After the Braves stranded two runners in a scoreless first inning Wednesday, beleaguered manager Fredi Gonzalez and Atlanta fans alike might have thought along the lines of Dorothy Parker, what fresh hell is this?
Ah, but things would turn out differently on this night. Mercifully so.
The Braves scored two runs in each of the next three innings and snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-2 win against the Pirates at Turner Field. They won for just the fifth time in 21 September games, while the surging Pirates lost for only the fourth time in their past 19 games, after clinching a playoff berth with a 3-2 win Tuesday.
Julio Teheran (14-13) snapped a four-start losing streak with a win in his final start of the season, allowing six hits and two runs in five innings. He also had two hits and the game-winning RBI on a two-run, two-out single in the second inning.
Craig Kimbrel was brought in to get the last two outs with two runners on, notching his 45th save by striking out Andrew McCutchen and Travis Snider. The Pirates used a one-out single off reliever Jordan Walden and a botched grounder by third baseman Phil Gosselin to put runners at first and second, and Kimbrel was summoned to quash the rally.
Justin Upton raised his RBI total to 99 with a two-run homer for the Braves, whose only two wins in their past 12 games have come against teams that clinched the previous night at Turner Field. They beat Washington and a lineup dotted with minor leaguers on Sept. 17, a day after the Nationals beat the Braves to win the National League East title.
The Pirates, still trying to win the NL Central title or at secure home field for the Wild Card Game, deployed their usual lineup Wednesday and got a two-run homer from MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen in the fifth inning. By then the Braves had already built a 6-0 lead, an extreme rarity for the home nine since the All-Star break.
After falling on their faces in September and being eliminated from the playoff race, the Braves had little to play for as a team, other than pride and trying to avoid their first losing season since 2008. They have a 77-81 record and must win Thursday’s series finale and sweep the season-ending weekend series at Philadelphia to finish with an 81-81 mark.
Before Wednesday, the Braves were five games under .500 for the first time since May 9, 2010, when they were 13-18..
The Braves pushed across six runs in the second through fourth innings, matching their entire scoring output during the five-game skid before Wednesday. Six runs was twice as many as the Braves had scored in any of the previous 11 games.
They scored two apiece in three consecutive innings, after scoring just two runs while Teheran was in the game during his previous four starts combined. The Braves failed to score while he was in three of those outings, and Teheran was 0-4 despite a solid 2.67 ERA during his skid.
After Pirates left-hander Jeff Locke (7-6) intentionally walked B.J. Upton with first base open and two out in the third inning, Teheran’s bases-loaded single to center pushed the lead to 4-0 — the first time the Braves scored more than three runs since a 6-2 win at Washington on Sept. 10.
They had managed a meager 17 runs in 11 games between that win and Wednesday’s relative offensive outburst.
An inning later, Upton extended the lead to 6-0 with a two-run homer, his 28th. It was only the Braves’ second homer in 12 games and their seventh in September.
Upton was 9-for-67 (.134) with one homer and 25 strikeouts in 19 previous September games.
The Braves stranded two in the first inning when Jason Heyward struck out after a pair of two-out walks by Freeman and Upton. But Locke wouldn’t escape unscathed in the second, after Chris Johnson led off with a double and B.J. Upton drew a one-out walk. (Johnson would later leave the game with a low-back strain and be listed as day-to-day.)
Teheran followed with a soft infield single that Ike Davis fielded between first base and the mound. After initially looking to the plate, Davis turned and flipped the ball to second baseman Clint Barmes covering first. Barmes tried to catch it with his bare hand and dropped the ball just as Teheran reached the base.
With the bases loaded, Emilio Bonifacio singled through the right side of the infield to drive in the first two runs.
For write-thru version of this story complete with postgame quotes, please go to MyAJC.com or use this link.
