Another week, another opponent celebrating a playoff berth-clinching win over the Braves at Turner Field.
Seven days after the Nationals showered in champagne following a win that clinched the National League East title, the Pirates celebrated Tuesday night after a 3-2 win over the Braves that clinched at least a wild-card spot for Pittsburgh when coupled with Milwaukee’s loss to Cincinnati earlier in the evening.
The Pirates clinched with their 15th win in 21 September games, while the Braves fell to a majors-worst 4-16 for the month and assured themselves of a .500 or worse season by slipping to 76-81 with only five games left. They’ve lost five in a row and 10 of 11.
Gerrit Cole (11-5) worked seven strong innings and retired the last 17 batters he faced to win his fourth consecutive start and improve to 8-1 with a 2.94 ERA in 10 September starts over the past two seasons. The second-year right-hander allowed two runs, four hits and two walks in seven innings.
The Braves scored a run in each of the first two innings for a 2-0 lead before Cole went into shutdown mode, recording 18 outs in the last 17 batters he faced beginning with Andrelton Simmons’ bases-loaded double play in the second inning. Atlanta has scored 17 runs in its 1-10 slide.
Braves starter Alex Wood (11-11) had another quality start with a loss to show for the effort. He gave up seven hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander has a 1.92 ERA in his past 11 starts, but only a 4-3 record in that span, with the Braves scoring two or fewer runs while he was in eight of those 11 games.
Pittsburgh still has an outside shot at catching St. Louis in the NL Central, and has two games left in a four-game series at Turner Field. The Pirates clinched a spot in the postseason for the second year in a row, and did it exactly one year after clinching a playoff berth last season.
Freddie Freeman’s one-out RBI double in the first inning put the Braves ahead 1-0, their first lead in five games since Wednesday’s 3-1 win against the Mets, and their first run in the first inning since Jason Heyward’s leadoff homer against the Mets on Aug. 27.
Freeman was out trying to advance to third on the throw home on the play, which stung a bit when Justin Upton followed with a single. Upton was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the inning.
The Braves pushed the lead to 2-0 in the second when Simmons grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and none out, after a leadoff walk by Heyward and singles by Christian Bethancourt and Chris Johnson, the latter hit caroming off pitcher Gerrit Cole’s glove.
Simmons has grounded into 25 double plays, third-most in the majors. An inning later, he made a sensational catch on a liner to his left, diving for the ball and holding onto it when he face-planted upon landing.
And so we saw both sides of the Simmons coin in a span of 10 minutes – disappointing offense, splendid defense.
Although the Braves had a 2-0 lead after two innings, they had failed to fully capitalize after getting four hits and two walks in those innings. It would come back to haunt them when Cole settled into a groove and Pirates hitters started finding holes and driving balls to the gaps.
The Pirates cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth on a costly mistake by rookie catcher Bethancourt. With runners on the corners, two outs and two strikes on Gabby Sanchez, Bethancourt tried to throw out Starling Marte stealing second base. The throw was wide right and allowed Andrew McCutchen to score from third base.
Travis Snider tied the score when he homered on the first pitch of the fifth inning, driving the ball to the first row of the right-field bleachers. And after McCutchen doubled to start the sixth – his second leadoff hit in three innings – he scored the go-ahead run on Marte’s one-out double.
For the full write-thru version of this story complete with postgame quotes, please go to MyAJC.com or use this link.
