Fredi Gonzalez: "I'm confident we'll get it turned around"

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PHILADELPHIA — During his postgame news conference after Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Phillies, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked about bringing in reliever Cristhian Martinez to start the seventh inning with a 4-3 deficit.

Martinez gave up two runs in a ragged inning that pretty much ended any hopes of a Braves comeback, and they lost for the fourth time in five games and seventh time in 11, falling to 9 1/2 games behind the National League East-leading Phillies.

Did he go to Martinez rather than a bullpen stalwart because the Braves were behind by a run?

“Yeah,” Gonzalez said. Pause. “Instead of who?”

“[Eric] O’Flaherty, maybe,” a reporter said.

“We’re in a situation where all three of those guys — [Craig] Kimbrel, O’Flaherty and [Jonny] Venters — probably lead the league in appearances,” Gonzalez said. “And we’ve made a conscious effort — especially after throwing two days in a row and having one day off for O’Flaherty — we’ve made a conscious effort not to use them when we’re down. [Use them] if it’s tied or better. Because if not, it’s a situation where we go in on vapors.”

By that, he meant he didn’t want to go to the final weeks of the season — and playoffs, assuming the Braves make it — with his three workhorse bullpen standouts fading from fatigue.

Gonzalez was asked about letting Phillies rookie Vance Worley off the hook a few times. The Braves went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and Gonzalez was asked if it might have changed the game had they capitalized on an opportunity or two.

“I think if you put a crooked number up instead of putting up one run, if you come in and put up a three-spot or four-spot, it changes the thing,” said Gonzalez.

“Right now it’s not Huddy, it’s not O’Flaherty, it’s not ‘you should have used O’Flaherty instead of Martinez,’” said Gonzalez, in a rare display of agitation. “We need to score some runs. ... Offensively we’ve got to score runs, and the other side of the ball, we’re just kind of not getting deep into ballgames [with starting pitchers].”

Hanson upbeat about recovery

After his second discomfort-free long-toss throwing session in three days, Tommy Hanson said he’s ready to get on the mound for a bullpen session Friday or Saturday.

The Braves’ right-hander, recovering from a small tear beneath the rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder, could make a rehab start by late next week in the instructional league, which would put him on a pace to possibly make a regular start or two before the postseason.

The Braves hope that at least one of their injured starting pitchers, Hanson or Jair Jurrjens (knee), can return for the postseason. Hanson seems a more realistic possibility.

He threw two sets of 30 throws in the outfield Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, then 15-20 pitches on flat ground.

Braves’ September malaise

The Braves were outscored 15-3 by the Phillies in the first two games of the series before Wednesday, and their wild-card lead was down to 7 1/2 games over St. Louis with 21 games to play, including a three-game series at St. Louis beginning Friday.

After a makeup doubleheader against the Mets in New York on Thursday, the Braves could be dragging a bit for the start of their series with the Cardinals. But fatigue was not at the top of their recent concerns: They were 3-6 with a .236 batting average, 5.01 ERA and only 24 runs scored in their past nine games before Wednesday.

The Phillies pounded the Braves 14-1 in the last game before the All-Star break. Combine that July 10 game with Monday and Tuesday, and the Phillies had won three in a row against the Braves while out-hitting them .374 to .196, outscoring them 29-4, and posting a 1.33 ERA to the Braves’ 10.13.