Atlanta Braves Clippings Monday, August 31, 2015 Braves.com Braves unable to contain Yankees in finale By Jon Cooper and Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | August 30th, 2015 ATLANTA -- Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three-run homer, Chase Headley and Stephen Drew each added a two-run shot and the Yankees rolled to a 20-6 rout of the Braves on Sunday at Turner Field, completing a series sweep. Drew stroked four hits and Headley had three, each driving in four runs for the Yankees, who put an eight-run pounding on Atlanta starter Julio Teheran. New York remained 1 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays in the American League East chase. "Every game that we're playing now is important," Headley said. "You win the first two, you give yourself a chance. We were able to come out and win today, which was big. You focus on winning every series. That's the goal. But when you sweep, that's the best-case scenario." Nathan Eovaldi worked five-plus innings and was charged with five runs, but the Yanks' bats boosted him to a team-leading 14th victory, pulling away with nine runs in the seventh inning off relievers Ross Detwiler, Peter Moylan and Jake Brigham. The Braves have lost 12 of their last 13 contests. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED No Solo Mio: Teheran had done a good job in limiting damage on home runs, having allowed only five homers in his last eight starts, only two of those with men on base. But on Sunday he allowed three round-trippers, all with men on, accounting for seven of the season-high-tying eight runs he allowed. Even more vexing for Teheran, all three homers came with two outs and followed walks. Not great Nate: Eovaldi lacked his good splitter on Sunday, but fortunately for him, run support has not been an issue. The right-hander surrendered three straight hits to open the sixth, including Andrelton Simmons' two-run single, prompting the Yanks to ask Adam Warren and Chasen Shreve to bail him out. Eovaldi's career-best winning streak improved to nine games since June 20, a span of 13 starts -- the longest in the Majors this year. "Any time you get a lead, you want to try to go after the hitters as much as possible," Eovaldi said. "You try to pitch like it's a 0-0 ballgame all the time. It's a good feeling, getting a lot of run support." A-Rod delivers: Alex Rodriguez has been relegated to pinch-hitting duty during this Interleague series, but he provided a hit off the bench to spark the big seventh, lining a two-run single off Moylan. Rodriguez is expected to return to his usual designated hitter role when the Yanks return to American League play, though it is also possible that A-Rod could see time at first base this week. "It was nice. It was great to see guys one through nine, one through 12, swing the bats extremely well," Rodriguez said. "It's been a while since we've swung the bats like this, so hopefully it sets the tone for September." Hot-donis: Braves rookie third baseman Adonis Garcia continued to wield a hot bat. He put up his second three-hit game in the last four, going 3- for-5 with a pair of singles and a homer. He's batting .500 (9-for-18) over those four games, with two homers. QUOTABLE "You never, as a baseball player, as a competitor, want to be a part of a game like this, unless you're on the other side. It's just something that you never want to happen again. So you go out there and play, and hopefully you can contribute as much as you can so this doesn't happen again. Today's over with. Hopefully tomorrow we can play a better game." -- Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman SAVE THAT BALL! Pinder connected for his first Major League hit on Sunday, lining a run-scoring double to left field off Brigham in the eighth inning. Pinder said that it was his first plate appearance since he was a catcher at Santa Ana (Calif.) College. "That's the first hit our pitchers have had this year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We had a couple of guys hit the ball hard the past couple of days. It's fun, it's his first hit, it's exciting. Pretty hard to top it if you get up again." MOMENT OF SILENCE Before the game, the Braves recognized 60-year-old Greg Murrey, who passed away after falling from the upper level of Turner Field on Saturday. "It's just sad," said Braves president John Schuerholz. "We're sort of all just dealing with the sadness and the tragedy of it for the gentleman's family and anybody who happened to witness it." WHAT'S NEXT Yankees: Right-hander Ivan Nova (5-6, 4.50 ERA) will make his 12th start of the season as the Yankees open a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Nova has lost his last two starts, coming off a seven-run pounding at the hands of the Astros last time out. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (7-5, 4.39) will start for Boston. Braves: Atlanta continues its nine-game homestand, opening a three-game set with the Marlins on Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Hard-throwing right- hander Mike Foltynewicz(4-6, 5.71 ERA) will get the ball, making his 16th start of the year and 19th appearance. Foltynewicz is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA (2 ER in 5 2/3 innings) against the Marlins this year. Miami will counter with lefty Chris Narveson (1-1, 7.04). Adonis caps successful set vs. former team Initially signed out of Cuba and released by Yanks, 3B bats .462 including homer this weekend By Jon Cooper / Special to MLB.com | August 30th, 2015 There was a time when Adonis Garcia was considered a hot prospect by the New York Yankees. That was back in 2012, when, at 27, he was signed out of Cuba. He rose through the system up to Triple-A in one year. But the bloom began to come off the rose at the end of 2014, when he did not get a callup in September, despite hitting .319 with nine homers and 45 RBIs at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was released at the end of Spring Training 2015, a victim of a numbers game both at third and in the outfield. Garcia was signed by the Braves on April 7, and he got a measure of revenge against his former team this past weekend, batting a solid .462 (6-for- 13) with a double, a homer, an RBI and two runs scored in the recently completed three-game series against the Yankees. He saved the best for last, putting up three hits, including a homer, in Sunday's 20-6 loss. The outburst gave him his first back-to-back multi-hit games, his third in four games. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has been pleased with the way Garcia has been swinging, and he enjoyed being on the positive side of former players burning their old teams. "It's about time we get the reverse," said Gonzalez. "Usually the [Brian] McCanns and the [Dan] Ugglas of the world have good outings against us. Garcia came from the Yankees, and I'm glad that he had a good series against them." For his part, Garcia had no part in relishing his success against the Yanks. "Regardless of who it is, I'm just happy to be putting good swings on the ball, swinging at good pitches and having success," he said, through a translator, assistant coach Horacio Ramirez. "It could have been any other team. It just happens to be the Yankees." Garcia had two singles, then homered off reliever Branden Pinder, taking a 2-1 pitch out to left field. The blast, his seventh of the season, made him only the fourth Braves player to hit at least seven home runs within his first 34 games, joining Jeff Francoeur (10 after 34 games) and Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis, each of whom had eight. Garcia, who has reached via hit in seven of the last eight games, batting .353 (12-for-34) over those eight, would have had his first four-hit game and probably another RBI, but his scorched liner up the middle with two out in the third was right at second baseman Stephen Drew, who was shifted and playing over second base. Garcia's hot hitting has gotten his teammates' attention. "He's been playing real well, especially this whole series. It seemed like he barreled up every single ball," said first baseman Freddie Freeman. "When you get to play every day, you get comfortable and you're going to get into a groove, and he's starting to do that." "There's not really a scouting report on him. That being said, he's sticking to his strengths," said outfielder Jonny Gomes. "He's driving the ball to all fields, he's a tough out. He is a threat at the plate. He's been consistent day in and day out. "Right now, it's day to day and game to game. One thing he's done is he's gotten beat on some pitches, and then the following series he's able to erase that scouting report.