The Braves are focused on so-called small ball pretty much by necessity. What else can they do after nearly all of their sluggers from the past two seasons were traded during the off season?
Yet the Braves showed on Saturday how such an approach, combined with a bit of luck, can lead to more than just singles. The Braves powered to a 5-3 victory over the Mets with five extra-base hits against starter Dillon Gee.
Freddie Freeman homered to lead off the second inning and the Braves knocked four extra-base hits while scoring four runs in the fifth inning. That was enough for Braves starter Julio Teheran, who was dominant until suffering a minor knee injury during the seventh inning.
The Braves have surged to a 5-0 start, their best since they were 7-0 in 1994, with contributions from several players.
“I’m going to keep harping on that team chemistry,” said Braves outfielder Eric Young Jr., one of the new additions.. “We enjoy coming to play with each other. I think that (fifth) inning when we strung together some runs showed that, with everybody kind of following suit . The guys in front of them got them excited with their hit and then you go to the plate wanting to do something similar. That’s the way we are playing right now and we want to continue it. “
Braves third baseman Alberto Callaspo started the big inning by doubling on a looping hit to right that fell just inside the line. Then the Braves put big Mets first baseman Lucas Duda to work.
Catcher Christian Bethancourt ripped a double past Duda and down the line to score Callaspo. Andrelton Simmons followed and did the same to score Bethancourt. After Teheran’s sacrifice moved Simmons to third, Young knocked another sharp hit past Duda that went all the way to the right-field corner for a triple.
Nick Markakis added an RBI single for a 5-0 lead.
“Man on second and three times we hit the ball to the right side,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “It just happened it got between Duda and the line but, hey, we’ll take it. It was a good approach at the plate. We’ve been doing that for a while now. I know the season is only five days old but you look even back at spring training and guys are buying in to that kind of stuff.”
It appeared the Braves were headed to a breezy victory behind Teheran. He allowed just one hit, Duda’s double in the first, and one walk through six innings.
But Teheran said he felt a “pinch” in his right knee while dodging Duda’s single up the middle to lead off the seventh inning. Teheran ended up facing five batters without recording an out in the inning before departing.
The training staff and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez checked on Teheran after his misstep but he stayed in the game. Teheran said he didn’t feel any discomfort after the initial pain.
“I had on my mind that moment so my mind changed a little bit,” Teheran said. “I wasn’t making the pitches like I was making in the six innings before. But I don’t feel anything (now) and that’s the most important thing.”
After Duda’s single, Teheran walked the next batter, Michael Cuddyer, on four pitches, and then walked Daniel Murphy to load the bases. The Mets scored one run when Callaspo botched Juan Lagares’ chopper and another when Teheran hit Travis D’Arnaud with a pitch.
The Braves’ bullpen limited the damage. Rookie Brandon Cunniff came on for Teheran and got Wilmer Flores to hit into a run-scoring double play and left-hander Luis Avilan ended the inning by retiring pinch hitter Ruben Tejada.
“He was fine,” Gonzalez said of Teheran. “I think it was just a matter of losing a little focus in that inning and unraveling, unlike him.”
Avilan pitched a clean inning in the eighth. Gonzalez gave closer Jason Grilli the night off so setup man Jim Johnson pitched the ninth. He allowed a single to Juan Lagares but had little trouble closing out the victory.
The bullpen has yet to allow an earned run this season and new-look offense is providing plenty of support.
“The fifth inning is what we are going to try to do this whole season, what we preached on in spring training,” Freeman said. “People were just trying to get the job done and trying to move the runner to third base and they were getting doubles and triples out of it. If we can keep doing that, good things usually happen.”
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