OAKLAND – Mike Foltynewicz had Braves Country abuzz late Friday, not allowing a hit against the Oakland Athletics until a leadoff homer in the ninth inning to Matt Olson that ended a bid for what would’ve been just the third individual no-hitter by an Atlanta Braves pitcher and first since Kent Mercker’s in 1994.
Olson took a borderline 2-2 pitch for a ball and fouled off two more before the Parkview High graduate homered on a full-count fastball, the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
But even though “Folty” finished three outs shy of a no-hitter, he gave himself, his teammates and coaches, and all Braves fans who stayed up to watch the West Coast game a night they won’t soon forget, striking out eight, walking four and throwing a career-high 119 pitches before exiting after the Olson homer.
Here’s what some of them were thinking during and after one of the more memorable nights in recent Braves history:
— Left fielder Danny Santana, who was in left with Matt Kemp serving as designated hitter in the interleague game, sprinted to make a thrilling catch near the line in the fourth inning, a play that would've been known as the play that saved the no-hitter:
“I was thinking, I’m going to catch the ball. Just go hard to it and catch it….
“The 2-2 pitch (to Olson), the pitch that the umpire didn’t give to him? I say oh my God, what’s going to happen now?… Every time he threw a pitch and the umpire doesn’t give to him, (center fielder Ender nciarte) looked over at me like, what’s (the umpire) doing?”
— Second baseman Brandon Phillips, whose single in the ninth inning drove in Ender Inciarte with what proved to be the game-winning RBI, after Inciarte stole second base:
“I was trying to be a good team player – Ender is lucky I didn’t swing at that second pitch for him to get that stolen base. (Phillips smiling.) He’s going to take me out to dinner late on today. When you be a team player it comes back to you, so I think that’s why I got that hit….
“(Foltynewicz) kept us on our toes. Everybody was waiting for somebody to make that one play. I think (Danny) Santana made the play, maybe that’s what it was. But everybody was thinking about, damn, I wonder if I’m going to make that play, or you’re going to make that play – somebody’s going to make that play. We were all worrying about it.
“It would have been nice for him to get it, but he pitched a great game. I’m glad we got the win. We’ll take it.”
— Catcher Tyler Flowers, on his emotions and thoughts as the game progressed:
“Nerve-racking for a couple of reasons. No. 1, (the score) was 1-nothing for the majority of the game; little bigger cushion is always welcome, in that situation especially. And 2, it’s a little nerve-racking because he was almost never shaking me off, and I almost wanted him to shake me off. (Flowers laughs.) So yeah, you feel a little pressure, but the success you had throughout the game except for the last hitter, it makes you feel pretty good about all the preparation we did. Of course, he’s got to execute it. But you feel good about the game plan you came up with….
“I kind of felt like (the no-hitter) was going to happen from the beginning, but I feel that way about basically every pitcher that makes it through the first two innings. It crossed my mind, like, in the second inning and then I think really after the fifth.”
How about after the Santana running catch in the fourth inning? “Yeah, because off the bat I was (thinking) that’s a double, maybe even a triple. Then he got there. He covers a darn lot of ground out there….
“(Foltyewnicz) really didn’t have his best command, but he did have a pretty good ability to throw off-speed for strikes and then expand (their strike zone) late. I think that got him a little more leeway on some of the fastballs. Especially with pretty good velocity today, too.”
On how Foltynewicz has learned to control his emotions and not let frustration spiral: “It’s getting better. Instead of taking an inning or more to collect himself, he’s doing it within a hitter. That’s a big step. Hopefully the next (step) is, within a pitch or two.”
— Shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose RBI double in the third inning accounted for the only run in the game for either team until the ninth inning:
“It was pretty neat (being part of the near no-hitter). I think what was crazy, and (Foltynewicz) probably feels the same way, is that he could have been even better. Which is crazy. He’s so talented and so good that when he’s on and making pitches, he’s definitely tough to hit; he showed that. But I think one of the big things he showed was even when he got down in the count he would still make pitches and get pretty weak content. I could think of two balls that were squared up pretty well off of him, but other than that he stayed off the barrel, he moved the ball really well, and I think that’s just the beginning of things that are ahead for him….
“Any time you can do something like that is pretty remarkable, especially doing it on the road, and the weather was a little bit cold last night, for what we’re used to. Considering all the circumstances it was pretty special what he did, and I think moving if he takes the positives from it then it could obviously be a real big thing for him.”
On Brandon Phillips’ comment about defensive players all waiting to see which one would make “the” play:
“With the (Braves’ defensive) shifts and stuff…. (The score) was still relatively close to where a bunt could still be in play and when we were shifting the first guy (in the ninth inning) I was just thinking that somehow I’m the one over here on this island that there’s going to be play that’s going to need to be made. Yeah, especially going into the ninth you expect someone to make a leaping or diving catch, something like that. We were all ready for it, I think….
“I think you have to (want it to be hit to you), right? I mean, that’s the point of why we play this game, to be a part of moments like that and re-create as many special moments as possible.”
On playing behind Foltynewicz:
“I think one of the greatest attributes that he has is you see his competitiveness, his fire and energy out there. And when you’re able to play behind a guy like that it kind of gets you more intense and with the game, and though we didn’t provide that many runs last night, usually a guy like that is able to help you kind of re-create the same energy offensively, and even defensively making plays behind him and stuff like that. It kind of helps everyone get in a rhythm and stay in tune with one another when you have a guy like him pitching.”
— Mike Foltynewicz on almost throwing what he said would've been the first no-hitter of his life, at any level of organized baseball:
“Fastball was coming out during warmups pretty well. Mind’s going blank now, but there were a couple of innings that I got out of trouble, after that I think there were times I was thinking something might happen. The pitch count was up so I was just trying to get early outs, have them make contact with the ball, they had a lot of one-pitch outs, couple-pitch outs.
“But it was a weird night. I’d throw four pitches in a row that weren’t even close, then put together a nice sequence, nice off-speed, backdoors sliders and all that. So it was a weird night depending on who was the batter up there, but it was a fun night and defense played great, Danny out in left field running down some balls….
On whether he felt adrenaline, nervousness: “I didn’t really feel anything until, like the ninth, then my legs were just kind of heavy, it was kind of weird out there in the ninth….
“Couple of times like in the sixth, I think I was getting too quick and my teammates saw that and came out and talked to me, said slow it down a little bit, execute pitches here and there. And then I did. It was awesome that teammates were coming out to support me like that. It was a fun night….
“I think (Santana) made three or four catches, and I think about after the second one I had a good feeling that I could take this thing all the way. I battled to the last out.”
On manager Brian Snitker saying he would’ve let him throw at least 135 pitches if it took that many to get the no-hitter:
“We’re pretty good into the season, arm’s feeling good, body’s feeling good. We had (extra rest). I was walking people (late) and it was getting a little crazy, but 135 would have been a good pitch count. I felt good all the way to the last pitch, so there was nothing to worry about there.”
