Friday, June 17, 2005
Braves unable to rally in Texas
ARLINGTON -- Starters Kyle Davies and Chan Ho Park both had very comparable first innings.
Both pitchers threw more than 35 pitches, and they both loaded the bases with the first three batters.
But that's where the similarities end.
Park wriggled out of the inning, allowing only one Braves runner to touch home, while Davies was ripped for a five-spot.
"We let [Park] get away in the first, and they didn't let us get away," manager Bobby Cox said.
The Braves downturn continued Wednesday with a 9-5 loss to the Rangers. Atlanta has now dropped each of its last six series and stands one game over .500 at 33-32.
For the first time since Oct. 1, 1978, Atlanta's starting lineup had seven rookies. The youth movement included a pair of 21-year-olds in the battery Wednesday.
"We're going to have some bumps and bruises, but if [the rookies] can come out and play without feeling a lot of pressure, like they're capable of doing, we're going to win some of those closer games," first baseman Adam LaRoche said.
Davies lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and four walks in front of 33,663 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
After his last two games, Davies' ERA ballooned from 0.77 to 3.45. Wednesday's outing was the shortest of his career. He had thrown at least five innings in each of his first five career starts.
"I didn't pitch ahead at all," Davies said. "From the first hitter on, I didn't throw a lot of strikes. If you fall behind a good-hitting ballclub, you're going to get beat."
The right hander threw 81 pitches on the evening, nearly half of them in the first inning. Davies allowed the first six batters to reach base on a pair of singles, doubles, and walks. He regrouped to retire the next three batters, but the damage was already done.
Pete Orr, Marcus Giles, and Kelly Johnson all reached base to start the game. A LaRoche groundout then scored Orr. The next batter, Andruw Jones, worked a walk, on an 11-pitch at bat, to load the bases, but two strikeouts ended the threat.
Park went on to complete five full innings without surrendering another run.
"When you get the bases loaded with no outs, you'd like to think you can get more than one run," LaRoche said.
Texas upped its advantage to 7-1 with single runs in the third and fourth innings.
Davies allowed a double and two singles before giving way to Jorge Vazquez. Vazquez struck out the final two batters of the third inning, but was hurt by the long ball for his second consecutive outing, when, with one out in the fourth inning, Alfonso Soriano belted a solo home run just over the center-field wall to give Texas the six-run lead.
Atlanta stormed back with four runs in the sixth and seventh to narrow the margin to 7-5. With two outs, Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira dropped a throw to first, eventually allowing three unearned runs to cross the plate.
Atlanta had a chance to strike again in the seventh. Ryan Langerhans walked and Andy Marte hit a double, putting two runners in scoring position. Wilson Betemit skied a sacrifice fly, but it was the last run the Braves would tally.
"We battled hard. They made some good pitches in tough situations," said Orr, who had three hits on the evening as a last-minute addition to the lineup. "It's hard when a team's struggling, it always seems like you need that one big hit in a big time game, and we didn't get that today."
The Rangers increased their lead to a comfortable 9-5 margin in the ninth when a ground ball escaped Giles and two more unearned runs came around to score.
Every Braves starter recorded at least one hit except for Giles, who had three walks. Atlanta posted 13 hits and six walks on the evening, but left 14 runners stranded.
"We swung the bats fine," Cox said. "We had enough runs to win."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
Both pitchers threw more than 35 pitches, and they both loaded the bases with the first three batters.
But that's where the similarities end.
Park wriggled out of the inning, allowing only one Braves runner to touch home, while Davies was ripped for a five-spot.
"We let [Park] get away in the first, and they didn't let us get away," manager Bobby Cox said.
The Braves downturn continued Wednesday with a 9-5 loss to the Rangers. Atlanta has now dropped each of its last six series and stands one game over .500 at 33-32.
For the first time since Oct. 1, 1978, Atlanta's starting lineup had seven rookies. The youth movement included a pair of 21-year-olds in the battery Wednesday.
"We're going to have some bumps and bruises, but if [the rookies] can come out and play without feeling a lot of pressure, like they're capable of doing, we're going to win some of those closer games," first baseman Adam LaRoche said.
Davies lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and four walks in front of 33,663 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
After his last two games, Davies' ERA ballooned from 0.77 to 3.45. Wednesday's outing was the shortest of his career. He had thrown at least five innings in each of his first five career starts.
"I didn't pitch ahead at all," Davies said. "From the first hitter on, I didn't throw a lot of strikes. If you fall behind a good-hitting ballclub, you're going to get beat."
The right hander threw 81 pitches on the evening, nearly half of them in the first inning. Davies allowed the first six batters to reach base on a pair of singles, doubles, and walks. He regrouped to retire the next three batters, but the damage was already done.
Pete Orr, Marcus Giles, and Kelly Johnson all reached base to start the game. A LaRoche groundout then scored Orr. The next batter, Andruw Jones, worked a walk, on an 11-pitch at bat, to load the bases, but two strikeouts ended the threat.
Park went on to complete five full innings without surrendering another run.
"When you get the bases loaded with no outs, you'd like to think you can get more than one run," LaRoche said.
Texas upped its advantage to 7-1 with single runs in the third and fourth innings.
Davies allowed a double and two singles before giving way to Jorge Vazquez. Vazquez struck out the final two batters of the third inning, but was hurt by the long ball for his second consecutive outing, when, with one out in the fourth inning, Alfonso Soriano belted a solo home run just over the center-field wall to give Texas the six-run lead.
Atlanta stormed back with four runs in the sixth and seventh to narrow the margin to 7-5. With two outs, Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira dropped a throw to first, eventually allowing three unearned runs to cross the plate.
Atlanta had a chance to strike again in the seventh. Ryan Langerhans walked and Andy Marte hit a double, putting two runners in scoring position. Wilson Betemit skied a sacrifice fly, but it was the last run the Braves would tally.
"We battled hard. They made some good pitches in tough situations," said Orr, who had three hits on the evening as a last-minute addition to the lineup. "It's hard when a team's struggling, it always seems like you need that one big hit in a big time game, and we didn't get that today."
The Rangers increased their lead to a comfortable 9-5 margin in the ninth when a ground ball escaped Giles and two more unearned runs came around to score.
Every Braves starter recorded at least one hit except for Giles, who had three walks. Atlanta posted 13 hits and six walks on the evening, but left 14 runners stranded.
"We swung the bats fine," Cox said. "We had enough runs to win."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
