Category: Sports

Jake Arrieta began a new winning streak on Saturday with some help from his teammates. Miguel Montero hit a three-run homer, Kris Bryant added a two-run shot and Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo each hit solo homers to back Arrieta and power the Cubs to an 8-2 victory over the Braves at Turner Field.

“It’s an uphill battle anyway, and then it’s really an uphill battle when you get behind a guy like that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I thought we got out of that second and third with nobody out [in the third inning], and I’m thinking, ‘Well, you never know,’ because things might happen good. But it kind of got away from us a little bit, and then a little bit is a whole lot with him.”
Arrieta was coming off his first loss after 20 consecutive winning decisions, and in that defeat, the right-hander struck out 12 over five innings. On Saturday, he fanned three over seven frames, became the National League’s second 10-game winner, and his ERA bumped up to 1.86. Arrieta also tied a career high with two hits of his own and scored from first on Dexter Fowler’s double in the sixth.
“I wanted to give my team a quality outing,” Arrieta said. “I think the streak, whatever streak it was, it’s over. We’ll start a new one.”
Heyward, Rizzo and Montero connected against Braves starter Matt Wisler, who served up five runs over four innings. It marked the fourth time this season Chicago has hit at least four home runs, and the Cubs have 22 wins by five or more runs, tops in the Majors.
It was tough for the Braves to rally after the Cubs scored four runs in the fourth, opening a 5-0 lead.
“They’re not a home run-hitting team, but they are definitely pesky, I’ll tell you that,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of the Braves. “They do make contact. I thought Miggy’s homer put a mark on them [in the fourth].”
On Friday, Heyward struck out a season-high three times. On Saturday, Heyward launched a 1-1 fastball in the first inning to right for his fourth home run. However, the Atlanta native and former Brave missed another RBI opportunity in the third when he came up with two on and one out. This time, Wisler struck him out.
The solo home run Wisler surrendered to Heyward in the first put the right-hander in an early hole, but his struggles peaked in the Cubs’ four-run fourth. Wisler allowed four straight hits — two singles sandwiched in between two home runs — to open the frame, giving Chicago a 5-0 lead. He has allowed 16 hits, 13 runs and six homers in his past two outings.
“I’ve got to find a way to keep the ball in the ballpark right now,” Wisler said. “I’ve got to do a better job executing pitches. They beat me on the ones I hang. They’re getting to [them] and hitting them out of the park, so I’ve got to figure out a way to get the ball back down in the zone and execute my offspeed pitches the way I’m supposed to.”
Rizzo, scratched on Friday because of tightness in his back, hit the first pitch from Wisler in the fourth to right for his 14th home run and 44th RBI. Ben Zobrist and Chris Coghlan followed with singles to set up Montero’s homer. For Coghlan, it was his first hit in his first start since being reacquired from the Athletics on Thursday.
Ender Inciarte’s RBI triple in the seventh cut the Cubs’ lead to 8-2 and marked the Braves’ fourth hit of the game off Arrieta. Atlanta’s center fielder has tripled three times this month after hitting none through his first 25 games of the season.
With his two-run homer in the fifth, Bryant has 45 RBIs for the season, second most in the National League, while Rizzo is third with 44. The Cubs have not had multiple players reach 50 RBIs by the All-Star break since 2008 when Aramis Ramirez (66), Derrek Lee (56), Geovany Soto (56) and Mark DeRosa (50) did so.
Jon Lester closes the series against the Braves on Sunday. The lefty is coming off a strong outing in which he threw eight scoreless innings against the Phillies. He’s 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA in six career starts against the Braves. First pitch will be at 12:35 p.m. CT from Turner Field.  Atlanta will counter with John Gant, who will make his first Major League start in place of Williams Perez. In seven appearances out of the bullpen, Gant has held right-handed hitters to a .217 batting average while allowing left-handed batters to hit .435 against him. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of the game on the Braves Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at noon.

The Nashville Sounds ninth inning rally came up short in a 4-3 loss against the Oklahoma City Dodgers Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Sounds started the ninth inning down 4-2 and attempted a ninth inning rally to take game four of the five-game series from the Dodgers. Joey Wendle led off the ninth with a single to center to start the inning. Rangel Ravelo then followed with a single of his own and the tying run was aboard for the Sounds. Bruce Maxwell’s fly out to center allowed Wendle to advance to third but Ravelo remained at first. Arismendy Alcantara then came on to pinch run for Ravelo at first. With runners at first and third, Jaycob Brugman hit an infield RBI single to score Wendle and Alcantara was safe at second and the Sounds had the tying and go ahead runs on base.

After a Chase Pinder strike out, an 11-pitch battle between Sounds left fielder Andrew Lambo and Dodgers pitcher Jaycob Rhame insued. Lambo nearly delivered the clutch hit twice in the at bat but unfortunately both times the potential hit went barely foul. Lambo then hit a long drive to deep center field, however, Dodgers center fielder Rico Noel tracked down the fly ball to record the final out and preserve the 4-3 Dodgers win.

The Sounds took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Lambo scoring Jaycob Brugman in the top of the first inning.

Oklahoma City answered in the bottom half of the inning with a RBI double from O’Koyea Jackson scoring Rob Segedin to tie the game at 1-1. After nearly a 30 minute rain delay, Corey Brown hit a RBI single to plate Jackson to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead after one.

Colin Walsh led off the top of the second inning with single up the middle. After a Joey Wendle fly out and Rangel Ravelo strike out, Bruce Maxwell singled to right and advanced Walsh to third with Brugman on deck. Brugman then sent an RBI single to left to score Walsh to tie the game at 2-2 after two.

Back-to-back singles from Micah Johnson and Zach Walters started the home half of the third inning for the Dodgers. With Johnson at third base, Jackson hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Johnson to put the Dodgers up 3-2 after 3.

The Sounds had an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the top of the fourth inning as both Brugman and Maxwell were both left stranded in scoring position.

The Dodgers then extended their lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning on a solo home run to right field by Zach Walters.

The five-game series concludes Sunday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as the Sounds will send left-hander Eric Surkamp (3-1, 3.07) and the Oklahoma City Dodgers will counter with right-hander Jose De Leon (0-0, 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

The Braves may have the opposite record of the Cubs and rank last in the Major Leagues in home runs. Bud Norris may have lost his spot in the rotation earlier this season, but on Friday night at Turner Field, Atlanta out-slugged and out-pitched Chicago.

Adonis Garcia and Tyler Flowers hit back-to-back home runs — the first time the Braves have done so this year — to back Norris and spark a 5-1 victory over the Cubs, picking up their second win in their last eight games.
“It’s big just to get a little lead there and then get a couple of add-on runs, which is something we haven’t been doing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That was really nice to put together an inning like that and get a couple of add-on runs.”
Cubs rookie Albert Almora Jr. made a nice sliding catch of Nick Markakis’ fly ball to left to open the second inning before Garcia launched the next pitch from Jason Hammel over the center-field wall. Four pitches later, Flowers hit his third homer to left to open a 2-0 lead. Garcia finished with three hits, matching a career high.
Norris, making his second start since returning to the rotation last Saturday, struck out six and limited the Cubs to four hits and one run over seven innings. It was his longest outing since he went seven frames in his first start of the season on April 6.
The loss was the Cubs’ fourth in their last 16 games.
“That’s baseball — baseball’s a crazy game,” Hammel said. “On any given night, any team can win. A lot of people say you’re only as good as the starting pitcher on the mound that night, and he was better.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon started the rookie Almora over Chris Coghlan in left field because he liked the matchup. Almora proved him right when he doubled to open the third, moved up on a wild pitch and scored one out later on Dexter Fowler’s groundout. Almora also made two standout catches, robbing Markakis to open the second and again with two on and one out in the seventh.
“He’s a quality addition,” Hammel said of Almora. “We pride ourselves on the guys we have at the lower levels. They’re going to come up here and help us. Albert is no different. He came up and made an impact right away. He’s a player to watch play.”
In addition to his three-hit effort, Garcia made a pair of standout defensive plays in the fifth inning. The third baseman, who committed seven errors at the position in his first 18 games of the season, recorded the first out of the frame when he caught a sharp line drive hit directly at him by Javier Baez. A batter later, Garcia robbed Addison Russell of a base hit when he made a diving grab to his left and completed the throw to first from his knees.
Hammel had given up three combined earned runs over his last three outings, but he was charged with three on Friday. The right-hander cruised through an 11-pitch first, but then had some stressful innings as the Braves had at least two runners on over the next three. He was able to extend a streak to 14 games in which Cubs starting pitchers have given up three earned runs or less.
“Save for two pitches, I thought I battled pretty well,” Hammel said. “I felt everything I threw up there. The bad pitches got hit hard and the good pitches were dribblers somewhere. It was just one of those nights. Bud threw a really good game and kept our guys off-balance. He threw a really good slider and stuck with it. Hats off to him.”
The Cubs threatened to strike first in the second after Norris allowed back-to-back singles to open the inning. The right-hander settled in, though, and induced a ground-ball double play before striking out Russell with a 95-mph fastball to thwart the scoring chance.
Mallex Smith was called out in the bottom of the fourth inning after failing to re-touch second base on a sacrifice fly by Ender Inciarte. Smith rounded second as the ball carried into left field, and after Almora made the catch, Smith stepped over the bag on his way back to first. The Cubs appealed the play, and Smith was called out for the final out.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before,” Maddon said. “Almora got the ball in quickly right to [second baseman Ben Zobrist], and Zo walked in and stepped on the bag and didn’t think about it, but did. I’m watching to see if the runner crosses or not. I went out after the appeal [to see] if Zo stepped on the bag first. Could they have called him out for that first and not the appeal? But that’s not part of the rule. You must appeal and say, ‘I’m appealing the play at second base,’ and then he’s out.”
Maddon had another conversation with third-base umpire Jerry Meals in the sixth inning, trying to get clarification.
Jake Arrieta will try to start a new winning streak on Saturday. Arrieta struck out 12 over five innings in his last outing, but he took his first loss since July 25 of last season. He is 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA in four career starts vs. the Braves. First pitch will be at 3:10 p.m. CT.  Atlanta will counter with Matt Wisler, who looks to bounce back from his worst start of the season. In just four innings, the right-hander allowed eight earned runs against the Dodgers on Sunday, struggling to throw his secondary pitches. He’s 0-4 with a 4.12 ERA at Turner Field this year. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of the game a part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.

The Nashville Sounds clubbed three home runs and had four RBI doubles in a 10-0 rout of the Oklahoma City Dodgers Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Nashville scored at least one run from the third inning through the sixth to earn the Sounds second shutout victory of the year.

The Sounds broke through first with a two-out RBI double to left by Jaycob Brugman scoring Joey Wendle from first to give the Sounds the early 1-0 lead.

Nashville added a pair in the fourth inning with two more RBI doubles. Ryon Healy sent a one-out RBI double to left center to score Renato Nunez from second. Wendle then plated Healy with the second two-out RBI double of the game for the Sounds to make it a 3-0 lead after four.

Bruce Maxwell saw the first pitch of the fifth inning and launched an opposite field solo home run to left to add another tally to the Sounds lead. After a Brugman double, Chad Pinder hit the second opposite field home run of the inning with a two-run shot to right field to make it 6-0 Sounds after five.

A four-run sixth inning capped off the Sounds rout of the Dodgers to extend their lead to 10-0. After a lead-off walk to Matt McBride, Bruce Maxwell hit the Sounds fourth RBI double of the night scoring McBride to make it 7-0 Sounds. Brugman then sent a towering two-run home run to right field to give the Sounds a 9-0 lead. Chad Pinder then doubled to right and was later plated in the inning on a RBI single by Ryon Healy.

Sounds starter Dillon Overton picked up his sixth quality start of the year tying Daniel Mengden and Chris Smith for the team’s season-high. Overton pitched six shutout innings allowing just four hits and four walks in his sixth win of the season. In Overton’s last three starts, the Sounds have scored 31 runs of support before he has exited the game.

Liam Hendriks and Ryan Doolittle spelled Overton out of the ‘pen and preserved the shutout. Hendriks went one inning and allowed just one hit while striking out a batter in his first MLB rehab game with the Sounds. Doolittle then went the remaining two innings striking out two and did not allow a hit.

The Sounds will look to continue their hot streak in game four against the Dodgers Saturday night, as the Sounds are now 24-6 in their last 30 games played. The Sounds will send right-hander Daniel Mengden (3-1, 1.39) to face right-hander Nick Tepesch (5-2, 3.95) of the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

CHS basketball coach Micah Williams(right) draws up a play during a timeout on Thursday at Ravenwood (Photo by Ben Holl)

The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team opened their summer schedule taking on 2 time state semifinalist Blackman on Thursday at Ravenwood. The talented Blaze team defeated Coffee County in spite of a 14 point effort from Garrett Eldridge.  Steven Sullivan added 7 points and 2 rebounds for Coffee County.
In the 2nd contest, Coffee County got an 18 point win over Grundy County. Sullivan had another big game as he scored 15 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Deaaron Rozier added 8 points and 5 rebounds to even Coffee County’s record in pool play to 1 and 1. The 6 man Raider JV team dropped both of their contests.
Coffee County will conclude pool play on Friday with a 12:15 PM game against Antioch. The JV team will take on Centennial at 9:45 AM. Both games will be played at Centennial High School in Franklin. Games in the tournament bracket will begin on Friday night and conclude on Saturday.

The Nashville Sounds used a 4-1 win in game two of a doubleheader to earn a split with the Oklahoma City Dodgers Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Four relievers combined to limit Oklahoma City to just one run on four hits in the game two win. Eduard Santos made a spot start and worked three innings before R.J. Alvarez, Andrew Triggs and Patrick Schuster finished the job.

O’Koyea Dickson’s solo homer in the second got the Dodgers on the board first, but the lead didn’t last long. Rangel Ravelo started the third with a single and came around to score on a Jaycob Brugman’s sacrifice fly to even the game at 1-1.

Brugman gave the Sounds (37-23) the lead for good when he delivered a two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth.

They tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1. Matt McBride doubled down the left field line to score Colin Walsh, and Chad Pinder drove in McBride with a sharp single up the middle. McBride is 6-for-6 with a walk and a hit by pitch over his last eight plate appearances.

Alvarez pitched 1 2/3 innings and picked up the win in his first MLB rehab game with the Sounds. Triggs bridged the gap between Alvarez and Schuster who worked a scoreless seventh to earn his fifth save.

In game one, the Sounds jumped out to an early lead in game one of the doubleheader but couldn’t hold on. Ryon Healy continued his hot hitting with a solo homer with two outs in the top of the second to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.

Joey Wendle lined a double to right field to get into scoring position for Walsh who collected his first RBI with the Sounds by sending a base hit to left, scoring Wendle to make it 2-0.

Dodgers’ (30-28) right fielder Corey Brown got started on his big game by cutting Nashville’s lead in half with one swing of the bat. He launched a solo homer off Angel Castro in the home half of the second.

Four hits and a costly error allowed Oklahoma City to plate three runs in the third. Antoan Richardson, Micah Johnson, Zach Walters and Rob Segedin produced the hits. Castro got the second out of the inning by getting Brown to line to first, but Healy fired the ball into left field trying to double up the runner at second. It allowed the third run of the inning to score and give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.

Healy and Walsh produced another run in the sixth when Healy drilled a one-out double into the right-center gap. Walsh came through with a two-out, RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Brown was back at it again as he supplied an insurance run with another solo homer off Castro in the sixth. It was more than enough as the Sounds went in order in the seventh against Jacob Rhame who locked down the save in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win.

Game three of the five-game set is scheduled for Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Left-hander Dillon Overton (5-4, 3.98) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Zach Lee (6-4, 4.65) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team completed their summer team camp in Trenton, Georgia on Wednesday with another perfect record. Both the varsity and junior varsity teams were 2 and 0 on the day to complete the 3 day camp. For the week, the Lady Raider teams were 11 and 1 during the camp as the Varsity team was 5 and 1 and the JV cagers went 6 and 0.
Coach Herb Horton was pleased with his team’s performance on the week in their first week of summer competition. The Lady Raiders will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate for a team camp. Coffee County will also host their Alumni Game on Friday, June 17th at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Coach Horton will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about this week’s camp and give us a preview of the upcoming schedule. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each and every Saturday morning from 10 to 11 at Al White Ford/Lincoln.
The Red Raider basketball team gets their summer camp schedule underway on Thursday when they travel to Brentwood to begin a 3 day camp hosted by Ravenwood. The Red Raiders will take on Blackman at 11:15 and Grundy County at 1:45. The JV team will tangle with the Blackman JV at 10 AM and Ravenwood at 12:30. Coffee County will be back in action on Friday in games tentatively scheduled at Centennial High School. Tournament games will follow on Friday and Saturday.

Julio Teheran kept the Padres off-balance Wednesday afternoon, as the right-hander led the Braves to a 4-2 victory, snapping Atlanta’s five-game losing streak and its 12-game skid at Petco Park.

Teheran allowed a pair of solo home runs to Padres first baseman Wil Myers, but little else, as he struck out eight over eight frames and allowed five hits. He also chipped in at the plate with a pair of singles and an RBI.
Ender Inciarte finished a homer shy of the cycle and sparked a big day from the top of the Braves’ order. Inciarte, Chase d’Arnaud and Freddie Freeman finished a combined 7-for-12 with two walks, three runs scored and three RBIs.
“Inciarte and d’Arnaud created a lot of havoc at the top of the lineup today, and that’s what we need to get some wins,” Freeman said. “What they did today translated into a win. It seemed like they were always on base, and we were able to get them in today.”
Padres left-hander Drew Pomeranz labored as much as he has in any outing this season, allowing three runs on nine hits over five innings. He took the loss, as the Padres squandered another chance for a sweep. They’re now 0-8 after winning the first two games of a series this season.
Left-handed starting pitchers had previously posted a 2.10 ERA against the Braves, and Pomeranz had allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his previous 11 starts. But these trends were quickly bucked as Inciarte and d’Arnaud began their three-hit games by accounting for two of the four singles Atlanta recorded in a two-run first inning. Inciarte tripled with two outs in the sixth, and scored when d’Arnaud followed with an RBI double.
“Inciarte is really swinging that bat pretty good right now, and Chase had a couple really good at-bats,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You love that first-and-third action when they’ve got that going. [Freeman] the past few days, we’ve seen some really good signs.”
Myers’ multi-homer game was his first as a Padre, and he went deep five times on the eight-game homestand. He also made a diving stop at first base to halt Atlanta’s first-inning rally.
“I think he’s got all the potential in the world,” Green said. “I wouldn’t want to put any kind of limitation on him whatsoever. To me, from an offensive standpoint, when Wil stays disciplined within his approach and fires off his A swing, he’s as good as anybody in the game.”
Teheran did not allow a hit through the first three innings and found fortune when Alexei Ramirez lined into a double play between a pair of fifth-inning singles. Myers’ home runs served as the only costly damage incurred by the Braves right-hander, who has posted a 1.93 ERA over his past 10 starts. Five of the eight hits Teheran has surrendered over his past two starts have been solo home runs.
“Every time I step on the mound, I’ve got all my confidence and I want my team to win and to do all I can to help my team win,” Teheran said after notching his second win of the season and his first road win against a National League West opponent since June 6, 2014.
Melvin Upton Jr. has been arguably the Padres’ most exciting player this season. He’s already stolen home, thrown out six over-adventurous baserunners and hit two walk-off dingers. On Wednesday afternoon, he added a second home-run robbery to his 2016 resume. Freeman launched an 0-2 fastball from Pomeranz to left, which appeared to be ticketed for the seats. But Upton found the wall and timed his leap perfectly, keeping an Atlanta run off the scoreboard.
“I knew it was hit well,” Upton said. “It was hot. I was just tracking it, found the wall. Initially, I didn’t think I was going to jump, but I ended up having to jump, and I caught it.”
Freeman also came inches short of hitting a home run on Tuesday night, when a replay review determined a fan didn’t interfere with his eighth-inning triple.
“I asked [Upton] if it was going to be a home run, and he said, ‘Yeah,'” Freeman said with a smile. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you just tell me it was going to be a double?'”
Atlanta will begin a three-game series against the Cubs at Turner Field on Friday at 6:35 p.m. CT. Bud Norris will attempt to build on the success he had on Saturday, when he allowed one run over five innings while making a spot start in place of the injured Mike Foltynewicz.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that game on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.

Nathaniel Tate

The Red Raider baseball team swept a pair of games from Lincoln County on Tuesday night at Powers Field in high school summer baseball action. Coffee County came out on top in the pair of 5 inning games. Using a mix of freshmen and upperclassmen, Coach David Martin saw his squad improve to 3 and 1 in the month of June.
In the first game, Coffee County banged out 10 hits as they drubbed the visiting Falcons 11 to 1. Freshman Hayden Skipper got the win as he allowed 1 earned run while striking out 2 and walking 5. Noah Anderson, Nathaniel Tate, Zach Morgan and Jacob Langham all had doubles for the Raiders. Tate and Langham also added singles. Grant Sadler, Garrett Booth, Morgan and Tate finished with 2 RBI each.
In the 2nd game, a single in the bottom of the 5th by Zach Morgan scored Hayden Hullett from 2nd base to give the Raiders a come from behind 5 to 4 walk-off win. Jacob Langham came on in relief in the 4th inning to get the win and was 2 for 2 at the plate with an RBI. Nathaniel Tate and Cade Giles each had a triple to lead the 10 hit attack for Coffee County. Giles finished the night going 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI.
The Raiders will next be in action on Thursday, June 16th in the Crethan Hansert Memorial Tournament at Powers Field. The Raiders will take on Franklin County at 7 PM. On Friday, the Raiders will host Warren County at 8 and conclude pool play with Grundy County at 4 PM on Saturday. The semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday, June 19th beginning at 1:30.

Derek Norris’ home run in the bottom of the ninth kept the Padres alive, and paved the way for a Wil Myers walk-off single to left, giving San Diego a 4-3 win and extending the Braves losing streak at Petco Park to 12 games.

“That’s a huge swing for us to tie that game up,” said Padres manager Andy Green about Norris’ seventh homer of the season. “So that’s a fun way to end a baseball game.”
Atlanta looked poised to snap its losing streak before closer Arodys Vizcaino gave up just his second home run of the season on a 97-mph fastball to the red-hot Norris, who now has 10 hits already this month. Vizcaino had been successful with six of his previous seven save opportunities this year and he had allowed just two homers over the previous 57 1/3 innings he’d worked since he returned from a drug suspension last year.
“I’m really not looking too much into it,” Vizcaino said. “My fastball wasn’t working the way I wanted and my secondary pitches weren’t either. It was just one of those bad days and it happens to everybody. I’m just going to take it and move on.”
Padres starter Colin Rea worked through seven full innings, helping provide some relief for a bullpen that has been taxed recently. The 25-year-old righty kept his team in the game by surrendering just three runs on six hits while striking out five.
“It’s really helpful for us,” Green said. “And he was strong all the way through seven today. I actually think he got better as the game wore on.”
Norris’ home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning sparked the Padres comeback victory. After Norris’ blast, Alexei Ramirez singled, stole second base and advanced to third before scoring on Myers’ walkoff single to left.
“Obviously I wasn’t trying to hit it out of the ballpark,” Norris said, “just trying to get a nice line drive, get on base and try and spark something. Fortunately I just got a pitch a little elevated and caught it pretty good.”
Nick Markakis delivered an RBI double in the first inning and added a sacrifice fly in a two-run fifth that gave the Braves a 3-2 lead. But Atlanta was inches away from enhancing that lead in the eighth inning when Freddie Freeman’s triple bounced off the top of the left-center field wall and came back into play. Through a boundary review that lasted 55 seconds, umpires determined that contact with a fan’s glove did not cause the ball to come back into play.
Before the game, Green talked about how he wanted Rea to be aggressive attacking the strike zone. He never said anything about being aggressive on the bases. That’s what happened in the second inning though, when third base coach Glenn Hoffman sent Rea home on a single to Atlanta left fielder Mallex Smith, who promptly threw him out with room to spare.
“I didn’t really know,” Rea said when asked if he thought he would beat the throw. “I’m not very fast. I knew the throw was probably going to beat me. But with two outs there, you gotta take a chance.”
Atlanta pitcher Aaron Blair was fortunate to surrender just one run while retiring just five of the 11 batters he faced in the first two innings. He exited in the fifth inning with bases loaded and immediately breathed a sigh of relief when Markakis showed great concentration as he caught Melvin Upton’s sacrifice fly while running into the right field wall. Former Padre Casey Kelly, Chris Withrow and Jim Johnson combined to work 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before Vizcaino experienced one of his worst outings dating back to last season.
“The bullpen was just outstanding,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It would have been nice if we could have added some add-on runs and maybe we did. The guys did a great job. We did a lot of things really good and right, except win the game.”
Julio Teheran will take the mound when these two teams conclude this three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. Teheran has posted a 1.89 ERA over his past nine starts, but he has not won any of his past six road starts against National League West teams.