On alumni weekend, the Braves coincidentally ran out their oldest lineup of the season Saturday. And it was old dudes who came through with some of the biggest hits against the Miami Marlins, a needed punching bag for Atlanta this season.
Hot-hitting Nick Markakis snapped a tie game with his one-out single in the fifth inning, and veteran newcomer Nick Swisher not only added a two-run, two-out double in the seventh inning of a 7-2 Braves win at Turner Field, he also broke out the chop.
Yes, the enthusiastic Swisher did the Braves’ famous chopping motion with his arm, right along with most in the crowd of 42,544 who were doing it when he looked up after getting to second base.
“I don’t know what happened, man, I got to second base and the chop came out,” Swisher said. “I don’t know, I just got super-excited. This day’s been so great, man, and all these guys have made me feel at home on the first day. I can’t thank those guys enough. …
“I’m standing on second base. I look up, the place is going berserk, and the chop just came out, man. I’m trying to teach my daughter — she’s 2 years old — I’m trying to teach her how to do that chop. We’re going to work on that tonight.”
Even if Swisher’s long fly to the left-center warning track perhaps should have been caught — it was up in the air long enough for two outfielders to converge — the hit did just what the 34-year-old Swisher said earlier in the day that he hoped to do: Bring some energy and be a piece of the puzzle to help the Braves win.
“The crowd’s been chopping all season, but we haven’t had a player chop,” Braves center fielder Cameron Maybin said, laughing. “But he’s the kind of guy, his energy alone can spark the clubhcouse, spark a locker room. Add Bourny in there and it doesn’t hurt at all. These guys are upbeat, they’ve been around the league, they’re experienced. Adding those two to our lineup, it creates some danger, creates some more athleticism in there. And again, established guys know how to hit. You saw it tonight.”
It was Maybin who hustled to take an extra base for a double in the fifth, then scored the go-ahead run on Markakis’ single. Markakis, for the second night in a row, had three hits and the game-winning RBI. He has batted .385 with 25 hits and 10 RBIs in a 15-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in the National League.
“I call him Ted Williams,” Maybin said. “The guy’s unbelievable. It seems like he can’t get out, and it doesn’t matter if the (pitcher) is righty, lefty, or his arm’s coming out of his back. He’s just your ultimate gamer, doesn’t do much talking but just goes out and leads by example. It’s been a pleasure playing with him this year.”
A.J. Pierzynski also had two hits to give him 22 hits and a .431 average during a 13-game streak, the NL’s second-longest active streak.
The Braves have won five of their past seven games, after losing 16 of the previous 20. They’ve taken the first three games of this four-game series against the Marlins to improve to 10-2 against them (40-58 against the rest of baseball).
“We won, man, that’s all I really care about,” Swisher said. “To come here and have the day that we had today, had all the (Braves) legends here, the place was packed, people were excited – to be able to pull off that win tonight was crucial for us.”
Swisher and Bourn, who batted leadoff (1-for-5) and played left field Saturday, came from Cleveland in Friday’s trade that sent Chris Johnson to the Indians.
Swisher, who spent the past two months on the disabled list, hadn’t played first base this season until Saturday, when he got the start there and turned a slick unassisted double play on a Casey McGehee line drive to end the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh the Braves put together a two-out rally, getting consecutive singles from Markakis and Pierzysnki. Swisher drove in both, then pointed the sky, smiled at his wife and family in the stands. And chopped.
“It’s genuine. It’s not fake,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Swisher. “You talk to people around the league and you see him play when you watch on TV or from the other dugout, and he loves to play the game. He loves to win. Michael Bourn is the same way. We’ve got a bunch of guys in this locker room right now, that’s the way they play the game. And it goes from Nicky Markakis, who’s been here the whole time, to Pierzynski to the two guys we just added.”
Braves rookie Mike Foltynewicz (4-3) allowed five hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and three strikeouts. His control temporarily abandoned him in the third, when he issued three consecutive two-out walks, throwing 10 balls in a row to start that spree and loading the bases with the Braves holding a 2-1 lead.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Roger McDowell, Cole Gillespie hit a high-chop single to third base that drove in the tying run, but Foltynewicz limited the damage by coaxing an inning-ending pop-up from Adeiny Hechavarria.
“Roger came out there in the third inning and said, ‘Just take a couple of deep breaths, it looks like you’re rushing,’” Foltynewicz said. “A.J. said I was rushing there a little bit. I just had to get back to what I did in Baltimore and settle down a little bit, and breathe and go out there. In the fourth and fifth I think I did that a little better….
“I think I just lost focus. You get two quick outs and you get more relaxed and things just started hitting the fan. I got a little uncomfortable and I just couldn’t find the strike zone.”
After the three walks and the tying infield single, Foltynewicz, having slowed his pace a bit, retired nine consecutive batters before Hechavarria’s two-out single in the sixth.
“Folty had that one inning where he got two quick outs and then the hamster fell off the wheel a little bit (three consecutive walks),” Gonzalez said, “but I’m glad to see that he kind of got back on and gave us a solid outing.”
