So much for the comforts of home.
Alex Wood brought a three-start winning streak to Sunday’s matchup against Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, but he and the Braves had little go their way in a 3-0 loss at Turner Field, a defeat that saw Wood ejected and the Braves bruised and blanked.
Wood was tossed for arguing balls and strikes after the Pirates’ three-run fifth inning, and Cole hit two Braves with pitches and held them hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position during his seven innings of work.
“Woody can’t get thrown out of that game,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, who walked from the dugout too late to run interference. “He’s given up three runs, our bullpen is our bullpen, and he’s got to keep his composure a bit. He can’t get thrown out of the game there. And I don’t know what was said. Obviously if I thought it was a heated conversation I would have gone out there a little bit sooner …
“But no matter what, your starting pitcher can’t get thrown out of the game in a three-run game in the fifth inning.”
The loss was the fourth in five games for the Braves, and this time no fault of the beleaguered bullpen. Three relievers produced four scoreless innings after Wood was dismissed.
Wood (4-3) was charged with seven hits, three runs and one walk with five strikeouts in five innings before getting tossed. The left-hander fell to 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA in four home starts, compared to 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in seven road.
His last four before Sunday had come on the road, and Wood had a 1.88 ERA in that span, including 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in the past three.
“I didn’t even know I got tossed until I was up here and I heard it on the TV,” said Wood, ejected by plate umpire Mark Carlson. “I said something to him first, never cussed at him, never did anything. I said I thought two of the pitches were strikes. We were about 30 feet from each other; he didn’t hear me. Walked a little closer, he said something; I didn’t hear what he said. I said it to him again. He didn’t hear what I said again. I said it to him one more time and walked away.
“As I was walking away, I guess he decided that it was going to be good to throw me out of the game. Which I didn’t think was appropriate. I didn’t try to show him up, didn’t say anything to him during the inning.”
Cole was able to work around any problems with Braves on the bases after being hit by pitches. He limited Atlanta to six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings, trimming his ERA to a National League-leading 1.73.
He hit Freddie Freeman in the leg with a pitch in the third to loaded the bases, after consecutive singles by Jace Peterson and Cameron Maybin. The Braves had him on the ropes, but Nick Markakis struck out and Juan Uribe grounded out.
Cole hit Andrelton Simmons in the left arm with a pitch with one out in the fourth, and catcher Chris Stewart walked halfway to first base alongside Simmons, apparently to make sure the shortstop didn’t head toward the mound. Cole also nearly hit leadoff man Jace Peterson in the leg with a pitch in the fifth, then struck him out.
“He was throwing 98, 99 (mph),” said center fielder Cameron Maybin, who had three of the Braves’ six hits, his fourth straight multi-hit game and seventh in nine. “You never want to see your guys get plunked, especially two of your go-to guys. It’s never fun to see that.”
In the top of the fifth, Wood walked Cole with one out, after throwing a first-pitch fastball way inside. Wood got the count to 2-2 before walking him on six pitches, and that’s when things began to unravel.
Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer followed with consecutive singles to load the bases. Wood struck out Andrew McCutchen for the second out, but Starling Marte singled to drive in two runs. Jung Ho Kang added another RBI single before Wood got out of the inning, and he was thrown out after his comments to Carlson.
“The guy ends up drilling two of ours pretty good,” Wood said. “Try to do something about it and you don’t take care of something the way the game’s supposed to be played – just a lot of frustration, really. I thought he was getting some pitches throughout the game that we weren’t.”
