David Hale’s fate was sealed nine pitches into his start.
The Braves right-hander allowed just a one-out first-inning home run to Travis Snider for all the offense the Pirates would need. The Pirates would score plenty more on their way to a 10-1 victory over the Braves Thursday night at Turner Field in the final home game of the season.
Add Hale to the list of Braves starting pitchers to get little or no run support.
Hale (4-5) worked 4-2/3 innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs, four walks and struck out four on 92 pitches. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez expected Hale, who had not started a game since June 28 and, to throw between 70-75 pitches.
The Braves have scored two or fewer runs in 63 out of 159 games this season and fell to 8-55 in those games. As well as Hale pitched, he was a victim of another poor offensive outing by the Braves.
“I actually felt better than I thought I would,” Hale said. “I felt like I had good control of all my pitches. It surprised be a little bit. I felt good
“I was getting tired. I’m going to be really sore tomorrow.”
The loss clinched a losing season for the free-falling Braves (77-82). With just a three-game series at the Phillies remaining, the Braves will finish below .500 for the first time since 2008 (72-90). The Braves are 5-17 in September, a month that cost general manager Frank Wren his job with more casualties possible.
The Braves went 2-8 to conclude the 10-game homestand, getting their only wins in the past 13 games.
“You always want to be playing for something,” Justin Upton said. “In our situation, we’re not. We have to be mentally tough in this situation and get ready to play every day and make sure you don’t give away at-bats and try to win ball games.”
Following Snider’s home run, the Pirates added single runs in the third inning on Andrew McCutchen’s sacrifice fly and in the sixth on a Gaby Sanchez single.
The Pirates heaped on added insurance with a three-run seventh inning. They loaded the bases to start the inning and all three runners would score on a pass ball and Starling Marte’s two-run double. The Pirates added insult to injury with four more runs in the eighth on a two-run single by McCutchen and two-run homer by Neil Walker.
Pirates starter Edinson Volquez (13-7) kept the Braves’ bats quiet. He struck out 10 batters, including the first four of the game swinging. The Braves’ first two hits didn’t leave the infield.
Volquez even singled in the eighth inning, his second hit of the season that snapped an 0-for-45 streak. He was relieved in the bottom of the eighth after surrendering just four hits and one walk.
The Braves scored their lone run in the ninth inning, trailing 10-0, on a sacrifice fly by Ramiro Pena.
“We didn’t put a big number up and that was it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “That was the game right there.”
All that’s left now is to play the final three games with even less on the line.
