The Braves acquired veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia from the Orioles for cash in late August to add some rotation depth when Brandon Beachy suffered another setback in his comeback from Tommy John surgery.
Now Garcia is scheduled to pitch Game 4 of the division series against the Dodgers.
“It’s an honor,” Garcia said. “I was in Triple-A last month and probably on my way home, then I got traded. So it’s pretty neat to be here with this team and this bunch of guys together trying to accomplish one thing: win the World Series.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez announced Wednesday that Garcia won the job over left-hander Paul Maholm, though Garcia’s body of work pointed that way for weeks.
Garcia has a 1.65 ERA in six appearances for the Braves, including 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA in three spot starts. Maholm is 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA in nine starts since July 5, with a .317 opponents’ batting average. Maholm had three quality starts in his previous six outings, but had to skip a start because of a sore elbow.
Maholm was left off the roster for the division series because Gonzalez said he didn’t want to carry three left-handers in the bullpen with 11 pitchers on the roster. Maholm will go to instructional league to stay in shape in case the Braves need him for the NLCS.
“Garcia has done a decent job,” Gonzalez said. “He’s got some postseason experience, and so we made the decision that way.”
Maholm, 31, has never pitched in a postseason game. Garcia, 36, has made 10 postseason starts while going 6-3 with a 3.28 ERA. He pitched the World Series clincher for the White Sox in 2005.
“It’s a different game than the regular season, a different monster,” Garcia said. “The atmosphere, adrenaline, all that stuff. People don’t know if they’ve never been in the playoffs.”
When asked how he’s been able to handle it? “I’m a relaxed guy,” Garcia said. “I’m a real calm guy.”
Downs out: While the choice of Garcia over Maholm might have been predictable, the Braves' final bullpen spot was not. The club put rookie David Hale on the roster as a long-relief man instead of 37-year-old left-hander Scott Downs. That was a move that took both Downs and Hale by surprise.
“Shocked,” Downs said. “Caught off guard. Basically it sounds like it came down to a two-week audition. The last two weeks of September, I gave up a couple hits to lefties late, so they felt having just two lefties in the pen is the right way to go.”
Alex Wood and Luis Avilan are the two lefty relievers the Braves will use. Downs and Anthony Varvaro will join Maholm in instructional league working to stay in shape in case they are needed in the NLCS.
The Braves acquired Downs from the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline to give the bullpen a veteran left-hander in the absence of Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty.
“That’s what’s baffling,” Downs said. “I was traded to come here to help, to make a push to get into the postseason and pitch in the postseason, and to find out there’s a chance I might not, that’s the frustrating part.”
Downs gave up 13 hits to the 21 batters he faced in September, including nine of the 13 left-handers, though he contends only a couple of the hits were hit hard.
“But it is what it is,” Downs said. “I’m just going to go out, continue to do what I need to do to let them know that I want to pitch.”
Hale got the nod after making two spot starts in a September call-up — his first two in the big leagues — allowing only one earned run in 11 innings.
“He’s a guy that could give us some innings late in the game if you get into one of those crazy 12-, 13-inning games,” Gonzalez said. “He’s the one that has stretched out.”
The last time Hale attended a postseason game, he was there with his father as a Braves fan, at age 5, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for the 1992 World Series. He doesn’t remember much other than it was cold, though he still has the ticket framed in a case in his home in Marietta.
“If you told me this was going to happen a month ago, I would have laughed in your face,” Hale said. “So, yes, this is my wildest dream.”
Injury updates: After five days off to rest a strained groin, Brian McCann said he was ready to go for Game 1 on Thursday.
“I feel great,” McCann said Wednesday. “I probably could have played that last game (Sunday), but at the same time, you get another couple days off to let that thing heal.”
Reliever Jordan Walden threw a scoreless inning in instructional league Tuesday and came away confident that he was healthy and ready to go. He’s been dealing with lingering shoulder pain and recently returned from a groin strain.
“I got my arm slot,” Walden said. “Everything felt good.”
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