Whatever’s responsible for Brandon McCarthy’s two-game rut appears to have passed.
McCarthy pitched 5 2/3 innings on Tuesday, allowing one run in the Braves’ 3-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
The veteran has been sharp in his past two starts, allowing two runs across 11 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts against four walks. It’s lowered his ERA to 4.67, but that number is inflated by a pair of disasters.
McCarthy was shelled against the Giants on May 5. He was hit for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings, the worst outing of his career. His performance grew more concerning in his following outing, when the Marlins tagged him for six runs in five innings.
Across those starts, the 34-year-old allowed 14 runs on 23 hits in 8 1/3 innings.
His past two times have been markedly better. The only damage done against him Tuesday was a Cesar Hernandez RBI-single.
“I’d like to have the run back, but otherwise I felt like the rest of the game I was able to execute most of the things I was able to do,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy’s velocity has played up in his past two starts. Usually hovering in the low-90s, he hit 95 mph on Tuesday.
It’s come as a surprise, even to him.
“The last two starts, it’s more trying to throw like an adult again, I guess,” he said. “Really committing to throwing pitches where I want to. Trying to throw hard through it and less guiding it, less hoping things will happen and more trying to take things that’ll happen. I didn’t think the velo would shoot up the way it has the last two, but I’m not going to argue with it.”
It helped that he was facing the Phillies. Consider this remarkable occurrence that’s a perfect microcosm of baseball: McCarthy has faced the Phillies four times. He’s opposed Vince Velasquez each time.
And he’s won all four starts, registering a 2.08 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.
“It’s nice to do it against a divisional opponent that we know we’ll probably be neck-and-neck two teams this year,” he said. “It feels nice to feel like I’ve accomplished something there. But the win-loss stat, did we win as a team? Did we win those games? The actual stat itself is flawed. It just gives you a picture of the game.”
McCarthy was presented a rare opportunity to help himself at the plate. The Braves had loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, but Dansby Swanson and Ryan Flaherty struck out.
In came the Braves starter and his career .052 average. McCarthy struck out on four pitches, with a 94 mph four-seamer doing him in.
“I was thinking I had zero chance about Velasquez in that at-bat,” he said. “It’s bases loaded, you can try to do something, and then I realize I can do nothing, I’m just here for decoration. Then just going out for the next inning, pitching becomes secondary. Just want to make sure I didn’t hurt myself.”
The media chucked at his decoration remark, though the dry-humored McCarthy kept a straight face. Even 39-year-old reliever Peter Moylan chimed in, saying it’s a phrase he hadn’t heard before.
As long as McCarthy is pitching more like his past two outings rather than the pair prior, the Braves will live with his lackluster bat.
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