MIAMI – The Braves will try to complete a sweep Sunday against the Marlins, and their bullpen will try to finish off a sweep of sorts of its own by getting through the series without allowing a run.
They might have to do it without closer Arodys Vizcaino and almost certainly without right-hander Chris Withrow, but the Braves will have starter Matt Wisler available if necessary.
Wisler is scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Dodgers, and if he pitches in Sunday’s game it would serve as his regular between-starts side session.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Sunday morning he was still leaning toward giving Vizcaino a second straight game off after his career-high 35 pitches in the four-out save he recorded in Friday’s series opener. Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell want to err on the side of caution with their hard-throwing closer, who missed two seasons (2012-2013) after elbow procedures including Tommy John surgery.
“I’m going to let him play catch and stuff like that, and I’ll defer to Roger on that,” Gonzalez said two hours before Sunday’s first pitch. “To me, it would be only in an emergency (that Vizcaino would pitch Sunday). But I think everybody else is OK. We’ll probably stay away from Withrow, because it’ll be his third day in a row if he throws today, and he’s just coming out of his (rehab from elbow and back surgeries).
“And I think we’ll use Wisler as an emergency guy if we play a 12-inning game or something like that.”
In two wins at Miami Friday and Saturday, Braves relievers worked 8 1/3 scoreless innings and had 10 strikeouts while allowing five hits and one walk and preventing all six inherited runners from scoring.
Jason Grilli struck out three in the ninth inning Saturday for his first save since returning from Achilles tendon surgery that ended his 2015 season just before the All-Star break. It was Grilli’s fourth appearance and second save opportunity, and he struck out Giancarlo Stanton to end the game with two on base, after walking Christian Yelich on four pitches.
“It felt good,” Grilli said of the save, also his first as a 39-year-old (his birthday was in November). “Yelich was kind of locked in; I was watching the game. I didn’t want to give in to him. You have to know who you’ve had success against and know that you have a base open and trust in yourself.”
The appearance was the first for Grilli since he pitched in the sixth inning of a loss Monday at Washington, an early game appearance that he, Gonzalez and McDowell had agreed would be a good idea after Grilli gave up two hits and three walks in an April 9 appearance at Turner Field against the Cardinals.
“(After that game) he came in and we had a great conversation,” Gonzalez said. “He goes, I just don’t feel right, and it has nothing to do with health. He explained it was like a golfer, ‘I’m just not there yet.’ Like a free-throw shooter, he was telling me, I’m a click off in my mechanics. And so we threw him once or twice in non-leverage situations, threw him in the sixth inning just to get his (mechanics improved), and I think it’s paid off. Because (Saturday) he looked like the ball was coming out well and the breaking ball was pretty good.”
