Braves’ pen short on lefties, Cards take advantage
The Cardinals took advantage of the Braves’ lack of left-handed relief pitchers in a 7-4 victory at Turner Field on Friday.
Two Cardinals left-handed hitters smacked pinch-hit home runs against Braves right-handers. Eric O’Flaherty is the only lefty reliever in the Braves’ bullpen.
“It’s a luxury to have two left-handers or more,” Fredi Gonzalez said. “We don’t have that guy right now.”
Cardinals left-handed pinch hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker homered against right-handed starter Matt Wisler to tie the game in the seventh inning. Gonzalez said he opted to let Wisler face Hazelbaker because he wants to help the young pitcher develop.
Another Cardinals lefty pinch hitter, Greg Garcia, homered against Braves right-handed reliever John Gant in the ninth to extend the lead to 6-4.
“You feel like Gant, with that change-up he has, he can neutralize some of the lesser left-handed hitters,” Gonzalez said. “It’s only the third game of the season and we will get it going.”
When O’Flaherty came in to pitch the eighth with lefty Matt Adams due up, Cardinals manager countered with right-handed pinch hitter Aledmys Diaz. Diaz homered to give the Cardinals a major league record with three pinch-hit homers in one game.
“We’ve to to add on (runs),” Gonzalez said. “We scored four runs and didn’t really sniff anything after that.”
The Braves had six left-handed relief pitchers on the roster in spring training. Three of those pitchers are in their minor-league system: Ian Krol (Triple-A Gwinnett), Matt Marksberry (Double-A Mississippi) and Hunter Cervenka (Mississippi).
About the Author
