AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > April > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USRocky first too familiar to Smoltz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Los Angeles —In the first inning Tuesday, John Smoltz pitched like it was opening day. By the time he snapped out of it, the damage was done.
Smoltz allowed four runs in the first inning, including a J.D. Drew home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 5-4 victory against the Braves on a cold, rainy night at Dodger Stadium.
The Braves scored three runs with two outs in the eighth on doubles by Matt Diaz and Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche’s second home run in as many games, a two-run shot that cut the lead to 5-4.
But Brian Jordan struck out to end the inning and the Braves’ final scoring threat.
One day shy of the anniversary of his opening day debacle last season at Florida, Smoltz struggled inexplicably again in the first inning of his regular season debut — and, like last season, after having an outstanding spring.
He was charged with five runs and nine hits in five innings Tuesday, including four hits and two walks in a 28-pitch first inning.
It was the second game of the season for the teams, after the Braves won Monday’s opener 11-10 despite a shaky start from Tim Hudson.
They will play the rubber game Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, then the Braves will fly to San Francisco for a four-game series that begins Thursday afternoon with the Giants’ home opener.
Smoltz allowed only one homer and three walks in 23 innings during spring training, when he was 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in five starts.
A year ago, after a similarly dominant spring, he surrendered seven runs (six earned) in 1 2/3 innings of a 9-0 opening loss to the Marlins, including five runs and a Juan Encarnacion grand slam in the first inning.
That dropped him to 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in three opening day starts. Smoltz joked this spring that he didn’t care about starting another opener, he just wanted to finally win his first start.
Instead, he’ll try to recover like he did after last year’s opening loss.
He had a 2.84 ERA in 32 starts after opening day last season, and allowed more than four runs just one other time — five in a loss against St. Louis on Aug. 5.
He gave up his fifth run Tuesday in the third inning on a Bill Mueller sacrifice fly that made the lead 5-1.
In the first inning, Smoltz retired former Brave Rafael Furcal on a groundout, but the next six batters reached base. After No. 2 hitter Jose Cruz Jr. walked, Drew homered on a 2-1 slider that Smoltz left flat and up in the strike zone.
Drew had a .198 average and no homers in 34 games against the Braves before Tuesday. The Georgia native played for Atlanta in 2003 and has 143 career home runs, including multiple homers against every other National League team.
Smoltz also walked rookie James Loney in the first inning on five pitches in his first major league plate appearance. Loney singled off Smoltz in the third.
The Braves stranded two runners in each of the first two innings against Dodgers starter Brad Penny — who threw 28 pitches in the opening inning, same as Smoltz, but got out of it without giving up a run.
After one-out singles by Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones in the first inning, Penny struck out Andruw Jones and LaRoche.
Brian McCann homered with one out in the second, but the Braves left runners at second and third when Renteria flied out.
The Braves’ only hit over the next three innings was Jeff Francoeur’s leadoff single in the fourth. He was stranded at second when Penny struck out Ryan Langerhans and Smoltz to end the inning.
After manager Bobby Cox used six relievers in the last five innings of the opener, the Braves needed more than a few innings from Smoltz. He gave them five, despite the raw conditions and 25-minute rain delay in the second inning.
Smoltz was struck on the right shin by a Jeff Kent single to start the fifth inning, but he stayed in and induced a double-play grounder and groundout.
Permalink | | Categories: Game Night
