The Braves fumbled away a 3-0 lead in the last two innings Saturday and lost 4-3 to the Rockies, but in a season like this the development of young pitchers has become almost as important as the results on the scoreboard. More important, in the view of some.
So let’s first focus on the performance of Mike Foltynewicz in a game that only got ugly late.
It wasn’t long ago when plenty of Braves fans and some media members suggested it was time to move Foltynewicz to the bullpen, that he didn’t have what it took to be a good starting pitcher. If anyone feels that way now, they’re probably keeping quiet until further notice.
Foltynewicz was impressive again Saturday, limiting the Rockies to two hits and no runs in the first seven innings of a game that unraveled on the Braves in the eighth and again in the ninth, when the Rockies scored the decisive run on a single, two wild pitches and an errant throw.
“He was on the attack. Just really, really good,” Brave interim manager Brian Snitker said of Foltynewicz. “It’s a shame we couldn’t hold on and get him a win.”
Colorado scored three runs in the eighth to erase a 3-0 deficit on the way to their 10th win in 11 games against the Braves, including an 11-2 rout in the series opener Friday. The Braves need a win Sunday to avoid being swept in the series.
“Last night we just got our asses kicked,” said A.J. Pierzynski, whose two-run homer in the second inning Saturday was the game’s only offense until Foltynewicz’s RBI single in the seventh. “And then tonight we had a three-run lead in the eighth and we just didn’t get it done. There’s no other way to put it. Folty pitched awesome and deserved better.”
The winning run scored in the ninth after Trevor Story hit a leadoff single against Jim Johnson (1-5), advanced on two wild pitches, and came home on a fielder’s choice grounder when shortstop Erick Aybar short-hopped the throw to catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who didn’t control it before trying to make the tag. The Braves had eight wild pitches in two nights.
The Rockies’ three runs in the eighth were all charged to Foltynewicz after he gave up two singles and a walk to the only three batters he faced in the inning. He had a couple of borderline pitches called balls in key situations and showed his displeasure by staring at the umpire.
“We’ve talked about that,” Snitker said. “That’s something he’s got to work on. That’s the one thing you have to do is control your emotions, and it’s something that we’ve talked about more than once. That’s part of the learning process, too, I think, for this young man.”
He gave up an RBI single to Nick Hundley that brought in the Rockies’ first run, and the other two scored on a wild pitch by reliever Hunter Cervenka and an errant throw by second baseman Gordon Beckham that bounced past Freddie Freeman on a two-out infield single (error allowed runners to advance an extra base).
“I pitched my butt off tonight,” Foltynewicz said. “It’s just really unlucky the way it unfolded there in the eighth. I just put my bullpen in a bad situation.”
All runs charged to Foltynewicz were earned, since the error was followed by a Nolan Arenado single. He ended up with a line – seven innings, four hits, three runs, two walks, five strikeouts – that didn’t reflect the quality of his performance.
Foltynewicz retired 12 consecutive batters between DJ LeMahieu’s one-out single in the first inning and Ryan Raburn’s one-out single in the fifth, a hit that could’ve been ruled an error after it bounced off the palm of third baseman Adonis Garcia’s glove.
In the eighth, he gave up a single, walk and RBI single before being replaced by Cervenka with none out and a 3-1 lead.
Foltynewicz’s performance came on the heels of a 10-strikeout, no-walks outing Sunday against the White Sox in the last game before the All-Star break, when he allowed five hits in seven innings of a 2-0 win at hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field.
“Folty pitched great,” Pierzynski said. “He deserved a better fate. Went into the eighth with a three-run lead, made some good pitches. They hit some balls that found some holes so give them credit. But he pitched really well the last two times out.”
Pierzynski’s homer off Chad Bettis was the first of the season for the 39-year-old catcher, in his 190th plate appearance. Pierzynski hit nine homers in 436 plate appearances in 2015 in his first season with the Braves.
Foltynewicz’s development was slowed in 2015 by thoracic outlet syndrome, which led to blood clots in his pitching arm and season-ending surgery in September to remove part of a rib. He was behind other pitchers this spring and didn’t join the major league team until May.
After two strong starts in late May, he returned to the disabled list for bone spurs in his elbow. He was out for a month, had his first start back from the DL cut short by a rain delay, and gave up four homers in 5 2/3 innings July 5 at Philadelphia.
But his performances in two starts since would suggest the Philly game was a blip in what has been an otherwise encouraging stretch for Foltynewicz. He’s 2-1 with 3.15 ERA in his past six starts, with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks in 34 1/3 innings.
This after he went 2-6 with a 6.25 ERA and .335 opponents’ average in his previous 16 games (13 starts) back to June 3, 2015.
