The Braves also had another fresh bullpen arm available Friday in David Hale, who hadn’t pitched since his spot start in Saturday’s doubleheader at Philadelphia, where he allowed one run in five innings for the win.
Hale was available to pitch Wednesday if he’d been needed, but the Braves got seven innings in that game from ace Julio Teheran and a scoreless inning apiece from Anthony Varvaro and Jordan Walden, who worked the ninth inning while Craig Kimbrel got a rest after closing three consecutive games.
Before Friday, Hale had a .234 opponents’ average in 24 games (five starts) and was tied for eighth in the National League with a .198 opponents’ average (18-for-91) with runners on base. He was tied in that category with Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (21-for-106).
In parts of two seasons in the majors, Hale had a .191 opponents’ average (22-for-115) with runners on base, including a stingy .143 (10-for-70) with runners in scoring position.
“It really intensifies your focus,” the Marietta native said of pitching with runners on base. “But I think having a sinker is something that helps me out a lot. I feel like I can throw it in any count. And if someone’s on, I have confidence to throw that in there looking for a double-play kind of thing.
“When you have sinker you’ll get more ground balls, and double plays get you out of innings sometimes.”
