LOS ANGELES – After the Braves' bear of a rookie, Evan Gattis, helped manufacture a run for a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, it looked as if Paul Maholm had the stuff to shut down the Dodgers on groundballs the rest of the way.
The Dodgers’ own phenom, Cuban rookie Yasiel Puig, thought otherwise and hit a game-tying homer in the sixth inning, and the Braves lost 2-1 in 10 innings when pinch-runner Skip Schumaker scored on a wild pitch by reliever Anthony Varvaro.
“Not the oddest way to lose, but the worst way, I would say,” Varvaro said after the Braves’ second consecutive loss to start the road trip, following a five-game winning streak at home.
They lost on a wild pitch on a night when they got otherwise outstanding pitching from starter Paul Maholm and relievers Jordan Walden and Luis Avilan, and only after a blown call by the first-base umpire ended Atlanta’s scoring threat in the top of the 10th.
After a two-out double by Jason Heyward in the 10th, Justin Upton hit a nubber of a grounder in front of the plate. He was called out by first-base umpire C.B. Bucknor, though replays showed he beat the catcher’s throw to first base. Upton, who yanked off his helmet and argued after the call, said replays confirmed what he thought.
“Yeah, I hustled down the line and didn’t get rewarded for it,” said Upton, whose frustration was compounded by the fact that the Braves would’ve had hot-hitting Freddie Freeman up next with runners on the corners.
Freeman was 3-for-4 with a double Friday and has hit .377 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his past 15 games.
“There’s nobody on this team that we want to come up to the plate other than him,” Upton said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened the way it did and he didn’t come up to the plate. The way he’s swinging the bat, I mean, to be honest, that’s one of the only dudes you want up there in that situation.”
First-base coach Terry Pendleton quickly interceded to keep Upton from going too far with Bucknor, and manager Fredi Gonzalez continued the argument a bit longer before returning to the dugout.
“I didn’t think it was as close as (Bucknor) thought it was,” said Gonzalez, whose Braves are 12-2 in their past 14 home games, and 4-9 in their past 13 on the road. “You would like to take an opportunity with Freeman at the plate, runners on first and third and your hottest hitter at the plate. That didn’t happen, and that last inning there, two wild pitches and we end up losing the game.”
Regarding the Bucknor call, Gonzalez added, “Obviously (his is) the judgment that counts, really. I haven’t seen the replay, but in real (time), I didn’t even think it was that close. After this and I go watch the film, I think I’m going to be pretty correct on that.”
Varvaro had allowed consecutive one-out singles by Ramon Hernandez and Luis Cruz, and the wild pitch was his second of the inning.
“Just trying to get some balls below the zone there, to induce a ground ball,” Varvaro said. “I guess it just skipped the wrong way…. That was kind of what the plan was, throw breaking balls out of the zone. And it kind of bit me there.”
Catcher Gattis tried to shoulder the blame.
“I’m more disappointed in myself and disappointed for Varvaro,” he said. “I mean, I did everything to block the ball, and I didn’t block the ball. That’s basically all I have.
“I did everything to block it, and I didn’t block it. I didn’t get the job done.”
Puig’s homer was his fourth in his 19th major league at-bat, and his 10th RBI tied a major league record for runs driven in through five career games. Just called up from Double-A last week, Puig hit a grand slam off Braves reliever Cory Gearrin in the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ 5-0 win in the series opener.
Working an efficient 7-1/3 innings in 83 pitches, Maholm allowed only four hits, one run and two walks with three strikeouts. He got no decision and remained unbeaten (3-0) in his past five starts.
“The home run, to be honest I missed by about three feet,” Maholm said of the 0-1 pitch to Puig. “So I was more mad not that he hit a home run, but that it was supposed to be bounced in front of the plate, nowhere he could hit it, and set up another pitch. But he’s hot and I hung (a curveball). I guess it’s how it’s going for them right now.”
Puig is only the second major leaguer since 1900 to hit four homers in his first five games, along with Mike Jacobs of the 2005 Mets.
“Obviously he’s hot, but I got him out easy the first two times,” Maholm said. “I missed with a curveball on a pitch and he hit a home run. He’s hot, and that happens. But let’s not crown him a Hall of Famer yet. Let’s watch him. Obviously he’s talented. The league’s going to make adjustments to him, and he’s going to have to make adjustments. He’s a free-swinger, so you’ve just got to make your pitches.”
Maholm had been a groundball machine until Puig’s homer. The veteran lefty recorded 11 consecutive outs via ground balls in a stretch that was book-ended by 6-4-3 double plays to end the second and fifth innings. He retired the side in order on groundouts in the third inning (all to shortstop Andrelton Simmons) and again in the fourth.
The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning after a leadoff double by Freeman. Gattis grounded out to the right side to advance Freeman to third, and after Chris Johnson grounded out, Dan Uggla singled through the left side of the infield to score Freeman.
That was all the offense the Braves could muster against Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, who allowed six hits and one run in 7-2/3 innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. The Braves got two hits in the first inning, including a leadoff bunt single by Simmons, but Gattis flied out after Freeman’s two-out single.
Ryu is 3-0 with a 1.51 ERA in his past five starts, with both no-decisions coming against Atlanta.
After scoring in the fourth, the Braves didn’t threaten again until the sixth, when Justin Upton and Freeman hit consecutive two-out singles. Right-hander Kenley Jansen was brought in to face Gattis, the same matchup that produced a game-winning, eighth-inning pinch-hit homer by Gattis on May 18.
This time Jansen won the matchup, coaxing a Gattis pop-up to second base to end the inning.
Maholm allowed only two hits other than Puig’s homer, singles by Andre Ethier in the second inning and Jerry Hairston Jr. leading off the fifth. He induced double-play grounders immediately after Ethier’s hit and two batters after Hairston’s.
“Pauly was outstanding,” Gonzalez said. “That’s back-to-back outings from our starters that were terrific, (Tim Hudson) yesterday and Paul today, and we got two L’s out of it. It is what it is. We scored one run in 19 innings. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Hudson and Maholm allowed a combind eight hits and two runs in 14-1/3 innings, but the Braves have totaled just 15 hits and one run in 19 innings while losing the first two of a four-game series.
After Maholm got a pop-up and groundout from the first two batters in the sixth, Puig pulled a pitch to the left-field seats, sending a crowd of 47,164 into a frenzy. Puig has, in one week, become a sensation in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers had the crowd on its feet again in the eighth inning, after Ramon Hernandez hit a leadoff single, advanced on a sacrifice, and went to third on a passed ball. Walden stranded the runner at third by getting pinch-hitter Juan Uribe on a groundout to short, and, after intentionally walking Puig – to a chorus of boos – getting Mark Ellis on an inning-ending routine fly to right.
