WASHINGTON — The trip is over. The first week is complete. No starter was publicly humiliated. No relief performance prompted manager Fredi Gonzalez to walk out to the mound with a dustpan, a broom and an urn to sweep up remains.
Four wins in six games represents the smallest of samplings for a full baseball season. But the Braves just made it through their first significant test, winning consecutive road series against two difficult opponents, Washington and Milwaukee. So is this when everybody exhales a little?
“Yeah — and as soon as I answer that question, we’re probably going to give up about 200 runs,” Gonzalez joked.
Seriously, this is not a man who wishes to tempt fate. Some people suffer flashbacks to horrible moments in their lives. Gonzalez has flashbacks to MRIs of his pitchers.
But early results suggest the Braves may be just fine. They lost to the Washington Nationals 2-1 Sunday, but return home with a 4-2 record and feeling pretty good about themselves.
Despite losing two starters (Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy) in spring training and beginning the season without three others (Mike Minor, Ervin Santana, Gavin Floyd), their allegedly wrecked pitching staff just yielded only 2, 2, 0, 1, 2 and 2 runs in six games.
Imagine what the Braves’ early record would be if they weren’t hitting .221 as a team.
Imagine if that lack of offensive production had been coupled with an almost-expected unspectacular opening by the unlikely rotation of Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, Aaron Harang and David Hale.
“We played well, the pitchers were outstanding and we were in every game, so you can’t really ask for more than that,” Jason Heyward said of the road trip.
“To be honest, player-wise, it’s not really our job to focus on who’s going to be on the field. We know we have to play the cards we’re dealt and make the best of it. We all want to be in each situation and do our job as an individual. After that, the rest will take care of itself.”
If there is an MVP in the organization right now, it’s pitching coach Roger McDowell. He has molded a young ever-changing staff and instilled confidence his pitchers. None of them know that they’re not supposed to be this good yet.
Catcher Gerald Laird, who was on the receiving end of Wood’s outstanding start Sunday, said, “Just being around them in spring training, being around Woody last season, these guys have good stuff. All it is now is getting confidence and proving to yourself you can get it done, and they’re doing that. We have guys who are going out there and competing and they don’t look scared. They look like they’re in control.”
Wood allowed three straight hits to open the game (although two of those came in the infield). But then he retired 13 straight and 18 of 19 (and the exception was Sandy Leon reaching base on an error).
“It’s a shame he becomes a loser in this game because he was dominant, really,” Gonzalez said.
The 23-year-old allowed only one other hit after the first inning, the problem being that it traveled about 400 feet: Ian Desmond’s leadoff homer in the seventh that gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead. It was a strong rebound aftrer the early hiccups. Similarly, Julio Teheran rebounded after giving up a two-run homer to Adam LaRoche in the first inning of Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Nationals.
“Being a young pitcher you can let a game get, or innings, get away from you,” Laird said. “I went out there in the first inning and told him, ‘You’re throwing really good stuff. Let’s just get out of this inning and give our offense a chance,’ and he did just that. He was cruising.”
Wood gives a lot of credit to McDowell for the staff’s early success. “It all starts with Roger. He has a great idea what he wants us to do and he’s very good at relaying that to us.”
The Braves scored 11 runs in two of their wins (5-2 over Milwaukee, 6-2 over Washington). But they scored only six runs in the other four games. They stranded nine base runners Sunday, including having the bases loaded with one out in the fourth inning. They had two on in the second inning (Andrelton Simmons grounded into a force out) and two on in the ninth (Heyward struck out to end the game). At some point, that has to get better.
But Gonzalez will take this. So will anybody who expected early disaster. The mission in these first few weeks seemingly was this simple: survive. Instead, the Braves won series in two cities where they’ve often struggled. Gonzalez is looking for some wood to knock on.
