Much was faked Tuesday night when the Braves met someone other than themselves for the first time this year inside Truist Park.
Music blared within the empty ballpark as if it had to compete to be heard with the usual 40,000 visitors from Alabama and Tennessee who summer here.
Simulated fan noise – think the dull intracranial hum of your worst hangover mixed with occasional spiking hoorahs – was nonstop.
And there’s little sadder than the sight of a furry Braves mascot of unknown species all by itself in the deserted seats, playing to an audience of none. The jester with no court.
As for what was authentic in the first of two exhibition games with the Miami Marlins, a dry run on a rainy night for the real coronavirus-era games to come later this week:
Begin, primarily, with the simple act of two teams playing baseball against each other, a rather extraordinary feat these days. All the more so that one of those teams comes from a major outpost of a pandemic.
Throw in the walk-off home run by newly-signed Matt Adams which, when coupled with the blur of an eight-run eighth inning by the Braves, allowed them a victory of no particular consequence. They beat the Marlins because they always do (the Braves were 15-4 against them last season). The score was 10-9 if you must know.
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
Here’s to new good memories, atop those Adams built here in 2017 when he subbed in for an injured Freddie Freeman so well that Freeman agreed to play a little third base on his return – briefly – to keep Adams on the field.
“I think everybody out there when he walked in the door was very happy. I was,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. Opting out of his minor league deal with the Mets made Adams available this weekend.
“We’re familiar with him and he did such a good job for us that year when Freddie went down, we have nothing but good memories of him,” Snitker said.
Then there was Marlins pitcher Jose Urena wasting little time in reintroducing himself to Braves budding star Ronald Acuna. With his third pitch, Urena went chin high and tight on Acuna, sending him flying backward. It was Urena who beaned Acuna last season with a 97-mph fastball – drawing an ejection with his first pitch of the game – obvious retaliation for Acuna’s crime of hitting three straight lead-off homers against the Marlins.
Yes, baseball is back, in all its splendor.
Unlike that previous incident, the benches did not have the urge to clear Tuesday. Acuna seemed to take no offense.
With his next at-bat against Urena, he ripped a single to left on the first pitch, and a modest, one-base bat-flip followed.
Meanwhile, a point of concern for Braves: Not a good start for Mike Foltynewicz, here presumably six days before he’d get his first start of the real season at Tampa Bay. Most concerning was that this night, the radar gun was not his friend.
After spending the first two innings uneventfully, Foltynewicz developed a bad gopher ball habit in the third. Back to back to back home runs by Jorge Alfaro, Miguel Rojas and Jonathan Villar to be specific.
He gave up three more runs in the fifth before Snitker reeled him in. Foltynewicz’s line: 4 1/3 innings, nine hits, six earned runs, four strikeouts.
Foltynewicz sounded uncomfortable with the elements – wet – but not terribly concerned with where he stands now that his next start counts. “I didn’t care about those three (home run) pitches. They were solo shots, they were decent pitches,” he said.
For whatever the reason, his fastball suffered, clocked consistently in the 89-90 mph range, topping out at 91 mph.
Credit: Atlanta Braves
Foltynewicz was not at a loss for reasons. “I know the board (where pitch speed is displayed) ain’t right out there,” he said. Although it did register Urena at 96.
“I’m throwing the ball fine. It’s never fun throwing in the rain for five innings. My cleats were a mess. I couldn’t get a grip on the ball. We didn’t have any rosin out there (under the coronavirus rules, pitchers are allowed to bring out their own rosin bag).
The pragmatist Snitker said of his starter’s velocity, “It’s down from what we’re used to.
“I talked to him between innings, sent (pitching coach Rick Kranitz) out to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong. He assured me everything was good. He didn’t like the elements. Said he felt good. I’ll take him at that.”
These two teams meet again Wednesday at 4 p.m., one last trial run for the synthesis of real competition and forced noise before baseball is actually a thing again.
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