Atlanta Braves Clippings

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Braves.com

Braves battle back to beat Giants in extras

By Carlos Collazo and Chris Haft / MLB.com | 2:53 AM ET

ATLANTA -- Adonis Garcia's two-run homer off Ryan Vogelsong in the 12th inning erased San Francisco's one-run lead and gave the Atlanta Braves a 9-8 triumph Monday night over the Giants.

"He's got some pop, especially to right-center," said Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had a four-hit night with a clutch homer of his own. "I tell you what, if you give him a pitch out over [the plate], he'll whack you pretty good, and he's done that against some pretty good guys."

San Francisco grabbed an 8-7 edge in its half of the 12th as Buster Posey singled to drive in Kelby Tomlinson, who celebrated his Major League debut by lacing a pinch-hit single. But Jace Peterson opened Atlanta's half of the 12th by reaching safely on shortstop Brandon Crawford's throwing error. Up came Garcia, who homered on a 3-1 pitch.

Earlier, the Giants matched a season high with four home runs, including two by Crawford, which gave them a 6-0 lead after four innings. Then the Braves drove Giants starter Matt Cain from the game with four sixth-inning runs, three on Peterson's homer. Chris Johnson also homered to lead off the Braves' seventh and narrow their deficit to a single run. Nori Aoki's ninth-inning RBI single gave the Giants a seemingly safe 7-5 edge, but Pierzynski's two-out, two-run homer off Santiago Casilla forced extra innings.

"A lot of good things happened," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Unfortunately, you'd like to think you're going to hold a six-run lead and we couldn't do it."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Peterson's pop: After a 26-game stretch where Peterson hit just .167 with four doubles, the Atlanta second baseman is responsible for three-run homers in back-to-back games. Peterson's blast to right-center in the bottom of the sixth cut the Giants' 6-0 lead in half and provides some hope that the 25-year-old infielder is starting to make the adjustments needed to end his prolonged slump.

"He's been swinging it," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "For a guy who came out of the All-Star break -- and you guys know the numbers, you guys posted the numbers -- you know he's been struggling. But the last three or four games, he's starting to swing it, starting to drive in some big runs for us."

Brandons blast off: The Giants have only three sets of back-to-back homers this year. Brandon Belt and Crawford have contributed two of them, including Monday's second-inning sequence. Their slugging helped set the pace that sustained the Giants in the early going.

Posey clobbered a two-run homer in the third inning before Crawford hiked his team-leading homer total to 18 with a two-run clout in the fourth.

Foltynewicz comes out flat: Mike Foltynewicz didn't bring his best stuff to the table Monday and saw the Giants take advantage of a poorly located fastball. San Francisco homered four times in four innings against the Atlanta rookie, who struggled to throw his curveball for strikes and also left several hanging sliders over the plate in his six innings on the hill. Foltynewicz has now allowed home runs in eight of his 10 starts this season, including four straight.

"He just was missing up a little bit," Pierzynski said. "His last start he was really good down and away, especially to righties, and he was just missing a little bit up [in the zone]. And this team can hit -- especially in the middle of their lineup. They can hit, and they can hit homers. And they just didn't miss him tonight."

Cain struggles: The other starting pitcher, San Francisco's Matt Cain, didn't fare much better. He worked four batters into the sixth inning, allowing four runs and a season-high 10 hits. Of the 40 hits Cain has yielded this season, 19 have gone for extra bases.

Cain denied that he weakened in any way after blanking Atlanta for the first five innings.

"I felt good the whole time," he said.

QUOTABLE "It was incredible, with the crappy night I had, just to see them battle back. They saved me tonight, and the defense played great tonight. I didn't strike anybody out so they were running all over for me today, which was awesome. But I missed a couple bad pitches, missing my spots up and away, just giving up the home runs, which made me sick to see them go out just by that little bit, but a home run's a home run. The team was outstanding tonight." -- Foltynewicz

REPLAY REVIEW Peterson's line drive down the right-field line during the second inning was initially called foul, but a quick review showed that the ball found some of the chalk, and Peterson was promptly put on second base.

The Giants contested the ruling on an 11th-inning play in which Ehire Adrianza was thrown out on an attempted steal of second base. Following a video review, the call on the field was confirmed.

WHAT'S NEXT Giants: Jake Peavy will hope for better luck and a livelier offense Tuesday when he confronts Atlanta beginning at 4:10 p.m. PT. Last Wednesday, Peavy blanked Milwaukee for six innings but received no decision as the Giants didn't score until the seventh.

Braves: Atlanta will counter with Shelby Miller, who is looking to end a streak of 13 consecutive winless starts. Over that period, Miller has posted a 3.19 ERA but has received just 2 runs of support per game.

Braves show plenty of fight in big comeback

By Carlos Collazo / MLB.com | 1:23 AM ET

ATLANTA -- After the fifth inning Monday night, with the Braves down to the Giants by six runs, most people probably penciled in another loss for 2015 Braves.

But not the 2015 Atlanta team itself. No, veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski took advantage of the comeback Jace Peterson started with a three-run home run in the sixth inning and tied the game with a two-run blast of his own in the bottom of the ninth -- paving the way for Adonis Garcia's walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning.

A 9-8 Braves victory -- not exactly how anyone drew it up, but unsurprising to the players.

"There might be some nights where you get out-talented, but they will never be out-fought," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Those guys don't give up."

It would have been easy, after Mike Foltynewicz allowed four home runs within the first four innings, but it never happened.

"To get this win tonight and fight the way we did, everybody kept going, we played the whole game," said Peterson, who now has three-run homers in back-to-back games. "To be down 6-0, it speaks highly of a team. And I think that tonight we kind of showed that."

For Pierzynski, who's been around the Majors for "20 to 30 years," according to Chris Johnson -- who also homered in the game -- it was one to remember.

"It was probably one of the most fun wins we've had," said Pierzynski, after his third four-hit game of the season. "Just to continue to battle, continue to fight, guy after guy getting a big hit. Then go down again in the 12th and coming back. It's fun."

The Braves are 10 games under .500 and eight games back in the National League East, 10 games back in the Wild Card race. The Trade Deadline saw the front office send away two of the team's best offensive pieces, Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, to the Mets in a continued effort to rebuild, while the team's two franchise players, Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons, are both dealing with injuries.

But that hasn't stopped any of the players in the clubhouse from going all-out on a daily basis.

"This team doesn't quit; this team doesn't go away and it's not going to stop," Pierzynski said. "We've lost a lot of guys ... but this team still goes about it the right way, which is one of the things we should be most proud of, is that this team, every day, comes to play.

"And will fight and scrap and do everything they can to try to win the game that night, and we might come up short, but we're giving everything we have and that's all you can do."

Oblique injury forces Freeman to exit game

By Carlos Collazo / MLB.com | 12:10 AM ET

ATLANTA -- Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman exited Monday's 9-8 walk-off win against the Giants before the top of the fifth inning with a right oblique injury.

"Just the oblique right now," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez after the game. "They're evaluating him right now. We'll see what we're going to do with it."

Freeman flied out to left field in the first and then grounded out into a shift in the third, appearing to show some discomfort on a swing during his second at-bat. Chris Johnson took Freeman's place at first base during the top of the fifth, with the Giants leading, 6-0.

"I didn't even see him come off," Gonzalez said. "For him to come off the field like that, something was bothering him. He came up right to the trainers in here and [head athletic trainer] Jeff [Porter] came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Hey, Freeman just went down with an oblique.'

"So we'll see what tomorrow brings us."

The Braves announced Freeman's status as day to day. He recently came off the disabled list after spraining his right wrist, but has hit under .200 in the 10 games that he's been back.

Braves hopeful after Simmons' thumb improves

By Carlos Collazo / MLB.com | 12:19 AM ET

ATLANTA -- After seeing improvement from Sunday to Monday with Andrelton Simmons' right thumb, an MRI showed the shortstop is dealing with bone bruising, according to Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.

"We're calling it a bone bruise right now," said Gonzalez after the Braves' 9-8 walk-off win against the Giants. "And I think the good thing is, like we talked this afternoon, from yesterday to today was a big improvement.

"So we'll see what tomorrow brings us with him and hopefully there's a lot of improvement there."

Simmons suffered the injury after trying to make a diving catch on Odubel Herrera's seventh-inning single during Saturday's 12-2 loss to the Phillies. He didn't return in the eighth inning.

Gonzalez did say Simmons could have pinch-run during the extra-inning affair with San Francisco, but that was the extent of what Gonzalez was willing to let the two-time Gold Glover do.

Rookie infielder Daniel Castro made his second start at shortstop Monday in Simmons' place and went 1-for-5 while making several key double plays, including a 3-6-3 started by Chris Johnson in the top of the 10th with the teams tied at 7.

Peavy looks to continue dominance in Atlanta

By Carlos Collazo / MLB.com | 1:00 AM ET

Braves fans are extremely familiar with Jake Peavy, if only because of the many times Peavy and the Braves have been linked in various trade rumors.

But the Atlanta faithful will become even more familiar with the 34-year-old right-hander Tuesday, as Peavy makes his 10th career start against the Braves in the second of a three-game series with the Giants. Peavy is 3-4 against the Braves and has held hitters to just a .178 batting average in Turner Field.

After missing most of the season with a lower back injury, Peavy has regained strength and stamina of late. He threw at least six innings and 90 pitches in each of his five July starts.

Things to know about this game:

• Shelby Miller gets the start for the Braves and will look to end a 13-game winless streak. That streak has hardly been his fault, though, as Miller has posted a 3.19 ERA over that stretch. Miller now has the fourth-worst run support in the league -- just 2.81 runs per start.

• Much of that was thought to be helped with the return of Freddie Freeman, but the Braves first baseman has managed just a .184 batting average with one walk in the 10 games he's played since coming back from the disabled list. He exited Monday's game after the fourth inning with a right oblique injury.

• The Giants will miss second baseman Joe Panik for the entire series in Atlanta after he was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with lower back inflammation. Panik was hitting .309 with an .816 OPS in 97 games this season.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves quotes after victory over Giants

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves quotes after their 9-8 victory over the Giants on Monday at Turner Field.

—Quotes compiled by Michael Cunningham and Matthew Bain

**FREDI GONZALEZ

On the comeback victory

“There might be some nights where we get out-talented a little bit. But we never (get) out-fighted, if that’s a word. Those guys don’t give up. At the end you look up and (Mike) Foltynewicz gives up six innings and six runs and a couple of home runs. But those six innings were big, you don’t know how important those things are. I like the way he competed. If we didn’t have to pinch-hit for him in the sixth, I would have run him back out there again and let him figure it. I thought his last two innings were better than the first couple. But it’s a young pitcher. … Our guys fought. They didn’t give up. (A.J.) Pierzynski had a terrific day. (Jace) Peterson had a terrific day. I think we have him there in the six spot; it’s been about three or four days or five days and he’s been coming up big with some big RBIs. And then (Adonis) Garcia there at the end – he’s hit three balls. All (have) been right-center to almost straightaway center and there haven’t been any cheap ones. So, I think eight home runs between both teams. That’s unusual in this ballpark. But I’m really proud of our club not giving up. You lose (Freddie) Freeman in the fourth inning, fifth inning. Chris Johnson steps in and did a really nice job offensively. You just keep battling.”

On Peterson’s performance – the double to start and the three-run homer in the sixth

“He’s been swinging it. For a guy who came out of the All-Star break – and you guys know the numbers, you posted the numbers. He’s been struggling. But the last three, four games, he’s starting to swing it. He’s starting to drive in some big runs for us. If I’m not mistaken he might be second or third on the team in RBIs. And he comes up big with people in scoring position.”

On A.J. Pierzynski tying the game in the ninth

“You know he’s going to give you a good at-bat. There against (Santiago) Casilla, he’s going to give you a good at-bat. He’s going to give you a good at-bat against anybody. And he’s dangerous, he’s got pop. So (Casilla) made a mistake, he hit a two-run home run, we tied it. We played extra-inning baseball. We were down. (Buster) Posey got us for a base hit against (Arodys) Vizcaino but we didn’t give up.”

On any update with Freeman’s oblique injury

“Just the oblique right now. They’re evaluating him right now. It’s an oblique. So, we’ll see what we’re going to do with him.”

On what Freeman said when he left the game

“I never even saw him when he came off. He went right into the training room and for him to come off like that, something’s bothering him. He came up right to the trainers in here, and then I got Jeff came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey. Freeman just went down with an oblique.’ So, we’ll see what tomorrow brings us.”

On any update with Andrelton Simmons’ thumb injury

“I think we’re calling it a bone bruise right now. And you know what, I think that the good thing is, like we talked this afternoon, from yesterday to today was a big improvement. We’ll see what tomorrow brings us with him and hopefully there’s a lot of improvement there and we can sit on it a little bit.”

On if Simmons was available tonight

“Well, I think we would have used him in a crazy (situation). If (Julio) Teheran had pinch-hit there in the last inning, I would have run him. That’s about the only thing that I’d let him do today.”

**MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ

On the team rallying for the win

“It was incredible. With the crappy night I had, to see them battle back, they saved me tonight. The defense played great tonight. I didn’t strike anybody out so they were running all over for me, which was awesome. A couple bad pitches, missing my spots up and away, giving up them home runs which made me sick to see they were going out by just a little bit. But a home run is a home run. The team was outstanding.”

On the home runs he allowed

“I just totally missed them. I wanted to go inside a lot and just left it right over the middle of the plate. It happens. In the bullpen this week I’ve just got to practice on it a little—practice on it a lot, actually, because in Baltimore I was in command of my fastball pretty well and tonight I didn’t have it. It’s a big learning experience for me because especially a lineup this they can hurt you real quick. So I’ll learn and get back on the right track.”

**A.J. PIERZYNSKI

On if it was the biggest win of the year

“I don’t know about the biggest but it was definitely one of the most fun wins. Just being 6-0 against a team with a really good pitching staff and a really good bullpen, just to continue to battle and continuing to fight, guy after guy getting a big hit. We go down at the end and come back, it’s fun. That’s why you play. That’s what this game is about. You keep fighting and you never know what will happen.”

On Adonis Garcia coming up with big home runs

“Yeah, he’s got some pop, especially to right-center. They’ve all been to right field. I tell you what if you leave a pitch out over, he’ll whack it pretty good. He’s done it off some pretty good guys, guys that have had some success. It’s great to see younger guys—well, obviously he’s not a young guy, but not as much experience—have some success, it’s fun.”

On losing Freddie Freeman then Jace Peterson homering

“Losing Freddie hurt but Jace hit a huge home run to get us back on the board. But just guy after guy hitting. Chris Johnson got a couple huge hits, Garcia got a huge hit. It was just one of those games where everyone contributed and everyone did their part, all 25 guys on the roster just about. It was a good team win.”

On Mike Foltynewicz’s start

“He was just missing a little bit up. This team can hit, especially the middle of their lineup. They can hit, and they can hit homers. They just didn’t miss them tonight.”

On the team’s fight

“This team doesn’t quit, this team doesn’t go away. It’s not going to stop. We’ve lost a lot of guys. We’re a different team than we were at the beginning. But this team still goes about it the right way, which is the thing we should be most proud of. This team comes every day to play and fight and scrap and do everything we can to win the game that night. We might come up short but we are giving everything we have and that’s all that we can do.”

**CHRIS JOHNSON

On the impact of the home crowd tonight

“It’s nice to play at home. Any time you go out in your home stadium, it’s a lot of fun when that chop gets going. And the people that were here tonight, they didn’t leave when we were down 6-0. They didn’t leave when Posey got the hit in the whatever 11th inning it was. So, it’s a big win for them, too.”

On performance of Peterson, who’s been scuffling lately

“I wouldn’t say he’s been struggling. He’s been swinging the bat pretty good, he’s just having some tough luck, I think. This guy’s been robbed a lot, and guy who works this hard with that kind of talent, he’s not going to stay down very long.”

On having Pierzynski at the plate there in the ninth inning

“He’s been swinging the bat well. He’s come up with a lot of big hits this year for us. That guy’s been around 20, 30 years in the major leagues. It’s about time he does something good.”

On if this win feels like more than just one win

“It feels great. But we play 162 games so we don’t get too high, we don’t get too low. It’s one game. We’ll enjoy it tonight and we’ll wake up tomorrow morning and we’re going to have to try to get another one.”

**JACE PETERSON

On his three-run home run in the sixth

“Runners on first and second, I’m just trying to keep it going any way I can. Not really trying to hit a home run, but he threw me a change-up, he hung it and I was able to get a good swing on it. But just to get this win tonight and fight the way we did. Everybody kept going, we played the whole game and to be down 6-0 (and win) speaks highly of the team. And I think tonight we kind of showed that, hopefully we can keep it going.”

On getting this kind of win against the defending world champs

“It feels great. I mean, any win counts but especially when you do it against the world champs, it’s definitely big. They go up right there 7-6 I think in the 11th or 12th, whatever it was, and we could have easily gave up. We kept fighting and he came through with the huge home run. And you really can’t say enough about it, man. Everybody put good at-bats together and played good defense and it was a good win.”

Braves rookie Garcia hits walk-off homer to beat Giants

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After the Giants roughed up starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz for four home runs it looked as if the Braves were headed for another listless, deflating loss in the aftermath of trades made for the future.

But the bullpen held the Giants down until the Braves uncharacteristically started bashing homers themselves. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski smashed a two-out, two-run home run off Giants closer Santiago Casilla in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings before Adonis Garcia won the game 9-8 with a walk-off, two-run homer in the 12th.

The Braves’ rally from a 6-0 deficit after four innings was their largest since they came back to beat the Phillies after training 7-1 in the fifth inning on Sept. 2, 2012.

“This team doesn’t quit, this team doesn’t go away,” Pierzynski said. “It’s not going to stop. We’ve lost a lot of guys (through trades). We’re a different team than we were at the beginning. But this team still goes about it the right way, which is the thing we should be most proud of. This team comes every day to play and fight and scrap and do everything we can to win the game that night.”

The Giants went ahead 8-7 on Buster Posey’s RBI single in the top of the 12th. Braves second baseman Jace Peterson started the winning sequence when reached base on an errant throw by shortstop Brandon Crawford to lead off the bottom of the inning.

Garcia then smacked Ryan Vogelsong’s pitch out for his third home run since the Braves called him up from Triple-A Gwinnett on July 25 in the wake of the trades of Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. All of Garcia’s home runs have been go-ahead shots.

His homer provided the winning margin for the Braves in their 3-2 victory at St. Louis on July 26, he hit one to put the Braves ahead in the top of the ninth at Baltimore the next day before they lost in extra innings and he topped those two with hit his first walk-off home run.

Garcia, a right-handed hitter, has hit all of his home runs to the opposite field.

“There haven’t been any cheap ones,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

The Braves rank last in the majors in home runs by a wide margin. But they overcame a 6-0 deficit against the Giants with the help of home runs by Jace Peterson in the sixth, Chris Johnson in the seventh and Pierzynski’s game-tying shot in the ninth.

The four home runs hit by the Braves were a season-high. They also hit three at Toronto on April 18 and at Arizona on June 3 but lost both of those games by one-run margins.

In the sixth inning on Monday Peterson’s three-run home run got the Braves within 6-3. Garcia followed with a double that chased Giants starter Matt Cain. Braves right fielder Nick Markakis singled against reliever George Kontos with two outs to score Garcia.

Chris Johnson, who had replaced injured Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, led off the seventh with a home run against Hunter Strickland to trim the lead to 6-5. The Giants added Nori Aoki’s RBI single in the top of the ninth for a 7-5 lead before Pierzynski tied the game in the bottom of the inning.

“It was incredible,” Foltynewicz said. “With the crappy night I had, to see them battle back, they saved me tonight.”

The Giants powered to a 6-0 lead with the four home runs against Foltynewicz. He took a big step back after he pitched six effective innings against the Orioles in his last start while working around two solo homers allowed.

The four home runs Foltynewicz allowed to the Giants tied Julio Teheran for the most by a Braves pitcher this season.

“I just totally missed them,” Foltynewicz said. “I wanted to go inside a lot and just left it right over the middle of the plate. It happens… . In Baltimore I was in command of my fastball pretty well and tonight I didn’t have it. It’s a big learning experience for me because, especially a lineup this, they can hurt you real quick.”

The Giants scored two runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings against Foltynewicz—all via home runs. Three of the homers followed the same pattern: Giants left-handed batters sent high fly balls to left field that just cleared the wall as Perez made leaping attempts to catch them.

That’s what happened on Brandon Belt’s solo home run in the second inning. The next batter, Brandon Crawford, hit a similar home run. Crawford’s second home run, in the fourth inning, was nearly a copy.

In between those long balls, Buster Posey provided some variety when his two-run homer in the third inning went well over the wall in right-centerfield. Crawford’s second home run put the Giants ahead 6-0 but Gonzalez left Foltynewicz in the game and he went six innings.

“I like the way he competed,” Gonzalez said. “If we didn’t have to pinch-hit for him in the sixth, I would have run him back out there again and let him figure it (out).”

Braves 9, Giants 8, 12 innings

By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

How the game was won: With the Braves trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the 12th, Adonis Garcia hit a walk-off two-run home run to right-center field to win 9-8.

The Braves also came back in the ninth, tying the game on A.J. Pierzynski’s two-out, two-run home run.

Mike Foltynewicz threw six innings and allowed nine hits, six earned runs and one walk. He didn’t strike out anyone. All six of his runs allowed came on four home runs: back-to-back shots from Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford in the second, a two-run home run by Posey in the third and another two-run home run by Crawford in the fourth.

The Braves trailed 6-0 going into the bottom of the sixth, but Jace Peterson hit a three-run home run that inning and Chris Johnson followed with a solo shot in the seventh.

Number: 6. The number of starts it took Foltynewicz to allow his first four home runs this season.

What’s next: Shelby Miller (5-8, 2.44 ERA) will go for his first win since May 17. He’ll start against Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.12 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

Braves and Giants combine for 8 home runs, Atlanta sets season record

By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Home runs are supposed to be rare at Turner Field this year.

Entering Monday, the Ted had seen just 59 balls leave its yard in 46 games. That’s a 1.28 homer-per-game average — tied for second-lowest in the big leagues.

Monday epitomized an outlier, then, as the Braves and Giants combined for eight home runs in Atlanta’s 12-inning, 9-8 home win. Each team cranked four, which sets a season-high for the Braves.

“That’s unusual in this ballpark,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said after the game.

Brandon Belt started the parade in the second with a shot to left that barely scraped by Eury Perez’s outstretched glove. Brandon Crawford followed Belt with an exact copy of his homer — including Perez’s near highlight-reel rob.

In the third Buster Posey cranked a two-run no-doubter to center field and Crawford hit his second homer in the fourth. And, yes, Perez almost robbed that one, too.

Jace Peterson then ignited Atlanta’s bats in the sixth with a three-run home run to right-center, and Chris Johnson followed with a solo shot to center in the seventh.

“Runners on first and second, I’m just trying to keep it going any way I can,” Peterson said. “Not really trying to hit a home run, but he threw me a change-up, he hung it and I was able to get a good swing on it.”

Peterson went 3-for-5 with the homer, a double and three RBIs. Sunday against the Phillies he went 3-for-4 with another three-run home run, leaving him with two straight games of great production after hitting .174 (16-for-92) in July.

“I wouldn’t say (Peterson’s) been struggling. He’s been swinging the bat pretty good, he’s just having some tough luck, I think,” Chris Johnson said. “This guy’s been robbed a lot, and a guy who works this hard with that kind of talent, he’s not going to stay down very long.”

A.J. Pierzynski smacked home run No. 7 and watched it sail over the right-field wall to tie the game 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth. He went 4-for-6 with the homer and two RBIs Monday, making him 17-for-37 (.459) in his last nine games.

“He’s been swinging the bat well. He’s come up with a lot of big hits this year for us,” Johnson said. “That guy’s been around 20, 30 years in the major leagues. It’s about time he does something good.”

Braves rookie Adonis Garcia capped the night with his walk-off, opposite-field two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th. It’s his third home run since getting called up on July 25.

“Garcia there at the end,” Gonzalez said. “He’s hit three balls. All (have) been right-center to almost straightaway center and there haven’t been any cheap ones.”

It took the Braves six games to hit their previous four home runs.

Those nondescript Braves didn’t give up on this game, did they?

By Mark Bradley

Then again, if you had averted your eyes, you’d have missed this nifty comeback against the reigning World Series champs. Down 6-0 after 5 1/2 innings, down 8-7 after 11 1/2, the Atlanta Braves won 9-8 on a walk-off homer by Adonis Garcia, of whom nobody in this city had heard two weeks ago.

We should note that this rally was achieved without their two best everyday players — Andrelton Simmons, who has a sore a thumb, and Freddie Freeman, who was lifted midway after tweaking his oblique. (He’s day-to-day, as they say.) Into the first-base breach stepped Chris Johnson, who isn’t really a first baseman and lately hasn’t been much of a ballplayer, but darn if he didn’t galvanize this game twice.

First, Johnson led off the seventh with a home run to center field on a 0-2 fastball thrown by the heat-bringer Hunter Strickland. Giants catcher Buster Posey wanted the pitch off the plate, but Strickland’s delivery proved fat enough for Johnson to launch this roughly as far as Posey had driven his third-inning homer. (Johnson’s was the first home run Strickland has yielded in a regular-season big-league game. He did, however, yield six — six! — in the 2014 postseason.)

Johnson’s homer brought the Braves within 6-5, and here you thought, “Hmmm.” With two out and nobody aboard in the ninth, you thought, “Game over.” The Giants had added a ninth-inning run on three consecutive two-out singles off Andrew McKirahan. Javier Lopez retired Nick Markakis to open the bottom of the inning. Santiago Casilla got Eury Perez. Up stepped Johnson, the one Johnson not traded by the Braves over the past fortnight, the one they’d hoped most to trade.

Doggone if he didn’t single to left, which prolonged matters for A.J. Pierzynski. Casilla’s 1-1 pitch was a fastball. (On this hot night, everybody was hitting 100-mile-an-hour fastballs 100 miles.) It landed in the right-field seats. Casilla knew at the moment of impact, dropping to his haunches. The Braves, who’d seen their front office give up on this season, hadn’t given up on this game.

Which hadn’t started at all well. Mike Foltynewicz was throwing 97 mph to no effect. Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford lined back-to-back opposite-field homers in the second. Posey hoisted his two-run blast in the third. Crawford homered again in the fourth. (To be fair, Belt’s homer and Crawford’s second smacked the top of the wall. Had the smallish Perez been a bit taller, he might have done the Otis Nixon bit twice. But he isn’t and he didn’t.)

It was 6-0 and all but done. Except it wasn’t. Jace Peterson gave the Braves life in the sixth, lifting a three-run homer to right-center off Matt Cain, who’s coming off elbow and ankle surgery, after flared singles by Pierzynski and Cameron Maybin. Markakis, who spent the evening slapping singles to left field, slapped an RBI single to left field. It was 6-4. Some life in the ol’ Bravos, huh?

From the fourth inning on, the Braves were the sharper team. They turned double plays in the fifth, sixth, 10th and 11th. Pierzynski, who’s 38, threw out Edhire Adrianza, who’s 25, trying to steal to end the 11th. If we hadn’t known that the Giants were chasing another postseason berth and the Braves were kindling hope for 2017 and Cobb County, you’d have thought these were simply two good teams embroiled in a big-time game.

For the home side, it came undone in the top of 12th. Ross Detwiler yielded a single to Kelby Tomlinson, who was making his big-league debut. Then Detwiler plunked Gregor Blanco. Posey delivered a two-out single off Arodys Vizcaino to make it 8-7. But the Giants left the bases loaded,

leaving the door ajar. San Fran needed three outs to win three but was running low on pitchers. (That can happen when you deploy five relievers to get from the sixth through the ninth.)

The Giants summoned Ryan Vogelsong, once an All-Star starting pitcher but lately reduced to long relief. He got no outs, though he should have had one. Peterson reached on Crawford’s bad throw to open the inning. Garcia won it with a screamer over that wall in right-center. Not only had the Braves spotted the Giants six runs and prevailed, they’d spotted the visitors four homers and matched that. And this, as we’ve often noted, is the team that ranks last in the majors in home runs.

Which only goes to show: Baseball is weird. You can’t, as the saying goes, run out the clock. You have to get 27 outs to win. The Giants, playing for the playoffs, got 26 and spit the bit. The Braves, playing for nothing except a paycheck, kept going. Good for them.

Braves slugger Freeman leaves game with injury

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman left Monday’s game against the Giants with what the same said was a right oblique injury.

The Braves said his status is day-to-day.

Freeman winced after fouling off a pitch in the third inning and was slow to get back in the batter’s box. Freeman finished the at-bat and played his position in the top of the fourth inning but Chris Johnson took his position for the top of the fifth as Freeman sought treatment from trainers.

“For him to come off like that, something’s bothering him,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

The Braves activated Freeman from the disabled list on July 24 after he missed 30 games with a right wrist bruise. He leads Braves regualrs in home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.500 entering Monday).

Test shows bone bruise for Braves shorstop Simmons

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An MRI on Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ right thumb revealed a bone bruise, the team said Monday.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Simmons’ injury improved significantly but he was out of the lineup against the Giants at Turner Field on Monday. After X-rays on the thumb were negative, Simmons underwent an MRI exam in Atlanta on Monday.

“I think that the good thing is from yesterday to today was a big improvement,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings us with him and hopefully there’s a lot of improvement there and we can sit on it a little bit.”

Simmons injured the thumb while attempting to make a diving catch in the seventh inning of the Braves’ 12-2 loss to the Phillies on Saturday. The two-time Gold Glove winner is one of the top defenders in baseball at his position.

Rookie Daniel Castro started his second consecutive game in place of Simmons.

Simmons given Braves Heart and Hustle Award

By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons received the Braves Heart and Hustle Award in a pre-game ceremony before Atlanta hosted the Giants Monday at Turner Field.

Simmons and 29 other players are “preliminary winners,” nominees from each team for the MLB’s overall Heart and Hustle Award, which is given to the player who best demonstrates passion and top-notch work ethic on and off the field.

“He does all those (things),” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He hurt himself two days ago trying to make that catch over his shoulder and he jammed his thumb on it. You look at his body of work over the last 3 1/2 years and you get to appreciate watching this guy do all those things.”

Simmons, whose sprained thumb kept him from starting Monday, also won the Braves award in 2013. Jason Heyward received the honor last year. No Brave has taken home the overall Heart and Hustle Award, which has been around since 2005.

Simmons, Heyward and Brian McCann have received the Braves award twice.

The award is presented by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, which created committees of former players for all 30 teams to choose the nominees. Near the end of the season, fans and current and former big-leaguers will vote to decide who gets the overall award.

Pittsburgh’s Josh Harrison won last year and Boston’s Dustin Pedroia won it the year before.

The overall winner will be announced Nov. 10 at the 16th annual Legends for Youth Dinner in New York City.

Braves will play much more at Turner Field — finally

By Matthew Bain - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Brutal. The Braves’ 10-day, 10-game road trip – just brutal.

They went 2-8 and saw trades yank away Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, Jim Johnson, Alex Wood and Luis Avilan. Andrelton Simmons also banged up his thumb and was out of the lineup Monday.

“We’ve had three 10-day road trips this year and this one here seemed like it was a month,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

They’re catching a break, though. The Braves play 36 of their final 57 games at home, the most of any team in either league. Entering the week, Atlanta led the league with 59 road games and had the fewest (46) at home.

“We haven’t been here it seems like at all,” catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “That’s the biggest thing. It feels like we’re never here. It seems like we’ve been on the road the whole year.”

The Braves are 26-20 at Turner Field and 21-38 on the road. The nearly 21-percent gap between winning percentages is fifth-highest in the majors.

“We just, for some reason — especially with a younger team — at home, it’s easier for a lot of the younger guys to feel comfortable because they have a routine they can get into and things that they’re comfortable with,” Pierzynski said. “But you just try to play the same, but usually the better teams are better at home. You just try to win the games at home, especially for your fans and the people that are supporting you.”

Atlanta plays in front of the third-smallest average home crowd in the National League. The 26,045 average at each home game is 20,849 less than for the Dodgers, who lead the league in that category.

“Coming home, playing in front of your fans is always nice,” Pierzynski said. “It gives you a little bit of energy; it gives you a little bit of pep in your step.”

After the trades, what’s left for 2015 Braves?

By Mark Bradley - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fredi Gonzalez met with some of his Braves in Philadelphia after the trade for Hector Olivera was approved. He said what any manager would: That the season wasn’t over, that the players are still being paid to win no matter who’s actually playing, that this team can make life miserable for the contenders over the next two months.

Not exactly on cue, the Braves went out and lost three games by the aggregate score of 25-6 to the worst team in the majors. Which goes to show that brave words — no pun intended — can pale alongside reality.

By trading five key contributors (not to mention a highly regarded prospect), the Braves have done what we figured they’d do. They’ve told everyone that the final two months of the 2015 season are of lesser importance than the next several years. This is not a criticism. There was no percentage in seeing if this team could bleed out 79 wins.

The Braves as constituted hung tough for longer than they should have, but by the All-Star break they’d begun to go the way of earnest-but-mediocre teams. The two deadline deals were intended to enable future Braves teams be something more than mediocre. Trouble is, the 2015 club still has work to do.

The Braves arrived at Turner Field on Monday with 57 games remaining, or 35 percent of their season. They’d lost 16 of 21 since July 7, eight of 10 since they sent Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe to the Mets and three of four since shipping — deep breath here — Alex Wood, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan, Jose Peraza and Bronson Arroyo’s contract to the Dodgers. By organizational design, they’ve gone from mediocre to downright bad.

If there’s a blessing, it’s that such a doomed-to-lose fate hasn’t befallen many Braves teams over the past quarter-century. Only once since the worst-to-first of 1991 has this club been deadline sellers, and that was only to shed the free-agent-to-be Mark Teixeira in July 2008. (Had they not traded for Teixeira in July 2007, the history of this franchise might be different.)

Still, knowing this is an anomaly does little to salve the sting if you’re among the 25 still playing for the Braves. “It’s going to be tough,” A.J. Pierzynski said Monday, and at 38 the catcher has seen all manner of teams. “But we do have a lot of young guys who are fighting and playing the right way.”

Said Freddie Freeman, the first baseman: “We’re professionals. We’re paid to perform. Until there’s an ‘X’ by our name (in the standings to signify elimination), we’re going to keep battling. We can’t control who’s still here, but we can control who’s on that lineup card. And if we prove we can get close, maybe they’ll get us some more help.”

Then: “It’s definitely tough, especially when you’ve been battling with these guys all along.”

Yes, this is boilerplate ballplayer stuff. But what’s a professional athlete to say: “If we win 10 more games, it’ll be a bigger miracle than the ‘69 Mets”? All these guys can do is keep trying.

Some of it might actually be entertaining. “When you’ve got a rotation like ours,” said Gonzalez, speaking of his five starting pitchers, the oldest of whom is 24, “you come to the park thinking, ‘This could be fun.’ “

It could. It could also be … well, what’s the opposite of fun? Excruciating?

The erudite Pete Van Wieren used to tell listeners that, with a promising young pitcher, one of every three starts would be good, one so-so and one awful. We saw a bit of the latter last week, when Williams Perez (age 22) yielded nine earned runs in 4 1/3 innings a night before Matt Wisler (age 22) was touched for seven in 4 2/3. And it’s not as if the Braves’ hitters are knocking down any fences: They’ve averaged 2.4 runs since the All-Star break.

Freeman again: “We can’t control what the Two Johns (Hart, the president of baseball operations, and Coppolella, assistant general manager) are doing up there. We can only control what we do. And at the end of the day, if you can look yourself in the mirror, you’ve done your job.”

All the Braves who remain can do is keep trying. Good luck with that.

Braves minor league: Albies emerges as No. 1 prospect

By Carroll Rogers Walton - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ozzie Albies, SS, low Single-A Rome

Ranking: Braves’ No. 2 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report.

Just in case the Futures Game selection wasn’t enough of a clue that Albies has emerged as the Braves’ top middle infield prospect, the trade of Jose Peraza to the Dodgers as part of the package to get Cuban Hector Olivera confirms it. Albies reached base six times in his previous three games entering the week, including a season-high three-walk game Friday against Augusta. Staying patient will be key as pitchers continue to respect him at the plate.

Touki Toussaint, RHP, low Single-A Rome

Ranking: No. 3 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report

Toussaint bounced back from a nine-run, four-homer outing at hitter-friendly McCormick Field in Asheville. He gave up just one run on two hits over six innings Saturday against Augusta. He walked five and struck out four in that game, pitching effectively wild (45 strikes among 82 pitches).

Mallex Smith, CF, Triple-A Gwinnett

Ranking: No. 6 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report

Smith had hit safely in nine of his past 10 games for Gwinnett entering the week, raising his batting average 30 points to .230 in 33 games since his promotion to Triple-A. He was 12-for-40 (.300) with a double and seven runs scored over that time. Smith stole seven bases in a seven-game stretch, including a pair of two-steal games.

Braxton Davidson, RF, Low-A Rome

Ranking: No. 7 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report

Davidson, 18, had to leave Rome’s game last Tuesday night in his hometown of Asheville, N.C. He sustained a concussion when he crashed into the right field fence chasing down a ball that ended up going for an-inside the-park home run for Omar Carrizales. Davidson managed to stay in the game for the rest of the inning but was replaced an inning later. He is on the seven-day disabled list.

Tyrell Jenkins, RHP, Triple-A Gwinnett

Ranking: No. 9 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report

Jenkins has made three straight quality starts for Gwinnett, including a six-inning performance Saturday night when he allowed just one run on five hits. He hit a batter, walked four and struck out eight. Jenkins threw 60 of his 103 pitches for strikes. He is 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA (seven earned runs in 31 innings) in five starts since his promotion to Triple-A.

Lucas Sims, RHP, Double-A Mississippi

Ranking: No. 10 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report

Sims had a rough go his last time out for Mississippi, his third start since his promotion to Double-A, and a scoring change didn’t help him much either. He lasted only two innings, giving up a season-high seven runs. All of them were earned after a second-inning error was changed to a triple. After walking 11 batters in 9 2/3 innings over his first two Double-A starts, Sims walked only two on Saturday but he gave up eight hits.

Christian Bethancourt, C, Triple-A Gwinnett

Ranking: No. 6 prospect by Baseball America 2015 preseason

Bethancourt went 3-for-4 with three doubles last Monday against Durham. He became the first Gwinnett Brave with three doubles in a game since Ernesto Mejia did it on June 1, 2013 in Lehigh Valley. Bethancourt followed that up with two more doubles Tuesday against Durham on a 3-for-5 night with three runs scored. He had three straight multi-hit games in the series, going 8-for-13 (.615).

Rio Ruiz, 3B, Double-A Mississippi

Ranking: No. 11 prospect by Baseball America 2015 preseason

Given his struggles this season, it would be easy for Ruiz to lose patience. But that’s exactly what he used last week to work himself out of an 0-for-29 funk. Ruiz had gone eight games without a walk when he changed his approach on a recent road trip and drew walks in six consecutive games. Not surprisingly some hits followed. Ruiz went 5-for-17 (.294) with five runs scored over that span to raise his season average to .212.

Andrew Thurman, RHP, high Single-A Carolina

Ranking: No. 20 prospect by Baseball America 2015 preseason

Thurman pitched a season-high seven innings Sunday, allowing just one hit and no runs in a 6-0 win over Wilmington. Thurman gave up a leadoff double and retired the next 21 batters he faced. He walked none and struck out seven. Thurman was making just his fourth start back from the disabled list following the Carolina bus crash. He went no more than four innings in each of his first three starts back.

Steve Janas RHP, Double-A Mississippi

Ranking: No. 30 prospect by Baseball America 2015 preseason

Janas pitched two more quality starts last week for Mississippi to give him three in his past four starts. He’s only 1-3 in those games, given Mississippi’s offensive struggles. Janas is 1-4 with a 3.55 ERA in six starts since his promotion from the Carolina Mudcats.

Tuesday’s game: Braves vs. Giants

By Carroll Rogers Walton - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Where: Turner Field

When: 7:10 p.m.

TV; radio: SPSO; 680, 93.7, 106.7

Probable starting pitchers: Braves RH Shelby Miller (5-8, 2.44) vs. RH Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.12)

What’s new: If Miller doesn’t win this game, he’ll match Kenshin Kawakami (2010) for the longest winless streak by a starter in franchise history with 14 straight. He hasn’t recorded a victory since coming one out shy of a no-hitter against the Marlins on May 17. The Braves were swept by the Giants at Turner Field last year and, entering this series, were just 3-7 against them since the start of 2014. The Braves have lost the last three times they faced Peavy, scoring just five earned runs in 21 innings. Peavy is 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves. Nick Markakis is 6-for-18 (.333) against Peavy with a home run and two RBIs. He came into this homestand on a streak, having hit .316 (12-for-38) on the 10-game road trip.

Chattanooga Times Free Press

Risky trade a step forward for Braves

By Lindsey Young

Last week's trade deadline was riveting, as much for what didn't happen as for what did.

For the Atlanta Braves it was another example of the new man in charge taking a calculated gamble to make the team better.

I scoured the plethora of "Trade Deadline Winners and Loser's" lists and couldn't find the Braves on either list. It's not the home run the Blue Jays hit with the Troy Tulowitzki trade, but it certainly beats the Padres' do-nothing deadline (did they really ask the Diamondbacks for Paul Goldschmidt in exchange for Craig Kimbrel?).

One thing that nearly everyone agrees on is John Hart gave up a lot to get a 30-year-old player who has yet to play an inning in the major leagues and has injury concerns beyond the mild hamstring issue that currently sidelines him?

Gone is a 24-year-old left-handed starting pitcher with a career ERA near 3. Gone is a player not long ago ranked as the team's top minor league prospect. Departed as well is the current closer, not to mention a lefty reliever who's been mostly solid for three-plus seasons.

On the surface, then, the Braves' deal for Hector Olivera is odd. Now, let's look a little closer.

It's well known the Braves wanted Olivera badly in the offseason, but were out-bid by the Dodgers for the ex-Cuban star. LA will eat its $28 million signing bonus, leaving the Braves with five years of Olivera for under $6 million a year.

He's 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and has hit everywhere he's played. Whether he plays at third or in the outfield, the bat will be a welcome addition. Let's be honest, the Braves lineup as currently constituted is softer than a Patriots' football. Even if the price was steep, this trade, or something like it, had to happen.

The organization is stacked with pitching talent and some of it will have to be moved for position players. It's also deep in middle infielders, which is why Jose Peraza was included. Ozhaino Albies had moved ahead of Peraza by all accounts to be Andrelton Simmons' future middle infield partner.

Almost overlooked is the competitive balance draft pick the team picked up via the Marlins, the 35th selection next June in what is supposed to be a very deep draft. Add in currently-injured reliever Paco Rodriguez, who's debuted with the Dodgers at age 21, and power-throwing minor leaguer Zachary Bird (mid-to-upper 90s) and the deal starts to make sense.

The trade would have been even better if Bronson Arroyo's $8 million contract had gone with him to LA, but it appears the Braves are paying most of it. That money, though, won't extend beyond this season and the team still has teenager Touki Toussaint as its prize in the Arizona trade.

We'll see how the trade plays out, but either way you have to give Hart credit for staying active.

Down and about out

Olivera's pending debut, likely later in the month, will be a highlight in what is likely to be a gruesome final two months for the Braves.

The just-completed 2-8 road trip displayed a lineup, outside of Freddie Freeman, that just isn't major league quality. The team was at its best this year when Jace Peterson and Cameron Maybin were consistently getting on base.

They've bottomed out (Peterson's three-run homer Sunday notwithstanding), and while guys like Eury Perez and Adonis Gomez have had their moments, opposing pitchers know if they can work around Freeman there's very little to fear.

Olivera should help, and if Mallex Smith and maybe Albies get September call-ups, the Braves might be fun to watch for a few weeks. We'll likely see pitcher Tyrell Jenkins at some point soon as well.

And maybe Hart will be able to pull off a waiver transaction or two to shed more millions.

MiLB.com

Bird flies home to make M-Braves debut

Atlanta's No. 13 prospect takes shutout into sixth in return to Jackson

By Tyler Maun / MiLB.com

The Major League trade deadline saw Zack Bird change organizations, time zones and an entire Minor League classification, and in the end, he ended up at home. Literally.

The Jackson, Mississippi native woke up in his own house and then stood out on the mound for his new club, not allowing a run on two hits over 5 2/3 innings in his Atlanta organization debut as Double-A Mississippi fell to visiting Montgomery, 1-0, in 10 innings on Monday.

"There's been a lot of attention paid to me coming back to the hometown team in two ways -- hometown organization with the Braves and the literal hometown team with the Double-A affiliate," Bird said. "Getting promoted with a new organization, it's a lot to try to soak in at once. I've tried my best to push it aside."

Bird had just finished pitching for Murrah High School, roughly six miles away from Trustmark Park, when the Dodgers drafted him in the ninth round of 2012. Three years later, he was part of last week's three-team trade between the Dodgers, Braves and Marlins. Bird made 19 appearances (17 starts) for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga to start the year, going 5-7 with a 4.75 ERA. On Monday, in his first start away from the Dodgers system, he found himself in very familiar surroundings.

"I definitely didn't have to find a host family or anywhere to live," he said. "It's a lot going into it, but I think, overall, it did help me. I'm in a stadium I'm familiar with. I'm in my own bed at home with my mom cooking breakfast. It's a luxury that 99 percent of guys don't have."

With the comforts of home starting the day, Bird quickly settled in for his new club. The 21-year-old walked three and struck out only two, but faced multiple baserunners in an inning just once.

"It was a good start overall," the Braves' No. 13 prospect said. "Any time you can throw 5 2/3 zeros, it's a good start. I was a little bit erratic in the first inning. I walked two guys, but my catcher Braeden [Schlehuber] really helped me out as far as pitch selection. My infield, they really came up and made some big plays. They didn't misplay any balls.

"I wasn't able to put away a lot of guys [with strikeouts], but I was able to get early outs using my changeup and my fastball."

Schlehuber provided another stabilizing presence for Bird at the ballpark. The 27-year-old backstop has spent parts of the past four seasons with Mississippi and had some familiarity with the Biscuits lineup.

"It was priceless," Bird said of having the veteran behind the plate. "I shook maybe once or twice the entire game. I faced [Montgomery first baseman Jake] Bauers in low-A last year, and I faced [outfielder Johnny] Field in Bowling Green a little bit last year. Other than that, I hadn't faced any of those guys. I trusted him, and to have that trust in a guy who has the experience, it makes pitching a lot easier."

After walking Field to lead off the sixth, Bird responded by striking out No. 29 Rays prospect Patrick Leonard and inducing a groundout from Dayron Varona before exiting in the sixth after 82 pitches.

With the jitters of a home debut behind him, the right-hander is anxious to get down to the business of his Double-A career.

"My mama always says when I go out there, 'Know that you belong,'" Bird said. "You always want to be confident, but my first start in Double-A, I wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I [accomplished that], it really solidifies that I can pitch here."

The Sports Xchange

Braves rally twice, beat Giants in 12 innings

By The Sports Xchange

ATLANTA -- Third baseman Adonis Garcia hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Atlanta Braves a 9-8 win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Second baseman Jace Peterson reached on an error to open the inning and Garcia followed with his third homer of the year to beat Ryan Vogelsong (7-7).

Catcher Buster Posey had given the Giants an 8-7 lead in the top of the 12th inning with an RBI single. With one out in the 12th, Giants rookie Kelby Tomlinson made his major-league debut with a single against Ross Detwiler, who followed that by hitting center fielder Gregor Blanco with a pitch.

The Braves brought in hard-throwing Arodys Vizcaino, who gave up a long fly to center that allowed Tomlinson to advance to third base. Posey then laced a single into right-center field to drive in the go-ahead run.

Vizcaino (2-0) was the winning pitcher.

The Braves sent the game into extra innings when catcher A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer, his seventh, against San Francisco closer Santiago Casilla with two outs in the ninth inning. That tied the game at 7-7.

The Giants hit four home runs, two of them by shortstop Brandon Crawford, and one each by first baseman Brandon Belt and Posey and had a 6-0 lead after four innings.

San Francisco starter Matt Cain allowed 10 hits and never retired the side in order, but was aided by two double plays and went unscathed until the sixth. That's when the Braves rallied for four runs, with Peterson's three-run homer being the big blow.

Garcia followed the homer with a double down the line, which chased Cain. Reliever George Kontos retired the next two batters, but allowed an RBI single to right fielder Nick Markakis that cut the lead to 6-4.

Atlanta drew to within one in the seventh when first baseman Chris Johnson hit a long solo homer to center field, his second, against reliever Hunter Strickland.

The Giants added a run in the ninth against reliever Andrew McKirahan. Left fielder Nori Aoki singled with two outs to drive in second baseman Ehire Adrianza to make it 7-5.

Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk.

The Giants hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning and took a 2-0 lead. Belt clubbed his 13th homer and Crawford hit his 17th, both just out of the reach of left fielder Eury Perez.

San Francisco added two runs in the third on a two-run shot by Posey, who drove the ball 414 feet to straightaway center field. With his fifth career homer against Atlanta, Posey extended his road hitting streak to 15 games.

In the fourth, Crawford hit his second homer of the night, his 18th. The two-run shot just cleared the wall in left field gave the Giants a 6-0 lead.

Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman left the game after the fourth inning with a right oblique strain. Freeman was activated on July 25 after missing 30 games with a bruised right wrist.

NOTES: The Giants placed 2B Joe Panik on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, due to lower-back inflammation. Panik will fly back to San Francisco and be examined by team doctors but is expected to be activated as soon as he is eligible. The Giants recalled rookie 2B Kelby Tomlinson from Triple-A Sacramento. Tomlinson batted .321 in 97 games split between Sacramento and Double-A Richmond. ... San Francisco OF Angel Pagan (right knee soreness) was scratched from the lineup. Manager Bruce Bochy said he would rest Pagan until the Giants face a left-handed starter. ... Atlanta SS Andrelton Simmons (sprained right thumb) missed his second consecutive start. Simmons was injured diving for a ball Saturday. X-rays revealed no fracture. He had an MRI exam Monday, but the results were not immediately available. ... Starters for Tuesday: San Francisco RHP Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.12 ERA) vs. Atlanta RHP Shelby Miller (5-8, 2.44).

Braves SS Simmons sits again with sore thumb

Sports Xchange

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves aren’t certain how long they will be without shortstop Andrelton Simmons, one of the team’s cornerstone players.

Simmons missed his second straight game on Monday because of a sprained right thumb he suffered on Saturday night. The injury occurred when Simmons was diving for a ball in shallow center field in the seventh inning of a 12-2 loss to Philadelphia.

Simmons did not return for the eighth inning. After the game, Simmons had a partial wrap on the thumb. An x-ray revealed no fracture.

Simmons had an MRI on Monday and the Braves are referring to the injury as a bone bruise.

“His wrist was better today,” Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “The good thing is he’s better today than he was yesterday.”

Simmons is batting .254 with 15 doubles and 30 RBIs. And while his offense is important on the weak-hitting Atlanta team, his biggest asset comes on defense. Simmons is considered one of the game’s top defenders.

Simmons has been involved in a major league-leading 81 double plays and has the best fielding percentage in the National League (.994) among shortstops. He has fielded 157 consecutive chances without making an error.

Gonzalez was prepared to allow Simmons to pinch run, if needed, in extra innings on Monday, but he could not have played in the field. Simmons is listed as day-to-day.

Associated Press

Braves keep rallying, Garcia HR in 12th beats Giants 9-8

By GEORGE HENRY (Associated Press)

ATLANTA (AP) -- For a 30-year-old rookie prone to timely hits, Adonis Garcia is making his new teammates glad to have him aboard.

''He's done that off some pretty good guys, guys who've had success at this level,'' Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. ''It's fun to see guys with not as much experience to come up here and have some success.''

Garcia hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning offRyan Vogelsong and the Atlanta Braves completed their final comeback of the game, beating the San Francisco Giants 9-8 Monday night.

Brandon Crawford hit two home runs, helping the Giants take a 6-0 lead. The Braves rallied with four runs in the sixth against Matt Cain, then Pierzynski hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Santiago Casilla to tie it at 7.

Buster Posey homered early and hit a go-ahead single in the Giants 12th.

Jace Peterson led off the Braves 12th by reaching on a throwing error by Crawford from shortstop. Vogelsong (7-7), trying to earn the first save of his 11-season career, fell behind in the count and Garcia homered over the center field wall.

''To get out to a big lead and let it go to waste and then to battle back in extras and still end up losing, it's definitely disappointing,'' Crawford said. ''We just weren't putting together the same at-bats we were earlier in the game. Give credit to their bullpen, I guess.''

Garcia made his major league debut this season and has three home runs in 11 games. Both teams hit four homers.

Arodys Vizcaino (2-0) got two outs for the victory.

''Just to continue to battle and then go down again in the 12th - it's fun,'' Pierzynski said. ''It's what this game is all about. Keep fighting. You never know what can happen.''

The Giants have lost two in a row for the first time since stopping a seven-game skid in early July.

Peterson and Chris Johnson homered for the Braves and Pierzynski had four hits. Brandon Belt homered for the Giants.

''To be down 6-0, it speaks highly of this team,'' Peterson said. ''I think tonight we kind of showed that. Hopefully we can keep it going.''

Making his sixth start since returning from season-ending elbow surgery last year, Cain allowed 10 hits and four runs in five-plus innings.

Johnson, who replaced Freddie Freeman before the start of the fifth, homered off Hunter Strickland to make it 6-5 in the seventh. Freeman left with a strained right oblique, and the team listed him as day to day.

Nori Aoki's RBI single in the ninth off Andrew McKirahan gave San Francisco a 7-5 lead.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz allowed all four homers. Crawford has two multihomer games in his career, both against the Braves.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: 2B Joe Panik will return Tuesday to San Francisco for an MRI on his lower back. The team put him on the 15-day disabled list before the game. Panik has struggled for the last week with the injury. ... Manager Bruce Bochy changed the lineup an hour before the game, scratching CF Angel Pagan with right knee soreness. Gregor Blanco took his place. Pagan flied out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Braves: SS Andrelton Simmons, sidelined for the second straight game by an injured right thumb, had an MRI earlier in the day, but manager Fredi Gonzalez said before the game that he results weren't immediately available. Daniel Castro replaced Simmons, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and went 1 for 5.

UP NEXT

Giants: RHP Jake Peavy (2-4) is 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA in nine career starts against Atlanta. Since returning July 3 from back and hip pain, Peavy is 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in five starts.

Braves: RHP Shelby Miller (5-8) seeks his first victory since May 17. He has lost six straight decisions and is 0-7 despite a 3.19 ERA in his last 13 starts.

Giants-Braves Preview

By MATT BECKER (STATS Editor)

After suffering perhaps their most disappointing defeat of the season in the series opener in Atlanta, the San Francisco Giants have a chance to bounce back against the pitcher with the most losses on the Braves' staff.

Shelby Miller, however, hasn't pitched like someone with a losing record and has been the victim of some of the worst luck in the last century.

Losers of two in a row for the first time in a month, the Giants try to get back on track Tuesday night against Miller, who is seeking his first win in 2 1/2 months.

San Francisco (57-48) looked as if it would easily gain ground on the idle Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, leading 6-0 after five innings and ahead by two in the ninth.

With two outs in the ninth, though, A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer to tie things up, and after the Giants took the lead in the 12th, 30-year-old rookie Adonis Garcia hit a walkoff two-run shot to hand San Francisco a 9-8 loss.

"To get out to a big lead and let it go to waste and then to battle back in extras and still end up losing, it's definitely disappointing," Brandon Crawford said.

The Giants dropped back-to-back games for the first time since a seven-game skid June 30-July 6 to fall three behind the Dodgers.

The Braves (48-58), meanwhile, won their second in a row following a 1-9 stretch.

"To be down 6-0, it speaks highly of this team," said Jace Peterson, who is 6 for 9 with two homers and six RBIs in the last two games. " ... Hopefully we can keep it going."

San Francisco wasted a two-homer game from Crawford and a home run and three RBIs from Buster Posey.

Crawford is batting .423 with four home runs in his last seven games against the Braves, while Posey is hitting .437 with 16 RBIs in his last 17 contests overall. Crawford is 3 for 8 against Miller (5-8, 2.44 ERA) and Posey 1 for 9 in their matchups.

Miller's record is an anomaly for a pitcher with such a low ERA. His .385 winning percentage is the worst by a pitcher with a sub-2.50 ERA in at least 15 starts since 1917, when Larry Cheney went 7-12 with a 2.38 mark in 24 starts for the Brooklyn Robins and Joe Bush was 10-17 with a 2.42 in 31 starts for the Philadelphia Athletics.

Miller has received zero runs of support in six of his last eight starts and was backed by a total of four in the other two. That's left him with an 0-6 record despite a respectable 3.17 ERA. The All-Star hasn't won since May 17, with the Braves losing 11 of those 13 starts.

The second start of the winless stretch came in San Francisco on May 28, when he permitted a run over seven innings in a 7-0 loss.

Although the lineup hasn't been producing, it isn't entirely to blame. The right-hander has allowed career highs of 11 hits in two of his last four starts - both on the road - and also gave up four runs over six innings in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Philadelphia.

Returning to Turner Field may help given his 1.89 home ERA - ninth-best in the majors.

Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.12) takes the hill at Turner Field for the first time since April 2006 looking to build on his best outing of the season.

Peavy gave up four hits and walked none in six innings of Wednesday's 5-0 win over Milwaukee. The righty has a 2.84 ERA in five starts since coming off the disabled list.

Peavy's former batterymate with the Chicago White Sox has been on a tear at the plate. Pierzynski finished with four hits Monday and is batting .459 in his last nine games.