Braves pitching came through in game one
What a game.
Wednesday’s game one of the Wild Card Series between the Braves and the Reds was exactly what postseason baseball is all about. You hang on every pitch. You scrutinize every decision. You overreact to everything little thing that happens – good and bad.
In all of the bad that happened Wednesday, like the one million strikeouts the Braves had, there was so much good. There was so much that contributed to the win, and so much that if the Braves had lost would have been a horrible shame.
The fact that Max Fried gave the Braves exactly what they wanted going into this series – a starting pitcher going more than five or six innings. And to think that Fried gave the Braves seven innings in a start, and yet the team still had to use seven relievers shows you exactly how wacko that game really was.
And speaking of those relievers, wow. We’ve known since February this bullpen had the chance to be special, but we certainly didn’t think back then that Tyler Matzek and A.J. Minter would be at the top of the list for those who would come through in the first playoff game of 2020.
Matzek walked into a mess in the 11 inning when he entered with the bases loaded after Darren O’Day had his worst outing of the season. The bases were loaded, and after so long without seeing a run score it felt like it was about to happen. But Matzek and his high-90s fastball struck out Mike Moustakas to end the inning.
After the Braves’ top of the order went in order, Matzek went back out for the 12 and created his own mess. He allowed two straight singles to start the inning, putting runners on the corners. Then Matzek struck out Kyle Farmer. Then he struck out Tucker Barnhart. Then he struck out Freddy Galvis.
Inning over.
Shane Greene came out in the 13 to replace Matzek. After striking out the first batter, Greene gave up consecutive singles. So, the Braves then went to Minter, who promptly walked Eugenio Suarez to again load the bases. Minter then struck out Aristides Aquino and got Jose Garcia to break his bat and ground out to shortstop.
Inning over.
That’s what relief pitching is all about. You put out fires. That’s why they used to call the best reliever the Fireman of the Year.
Yes, Fried was tremendous. We are used to that. And yes, the Braves offense struck out too much and made it more dramatic than necessary. But that bullpen showed once again why this team will have a shot in October with another strong performance in game one against the Reds.
For more coverage of the Braves, listen after Thursday’s game to The Bill Shanks Show on SportsRadio 93-1 WXKO TheSuperStations.com.