On a night that belonged to rookie Randall Delgado for six no-hit innings, it was Martin Prado who took charge in the 11th to give the Braves another dramatic walk-off win Tuesday night against San Francisco.
Prado’s two-out single through the right side of the infield gave the Braves a 2-1 win over the Giants, one night after Freddie Freeman’s two-out single in the ninth gave them a walk-off win in the series opener.
Prado had been 3-for-23 on the homestand before driving left-hander Javier Lopez’s 1-1 pitch to the opposite field to score Brooks Conrad, who reached on a pinch-hit double and advanced to third on Michael Bourn’s groundout.
“It was a huge win for us, big for the wild card,” Prado said after the Braves improved to 5-0 this against defending World Series champ San Francisco and pushed their National League wild-card lead to six games over the Giants.
Rookie Arodys Vizcaino (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings of one-hit relief to finish the game, earning his first major league win in his fourth appearance.
"Just to help the team win, that makes me even more happy," Vizcaino said with Prado translating. "I was nervous in the first game I pitched, but now I feel like I’ve been around, because everybody on this team makes me feel comfortable.”
The Braves improved to 14-8 in a majors-leading 22 extra-inning games. They rank among the leaders with 22 wins in their final at-bat, including 12 walk-off wins.
“This is something I really like about this team, that we always go through the end of the game," Prado said. "If we lose, we lose battling. I love that about this team.”
Delgado, just 21 years old and pitching in his second major league game, flirted with history for a good part of the night. The Panamanian right-hander fired a no-hitter through six innings, before Cody Ross led off the seventh with a home run.
He was replaced after Ross tied the score 1-1. Delgado allowed one hit and one walk with four strikeouts.
“Outstanding,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who didn't have an easy decision taking out Delgado after only 74 pitches. “He was really, really good. The kid’s got pitches. He’s got a plus-fastball, he’s got a breaking ball, and he seemed a lot more comfortable this time around, the second start.... Composure was off the chart.
“I think if we’re not in the position we’re in, we let him pitch. But the position we’re in, we’re trying to win every ballgame. You’ve got three pretty good guys in the back end of that bullpen.”
Delgado looked like anything but a fill-in, but that’s what he was, pitching in place of injured starter Tommy Hanson. The right-hander faced the minimum 18 batters until the Ross homer, a fourth-inning walk accounting for the only previous Giants base runner.
“I’m just happy and so proud of myself,” said Delgado, who will be optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett right away to open a roster spot for Wednesday starter Jair Jurrjens, who's coming off the disabled list. “I worked hard and tried to do a good job today.”
Freeman made a mistake that could’ve proved costly on a 10th-inning single. After Dan Uggla led off the 10th with a seeing-eye single through the left side, Freeman singled to right field but was thrown out by Brandon Belt after straying too far past first base to dive back ahead of the throw.
With Uggla at third and one out, the Giants intentionally walked Chipper Jones to set up a potential double play, which they got. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera fielded an Alex Gonzalez grounder, stepped on second and leapt to avoid pinch-runner Jason Heyward’s slide while throwing to first to get Gonzalez.
In the ninth inning, after Michael Bourn's third walk, Prado nearly won the game with a fly to the left-field warning track. But Aubrey Huff made a leaping catch and held onto the ball after crashing into the wall.
Although Delgado threw over 100 pitches in nine minor league starts this season, the Ross at-bat began what would have been Delgado’s third time through the lineup — often the most difficult for young pitchers.
Delgado, who needed only 57 pitches to get through the first five innings, fell behind in the count 3-0 against Ross and gave up the homer on a 3-1 fastball at 92 mph.
Before the homer, the lone Giants base runner — Mike Fontenot on a walk in the fourth — was erased when second baseman Uggla and shortstop Gonzalez turned one of the slickest double plays of a Braves season that has featured many.
After the Ross homer in the seventh, reliever Eric O’Flaherty entered and retired the next three batters. Jonny Venters gave up a pair of two-out singles in the eighth before an inning-ending groundout, and Craig Kimbrel struck out Huff after giving up a two-out single in the ninth.
Vizcaino gave up a leadoff walk in the 10th before coaxing a pop-up and a double-play grounder. He also gave up a one-out single by former Brave Mark DeRosa in the 11th, but got Ross and Fontenot to fly out to end the inning.
Vizcaino and Delgado are among the Braves’ “big four” pitching prospects along with Julio Teheran and Mike Minor.
Delgado is 7-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 23 starts in the minors this season, including 2-0 with no runs allowed in two starts for Gwinnett since a promotion from Double-A.
In his only previous major league game, against Texas on June 17, Delgado was charged with seven hits and four runs (three earned) in four innings.
The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Bourn’s two-out single to center. He drove in Jose Constanza, who reached base on a drag-bunt single to pitcher Jonathan Sanchez when no one cover first base in time.
Delgado’s bunt advanced the runner to second, and Sanchez rolled his left ankle as he fielded it. He was able to throw out Delgado, but the Giants left-hander hobbled off the mound after his next pitch to Bourn, leaving with a sprained ankle.
Bourn greeted reliever Guillermo Mota with a single to center that scored Constanza from second.
