PITTSBURGH – For a while Tuesday, it looked like Brian Snitker might experience in his first game as interim manager the worst first inning of the Braves season and the most improbable comeback.
Aaron Blair gave up seven runs in the first inning and the Braves trailed 9-0 after two before Mallex Smith hit a pair of two-run homers during a five-inning stretch in which the Braves pulled to within 11-9.
Alas, for the Braves and Snitker the rally fell short in a 12-9 loss that dropped the Braves’ majors-worst record to 9-29.
“I saw everything that everybody told me when I came in here this afternoon and I met with the coaching staff,” said Snitker, who was named interim manager Tuesday after the firing of Fredi Gonzalez. “That’s the one thing that they said. T.P. (first-base coach Terry Pendleton) said, ‘Snit, the record’s not good but these guys never quit, and they just keep fighting.’ And that’s exactly what they did. It was really cool to see.”
With the first multi-homer game by a Braves player this season, Smith did about all he could to get fellow rookie Blair (0-3) off the hook for the loss. But the right-hander lasted only 1 1/3 innings and was charged with nine hits and nine runs, raising his ERA from 4.05 to 7.59.
“We didn’t get the win, so it doesn’t really matter,” Smith said of his two-run homers in the third and seventh innings, both three-run innings for the Braves.
As for the Braves’ never-say-die tendencies, Smith said, “We’ve been fighting all year, I’ve been saying that the whole time. We’ve just got to get two things to go together. Seems like when our pitching is good our bats haven’t been, and then vice-versa. So right now we’re just waiting for it all to click.”
Blair, in his fifth major league start, gave up seven runs and seven hits in the opening inning, the first seven-run inning against the Braves this season and the most runs allowed by a Braves pitcher in any inning since Paul Maholm gave up eight runs in the fifth inning at Milwaukee on Sept. 12, 2012.
“Pretty much everything was up in the zone and in the middle of the plate,” Blair said, “and a good hitting team — I guess that’s what happens.”
Snitker said, “Location wasn’t good, and secondary pitches weren’t real good. Threw some good change-ups at times. But he’s going to have to be a fastball-location guy. He’s not going to blow anybody away. He’s got good secondary stuff, he just was missing location. It didn’t take them long to make him pay for it, too.”
The Braves had a season-high 15 hits and surpassed their previous season high of eight runs in an April 19 win against the Dodgers. They had not scored more than five runs since.
Gordon Beckham had three hits and two doubles and Smith had the first two-homer game by a Brave. In fact, no Braves have more than one homer all season except Smith (three) and Freddie Freeman (six).
“There were a lot of really good things that happened,” Snitker said, “just didn’t win the game.”
The Braves had their third multi-homer game of the season and second in as many nights, after going 35 games without one between a two-homer opening day and two on Monday. After totaling seven homers in 1,191 at-bats between opening day and Monday, and have four homers in two nights at Pittsburgh.
The Pirates had season-high 21 hits including three-hit games from four different players.
