DEL.ICIO.USBRAVES 5, NATIONALS 3
Kawakami records first win for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Kenshin Kawakami’s major-league debut was a rousing success Saturday night, and the Braves’ Japanese pitcher thanked Kelly Johnson for helping make it so.
Johnson had a home run, three hits and three RBIs to help the Braves overcome a three-run deficit in a 5-3 victory against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field, where a crowd of 34,325 — including many flag-waving Japanese fans — saw Kawakami win his first official game on American soil.
Rich Addicks / AJC
Kenshin Kawakami, whose control faltered late in pre-season, shook off problems and got it done in his regular-season debut.
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“I haven’t felt this good in a while,” Kawakami said through an interpreter. “A lot of this win today was done with teamwork. I’m proud of the whole team, not just myself.”
The 33-year-old right-hander, a major-league rookie, gave up three runs before recording his eighth out, but Kawakami, who pitched 11 seasons for Japan’s Chunichi Dragons, settled down and pitched six solid innings in the Braves’ fourth win in five games.
He was charged with four hits and three runs in six innings, with four walks and eight strikeouts.
“I have to give him a present,” Kawakami said of Johnson, who had a leadoff homer in the third inning and a two-run, two-out double in the three-run fourth.
Johnson has picked up where he left off in his torrid September and has a .397 average with 18 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs in his past 29 games dating to last season.
“I’m seeing some pitches to hit, and I’m not missing them,” said Johnson, who has tried to stay aggressive and not alter his approach batting leadoff in four of five games, including every Braves win.
The Braves got three hits from rookie sensation Jordan Schafer, who raised his average to .421, and a game-winning RBI single from Chipper Jones with two out in the fourth.
Yunel Escobar’s eighth-inning single provided a two-run cushion, and closer Mike Gonzalez pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to convert the Braves’ first save opportunity.
The Nationals (0-5) have a nine-game losing streak and have dropped 18 of 21.
Kawakami walked two in the first inning and two in the fourth, but otherwise avoided control issues that plagued him in a seven-walk stint in an exhibition against Detroit last weekend at Turner Field.
“For his first appearance in the United States, I thought he was outstanding,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “He looked extremely confident on the mound. He showed competitive spirit on the mound, big-time. I like him. And our bullpen was excellent tonight.”
Reliever Peter Moylan, who failed to record an out in his first two appearances, pitched a perfect seventh inning with three strikeouts, an encouraging sign for a Braves team that entered with the best starters’ ERA in the National League and the worst bullpen ERA.
Moylan said he made an adjustment by shortening his stride and making sure not to overthrow.
Setup man Rafael Soriano ran into trouble in the eighth after a leadoff double and a one-out walk, before getting an inning-ending double-play grounder by Nick Johnson.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” Moylan said of the relief trio’s first exemplary work of the season.
Kawakami kept Nationals hitters guessing with his repertoire of 91-mph fastballs, cutters, sliders and slow curveballs. The one costly mistake was a first-pitch fastball that Ryan Zimmerman belted for a two-run homer and 3-0 lead in the third inning.
All of Johnson’s hits came against starter John Lannan (0-2), continuing the left-handed hitter’s unusual trend of hitting better against lefties than he does against right-handers.
He is 6-for-12 with two homers against lefties, and 2-for-10 against righties. Last season, Johnson hit .270 against righties and .333 against lefties — second-best in the majors among lefty hitters.
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