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DEL.ICIO.USFacing a familiar fate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Houston — The absurdly improbable story of Jorge Sosa, who came to Atlanta and became The Man Who Couldn’t Lose on the Road, hit a snag Saturday when relief help again abandoned the Braves in Game 3 of the division series.
Sosa gave up three runs in six innings before the beleaguered bullpen came apart at its ragged seams in the seventh, turning a one-run Astros lead into a 7-3 rout that sent the Braves to the brink of postseason elimination.
The Braves will send Tim Hudson to the mound on short rest Sunday for Game 4, and they must win to get the series back to Atlanta for Game 5 Monday. They’d have to win that, too, to avoid a fourth consecutive first-round playoff exit.
“Once again we find ourselves on the road needing to win Game 4,” said third baseman Chipper Jones, who went 0-for-4 on a night when Roy Oswalt plowed through the Braves lineup from the third through seventh innings.
Game 1 loser Hudson threw eight scoreless innings against the Mets in May in his only start this season on short rest, but he’s 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two postseason starts on less than four days’ rest.
“Obviously it’s the biggest game of the year,” Hudson said of today’s matchup with fresh-armed Astros starter Brandon Backe. “I’m glad they have the confidence in me to go out there and try to get this back to Atlanta.
“I’m excited just to get the ball again, to make the necessary adjustments I need to make since my last outing. I need to make some pitches.”
Hudson gave up five runs in 6 2/3 innings in Game 1, and the bullpen was trampled for five more in that 10-5 loss. Once again Saturday, any hope of a comeback was eliminated soon after the bullpen took over.
“We should take responsibility for tonight,” said Chris Reitsma one of four relievers who were pounded for four runs on five hits in the seventh inning. “It’s very frustrating, collectively, for our bullpen.
“We’re a lot better than we’re showing.”
They’d better be today, or Hudson better go at least eight innings. If not, the Braves won’t even get to try to end their Game 5 curse at Turner Field, where they’ve lost the final game in each of the past three division series.
Sosa threw 90 pitches (including eight on intentional walks) and allowed seven hits before manager Bobby Cox had rookie Kelly Johnson pinch-hit for him with one out and none on in the seventh, the Braves trailing 3-2. Johnson flied out.
“You’ve got to pinch-hit,” Cox said. “It’s the seventh inning. You’ve got [Astros closer Brad] Lidge in the ninth. You’ve got literally two innings to do something… . We had to try to make something happen.”
Sosa gave up two runs in the first, and the Braves answered with two in the second inning against Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt. But they left two on to end that inning, and Oswalt got his motor going after that.
He struck out six of eight batters at one point. The Braves didn’t score again until Oswalt gave up a hit to start the eighth and Andruw Jones doubled off reliever Dan Wheeler, the third hit and second double of the night for Jones.
Sosa, 9-0 on the road in the regular season, took the loss in his first postseason start.
“It’s definitely frustrating — Sosa pitched his butt off,” said reliever Joey Devine, who gave up a two-run double by Morgan Ensberg in the seventh, after Reitsma surrendered two hits to two batters and John Foster gave up a hit to the only one he faced.
Reitsma with a 40.50 ERA in three appearances in the series (six hits, six runs, 1 1/3 innings) and a 24.92 ERA and .524 opponents’ average in six appearances over two division series.
Oswalt, the only pitcher to win 20 games each of the past two seasons, was charged with six hits and three runs in 7 1/3 innings.
The retractable roof on the ballpark was closed on a gorgeous night, precisely so that the sellout crowd could make a din, and man did those fans do it.
Oswalt was 12-2 this season at Minute Maid, where the Astros won 40 of their last 59 games. They had the best record in baseball after May 24 (74-43) and the best home record in that span.
The Braves were 29-28 after July and lost 12 of their final 19 games, when their offense went into a funk and their bullpen struggled mightily. Both problems have continued into the postseason, particularly the latter one. The bullpen has a 12.79 ERA in the series.
Oswalt is 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA in six regular-season starts against the Braves, easily his highest ERA against any team, and the only team he’s faced more than once without a win.
In the postseason, however, he’s 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts against the Braves, including a win in Game 5 of last year’s division series, when he pitched five innings despite a severely strained side.
Mixing his 95-mph fastball with a 75-mph curveball, he had hitters off-balance most of the night.
“It’s not fair to throw 97 [mph] and locate like that, and have four pitches he can throw for strikes,” Braves catcher Brian McCann said. “He’s got that fastball, and a curveball that’s 25 mph slower. That’s why he won 20 games.”
Oswalt has been the most proficient home pitcher in the majors since Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field) opened in 2000, posting a 45-14 record and 2.62 ERA at a venue loathed by many pitchers and regarded as a hitter’s park.
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