Braves pitchers throw strikes, they record outs and they wait.
Will the Braves ever score a run? Will one pitching mistake lead to defeat?
It’s been the typical script for the Braves all season, really, but especially in July. They struggled to score at St. Louis over the weekend and they were telling the same old story Monday in the opening game of an interleague series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Orioles couldn’t do anything against Braves left-hander Alex Wood and the Braves couldn’t solve Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman. Someone eventually was going to manage to scratch out a run and win the game.
It happened in a flash when Braves rookie Adonis Garcia hit another improbable home run in the top of the ninth inning. But Braves closer Jim Johnson gave back the lead in the bottom of the inning and Matt Wieters hit a walk-off home run against Luis Avilan in the 11th for a 2-1 Orioles victory.
It was the fourth career walk-off homer for Wieters. The Braves suffered their 11th loss in their past 14 games.
Johnson blew the save and Avilan (2-4) took the loss but the real issue is the Braves’ inability to score many runs. They’ve scored two runs or less in six of their past nine games.
“It sure would be nice to get a couple runs under our belt to give our pitchers some (big) leads,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We are getting on base, we are getting base hits, we are stealing bases. We just need to get some people home.”
It looked as if Garcia would provide the winning margin for the second time in as many days. The 30-year old rookie hit his first career home run as the Braves beat the Cardinals 1-0 on Sunday and hit another opposite-field homer against Orioles reliever Zach Britton.
Johnson’s troubles began when Adam Jones singled on a slow roller on the first pitch. Wieters followed with a single that moved Jones to third, and Travis Snider scored him with a sacrifice fly to left field.
“J.J.pitched great,” Gonzalez said. “You can’t even defend that ball that Adam Jones hit. He made a great pitch, it’s a chopper.”
The Braves scored a total of six runs in three games in St. Louis. The starting pitchers were superb against the Cardinals and the relievers didn’t allow a run all weekend. The bullpen finally faltered against the Orioles but Wood was excellent.
Wood has been sharp since he began setting up on the first-base side of the mound. He made the adjustment while working out with pitching coach Roger McDowell during the All-Star break.
In his first start after the break Wood held the Dodgers to three runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings as the Braves won 4-3. He was even better against the Orioles, who got just two hits against him over 7 1/3 innings while striking out seven times.
“It’s one of those things where I had gotten into some bad habits,” Wood said. “It’s kind of almost like you are re-teaching yourself. It’s a process. I feel like the movement on my stuff is a lot sharper. From that standpoint I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
One of Baltimore’s hits against Wood came in the second inning when Wood took a toss from first baseman Freddie Freeman and missed the big with his foot as J.J. Hardy was safe. The next batter, Travis Snider, reached base on a fielder’s choice and then Wood retired the next 10 hitters in a row.
The Orioles didn’t get another hit until Wieters singled with one out in the seventh inning. Wood struck out Hardy and got Snider to pop out to end the inning.
“He’s had a couple outings now that he’s pitched tremendous baseball,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a shame that today’s game ended the way it did because it was a well-played game on both sides. Wieters just hit it out to straightaway center.”
The Braves had a chance to go ahead in the 10th inning when Eury Perez hit a one-out single and stole second with Nick Markakis at bat. But Markakis flied out and Cameron Maybin grounded out to end the threat.
The Braves created an opening against Gausman in the eighth inning. Markakis singled with two outs and Cameron Maybin hit a bloop single that moved Markakis to third.
With Braves lefty slugger Freddie Freeman due up, Orioles manager Buck Showalter pulled Gausman for left-hander Brian Matusz. Freeman, who was making his second start since he spent 30 games on the disabled list, struck out on four pitches.
Markakis played nine seasons in Baltimore before signing with the Braves in December. Fans gave him a long standing ovation when he stepped to the plate as the first hitter of the game. After several seconds Markakis stepped out of the batter’s box waved his helmet in acknowledgement.
“It was good,” Markakis said. “These fans have been great to my whole career. Tonight shows what kind of fans they are and how loyal they are. It was pretty cool.”
