MIAMI – When Braves reliever David Carpenter failed to retire any of the four Marlins batters he faced in the eighth inning Saturday, it was the second time in three days he gave up multiple runs and multiple hits without recording multiple outs, continuing a rough 2 ½ weeks for the hard-throwing setup man.
He has a 9.00 ERA and .406 opponents’ average in his past nine appearances, after posting a 1.69 ERA and .246 opponents’ average in his first 18 appearances. With the Braves’ other top setup man, Jordan Walden, on the disabled list for a hamstring strain, Carpenter’s rough stretch has been more noticeable.
It’s been difficult for anyone to put a finger on the cause. His fastball velocity has remained in the mid-90 mph range.
“I think it’s just a matter of … some dumb luck, that’s kind of what it is right now,” Carpenter said, referring to his most recent bad outings. “Trying to make some of the pitches that I’ve made, a couple of balls that flared in — it’s kind of one of those fluke things right now. I’m just trying to stay positive about it, trying to get through it and get back to where we know things were, and not overthink it.”
Carpenter has allowed 13 hits, two homers, seven runs and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings in his past nine outings, and manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked after Saturday’s 9-5 win – the Braves scored three runs in the ninth inning – if he were concerned about his setup man’s recent performances.
“Everybody goes through some stuff,” Gonzalez said. “Hitters, pitchers. We’ll keep running him through some situations and maybe he’ll get out of it. We’ll see.”
Thursday at Boston, Carpenter gave up four consecutive hits and two runs to start the eighth inning — the Red Sox also were helped by two outfield errors from the Upton brothers, Justin and B.J. — and erased a 3-1 Braves lead. They won 4-3 on an unearned run in the ninth against Craig Kimbrel, the first time the Braves lost when leading after seven.
“Normally every day, whether good outing or bad, I go in and try to look at things (on video),” Carpenter said, “see if there’s anything mechanically, if I’m tipping a pitch or something like that. I don’t see it and I would say that about 85-90 percent of the time the pitch is where I’m wanting it to be.
“I know with (Brock) Holt in Boston (the first hit of the eighth inning Thursday) the ball ran in on him, he got real soft contact and it fell in front of Justin. And then (A.J.) Pierzynski (fourth straight hit in the inning) I threw a splitter out over that he got off the end of the bat and just laid it front in front of B.J. And with (Dustin) Pedroia I made the pitch I wanted to with the slider and it found its way up the middle (infield single).”
Carpenter induced a groundout by the only batter he faced in Friday’s win against the Marlins, then entered Saturday game with two out and none on in the eighth and gave up a single, RBI double, walk and bloop RBI single to center.
At that point the Braves’ lead was down to 6-5 and Gonzalez brought in prospect Shae Simmons, just up from Double-A. Simmons struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia with two on to end the inning in his major league debut.
“They’re not rockets all over the place,” Carpenter said of the hits he’s allowed, “so you can make little adjustments here and there. When they’re rockets it really starts battering you confidence and stuff like that. So I’m just looking at it as, it’s one of those little hills you’ve got to climb up right now, and stay positive. Every time Fredi calls down and has me get ready, I’m going in with the same mindset — going to attack guys and turn the ball over to Craig in the ninth….
“You can’t get too high or too low. This is just one of those little low spots that you have to deal with. Thankfully we have a good group of guys down there. Shay did an amazing job last night coming in and punched out Salty for me. I’m sure it was a thrill for him; I was really happy for him, both for him and for me. And that’s what the bullpen’s all about. You try to repeat the same thing every night and go out and put up a zero. But sometimes it doesn’t happy, and thankfully you’ve got guys behind you that are able to pick you up.”
