After Chipper Jones took The Freak deep for a lead, the Braves’ three bullpen horses made sure Mike Minor was rewarded for the finest start of his career.
The rookie Minor pitched six wholly impressive innings, and Jones’ fifth-inning homer off Tim Linceum lifted the Braves to a 1-0 win against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night at Turner Field.
The Braves got strong starts from pitching prospects Randall Delgado and Minor and won three of four games in the series to push their wild-card lead to six games over the Giants. They finished 6-1 against the Giants this season.
“That game goes to Mike Minor and the bullpen,” Jones said. “They were awesome. They didn’t make any mistakes all night. I think one ball, to lead off the game, might have been hit hard.
“The young kids coming up and pitching continue to impress. I’ve said it all along, the future is bright for us.”
Minor (3-2) allowed four hits and one (intentional) walk with nine strikeouts, showing why the Braves refused to part with him when teams asked general manager Frank Wren for the left-hander before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
“It was definitely my best outing all year long, whether it’s Triple-A or here,” Minor said. “The defense was good tonight, and Mac [catcher Brian McCann] putting down the signs — I think I only shook [him off] one time. We really clicked. And the bullpen guys came in and relieved me.”
The Braves turned to their dominant bullpen trio to finish off the Giants, with Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters pitching an inning apiece before Craig Kimbrel worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his majors-leading 37th save.
“The guy’s ridiculous, man,” Venters said of Kimbrel, who hasn’t allowed a run in 29 appearances since mid-June and needs four saves to break the major league rookie record of 40 set last season by Texas closer Neftali Feliz. “Craig comes out there and throws 98 at you, and with that hammer of a breaking ball he can throw for strikes.”
Minor pitched better than he ever had in the majors, allowing a leadoff double in the first inning and a one-out single in the second. He worked around both of those hits before settling in. He got two strikeouts in the first inning when he needed them after the Cody Ross double.
Jones led off the fifth inning with a homer on a 2-2 pitch, the 11th of the season for the 39-year-old third baseman who has struggled to stay in the lineup in recent weeks after arthroscopic right-knee surgery, a quadriceps injury, and a left-knee strain.
But the old switch-hitter has felt better in recent days and showed he can still pound a baseball at the most opportune times. He also had a seventh-inning double off Lincecum.
“When you’re going up against a guy like Lincecum, you’ve got to be on your game to win, and [Minor] was,” McCann said. “Him and Chip single-handledly won us the game today, and then our bullpen came in and shut the door.”
Lincecum (11-10) allowed one run, five hits and two walks in seven innings and fell to 1-4 in his past five regular-season starts against the Braves.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner known as “The Freak,” Lincecum pitched a 14-strikeout, two-hit shutout against the Braves in their division series in October. They have beaten him in both his starts against them this season.
Lincecum has been on a roll, with a 1.11 ERA and 4-2 record in six starts since the All-Star break before Thursday. He was that good again, but Minor and the Braves’ bullpen were a little better.
Minor’s slider was sharp, and his overall pitch command and mound presence were better than the Braves have seen, continuing the strides he has made in recent starts.
The lefty is 3-0 with 2.96 ERA in his past four starts after going 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA in his previous 10 starts since early September.
“He was awesome,” McCann said. “I think he had 50 pitches after two, but you know with Lincecum on the mound, you have to pitch your best with runners in scoring position, and early in the game [Minor] did that.
“After that second inning he settled down, started getting outs early in the count and threw six shutout innings. He gets better with each start. That’s what athletes do. He’s an extremely good athlete, and we’ve got confidence in him since Day 1. He’s gotten better each time and is understanding what he can and can’t do.”
