Kyle Taylor, Valdosta Today Sports
PHOENIX – Tuesday night was once again Shelby Miller’s turn in the rotation, and so far this season that has given the Braves plenty of confidence that they will have a great chance to win the game.
Once again, they did have that chance late in the ballgame, but it came as a result of a late inning rally.
Though Shelby Miller (5-2) exited the game after only going 4 1/3 innings, throwing 100 pitches, and only 52 for strikes. Miller allowed four runs on six hits and six walks.
Arizona went up 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning after Ender Inciarte singled in Jordan Pacheco and Nick Ahmed. Paul Goldschmidt, who came into the game with a .355 average and 15 home runs, walked in Josh Collmenter with the bases loaded.
The Diamondbacks continued to take advantage of Miller’s worst start of the season by adding another run in the fourth inning to go up 4-1.
With Miller now out of the game and the bullpen in to attempt to keep the game close, the Braves began to rally in the top of the sixth with an A.J. Pierzynski single that scored Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. Jonny Gomes followed with his fifth double of the season to left field that scored Juan Uribe. The Braves now found themselves tied and a chance to win their fourth straight game against NL West teams. The runs took Shelby Miller off the hook for his third loss.
Miller told MLB.com, “I just didn’t get in the groove type thing, but those kinds of days happen. I mean, you’re human. You look at Felix Hernandez’s start [on Monday night] and other guys who are doing well have poor starts. That kind of stuff’s going to happen.”
The Braves finished the sixth inning with a double off the bat of Todd Cunningham that scored Pierzynski and Gomes, which gave the Braves a 6-4 lead.
Arizona would not be finished, however, as Yasmany Tomas singled in Ender Inciarte, with Nick Masset pitching in relief for the Braves.
Atlanta has found themselves to be a pesky and resilient team in late innings in recent weeks, but the Achilles heel of the team continues to be in the bullpen. Diamondbacks outfielder, A.J. Pollack, hit his sixth homer to right field off Brandon Cunniff, which brought the Braves reliever’s ERA to 5.09 on the season. It was a two run shot that once again brought in Inciarte.
Brad Ziegler came on in the ninth to save the game for the Diamondbacks, picking up his fourth save of the season. The final score was 7-5 on a night that was full of emotions, high and low.
Fredi Gonzalez told AJC.com, “When we get the ball to Johnson and Grilli, we have a good chance to win a ballgame.”
As Buck O’Neil once put it, “In baseball there is always tomorrow. Maybe you got me today, but tomorrow, I’m coming back.”
The Braves will do just that on Wednesday afternoon as they take on Arizona for the final game of the series, and of the long West Coast trip. First pitch will be at 3:40 PM ET from Chase Field in Phoenix with Mike Foltynewicz (3-2) going against Rubby De La Rosa (4-2) of the D-backs.
The Braves will try to end the road trip with a .500 record against the Western Division teams. They will have an off day on Thursday before heading back home for a three game weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Braves Question
Do you feel the Braves should give up a prospect, or two, to acquire some relief help before the deadline?
