The Braves have what many consider to be the best bullpen in baseball, but things can get dicey when they have to rely on relief pitchers other than their vaunted “O’Ventbrel” trio.
They turned to Arodys Vizcaino with a two-run lead in the seventh inning Friday night, and the rookie got rocked for five runs while recording one out in an 8-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field.
The Braves blew a 5-0 lead after three innings in their fourth loss in seven games, while the Dodgers collected their 10th win in 11 games. They are 4-1 against the Braves.
“We just let that one slip away," said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves fell to 8-1/2 games behind National League East leader Philadelphia, and remained 8-1/2 games ahead of St. Louis for the wild-card lead.
Dan Uggla hit a mammoth homer with one out in the ninth and nobody on base, his 31st of the season to cut the lead to two runs. Chipper Jones followed with his third walk of the night, but Freddie Freeman struck out and Jason Heyward grounded out to end the game.
Jones was asked if it was tough to swallow blowing a five-run lead.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement," he said. "We got away from our fastball, and we got careful. From about the fourth inning on, we got careful. They got some bleeders that we can’t help, but I think in every inning that we gave up runs, there was a critical walk or two that contributed.
“We had all momentum, and we lost it. Somehow, we lost it. It’s just one of those games that kind of slips away from you and you don’t know how.”
Vizcaino, who had allowed only three hits in nine major league appearances, gave up four consecutive hits in the seventh inning, including James Loney’s three-run double that put the Dodgers ahead 6-5. Gonzalez left him in the game, believing the 20-year-old Vizcaino (1-1) could get out without further damage.
"Yeah, he’s shown he’s been able to," Gonzalez said. "Give him an opportunity.”
Not this time. Vizcaino (1-1) walked the next two batters – Matt Kemp intentionally and Juan Rivera unintentionally – to reload the bases, reliever Cristhian Martinez was greeted with a two-run double by Andre Ethier, the first batter he faced.
Those runs were also charged to Vizcaino, whose ERA jumped from 1.69 to 5.73. He was in no mood to put a "learning experience" positive spin on the situation.
“I want to get people out, that’s what we’re here for," he said through a translator.
Braves rookie Brandon Beachy pitched six solid innings and left with a 5-3 lead. He was in position to win his fifth consecutive decision until the Dodgers teed off on Vizcaino.
The Braves were 26 games over .500 before Friday, the third time they reached that high-water mark for the season. For the third time, they failed to push it to 27 games over .500.
Gonzalez had decided to rest setup man Jonny Venters and closer Craig Kimbrel, after Kimbrel had saves in the previous three games and Venters threw 30 pitches on Thursday against Washington.
The plan was to use Eric O’Flaherty to close, but it never got to that once the bottom fell out in the seventh inning.
Beachy allowed three runs, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts, his sixth start of six innings or more in his past eight games. It was only the second time he allowed more than two earned runs in that stretch, and the Dodgers got those runs on Juan Rivera’s two-run double in the fourth and Rivera’s RBI single in the sixth.
Beachy seemed distracted after speedy Dee Gordon led off each of those innings with a single.
“When you’ve got a guy like Dee Gordon, kind of out of the Jose Reyes mold, you can’t let that guy get on base," he said. "I went back and looked at it – two pretty good pitches that he hit, didn’t hit them well, but that’s what a guy with speed does. He gets on base, creates havoc. I walked some guys. I didn’t help myself out that’s for sure. I just didn’t feel as sharp as usual."
Beachy coaxed a popout and a flyout to strand two runners in the sixth.
“I felt good about getting out of that sixth inning, but I’m always going to come back to this – I don’t need to be in those jams," Beachy said. "Those aren’t necessary, especially when they’re coming from me walking guys, giving guys free passes.”
Rivera has thrived against the Braves throughout his career, batting .412 in 19 games including .472 (17-for-36) with eight RBIs in 12 games at Turner Field.
Braves center fielder Michael Bourn had two hits, two stolen bases and a diving catch to save a run for the Braves, who built a 5-0 lead in the first three innings.
The Braves capitalized on an error in a three-run second inning against Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. With two out and runners at second and third after a Beachy sacrifice bunt, Bourn singled for a 1-0 lead.
Shortstop Gordon booted Martin Prado’s grounder to bring in the second run, and Brian McCann’s two-out single made it a 3-0 lead.
With the Braves ahead 5-2 in the sixth and Gordon at second base with none out, Loney hit a fly ball that looked like it would get through the left-center gap. Bourn made a diving catch to save a run, but Beachy then walked Kemp before Rivera’s single cut the lead to 5-3.
Prado had two hits in the first four innings, after going 2-for-27 in his previous eight games. But with two runners on in the eighth, he grounded out to end the inning.
The Braves also had two on with one out in the seventh. Freeman lined into an inning-ending double play as second baseman Justin Sellers leaped high to make a catch and tossed to second to double off Uggla.
