandal at second base to end the second after Gonzalez successfully challenged to have the play overturned. Second-base umpire John Hirschbeck initially ruled that Grandal beat shortstop Andrelton Simmons' tag. The review lasted just 56 seconds.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Manager Don Mattingly doesn't anticipate that RHP Brett Anderson will need to go on the disabled list after irritating his left Achilles tendon and leaving Tuesday's 4-3 loss in the third inning. Mattingly said it's too early to tell if Anderson will make his next scheduled start Sunday at the Mets.
Braves: 1B Freddie Freeman, on the disabled list with a right wrist contusion, has arrived at the team's spring training facility in Florida to continue taking live batting practice. Freeman has missed 29 games with the injury. Gonzalez said that Freeman might be ready to return during the four- game series that begins July 30 at Philadelphia.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-6), last year's NL MVP and a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA in eight career starts against the Mets, the opponent in Thursday's opener of a four-game series in New York.
Braves: LHP Manny Banuelos (1-0) will make his third career start when Atlanta visits St. Louis on Friday.