Some rough starts by Braves pitchers are to be expected considering the youth of the rotation and some recent injuries. That means there will be days when their thin bullpen is taxed to its limit.
The difference lately is that the Braves’ best reliever, Arodys Vizcaino, has given up the decisive runs.
Vizcaino walked in the go-ahead run during the ninth inning of a 9-8 loss to the Reds on Monday. He also took the loss in a 4-3 defeat at the Padres on Tuesday when he allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including a lead-off home run that tied the game.
Against the Reds Vizcaino gave up a tough-luck double to Reds second baseman Joey Votto to begin the ninth inning.
Votto hit a weak fly ball that third baseman Adonis Garcia chased down. The ball deflected off of Garcia’s glove and landed between him and left fielder Jeff Francoeur, who was playing deep to guard against a double.
“Anyone can have a bad day,” Vizcaino said through an interpreter. “It just so happened that he hit it and it was kind of a ‘bloop’ and Francoeur happened to be playing deep in left field. Those things happen. Nothing I can do.”
Vizcaino struck out Brandon Phillips before intentionally walking Jay Bruce and getting Adam Duvall to pop out. But he issued back-to-back, five-pitch walks to Eugenio Suarez and Tyler Holt to score Votto.
In Vizcaino’s view, home plate ump Adam Hamari’s strike zone was inconsistent.
“I was getting some pitches and not (getting) other ones,” Vizcaino said. “I was trying to maneuver and navigate through it but, again, what can you do?”
The two losses by Vizcaino were sandwiched around his save at the Padres on Friday. He still leads the Braves with a 2.33 ERA and has 38 strikeouts and 12 walks in 27 innings and seven saves in 10 chances.
The result was another ineffective outing for the Braves’ bullpen. Braves relievers allowed three runs over four innings against the Reds after they were roughed up for 10 runs in five innings of a 12-2 loss to the Cubs on Sunday.
Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said short outings by starting pitchers are a big part of the problem. Aaron Blair lasted five innings against the Reds after John Gant went 4 1/3 innings on Sunday against the Cubs.
Three Braves relievers were unavailable Monday after they had made back-to-back appearances. Ryan Weber, called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, allowed two runs in the sixth that put the Reds ahead 8-7.
“It’s set up for (starters) to do the majority of the innings and then you can run your match-ups and use two or three guys,” Snitker said. “When you are taxing those guys day in and day out, at some point somebody has got to give them a break. We’ll get a couple more back tomorrow but we’ve got to be more consistent and getting deeper in the game.”
