The final score of the Atlanta Braves home opener against the New York Mets ended with the final score of 4-0, but it was a lot closer than it looked. With the bases loaded and two outs, right fielder Jason Heyward had a chance to tie the game with a grand slam...And he almost did so, but it was only a deep popup to the outfield.
Although the Braves had a great spring training hitting the ball, this was the second time the Braves have been shutout so far even though the bats actually look to be improving. Second baseman Dan Uggla and center fielder B.J. Upton both posted hits, but they both struck out twice, which is never good especially in only four at-bats.
The Mets seemed like they made it their mission to score early runs due to the awful pitching of their bullpen.
"That's exactly why I said it," Mets manager Terry Collins said of putting an importance on a quick start. “Seeing who we're playing, you could fall into a dark hole right out of the gate. So it was important, I thought, for us to get out of the gate and get off to a good start because of who we were playing. Like I said before, they’re five playoff teams. Teams people thought really had a chance to be playoff contenders."
"So when you face that challenge coming out of spring training and certainly the way we went, had spring training go along with some injuries and some guys not get the amount of at-bats or the amount of innings we want them to have, we knew we had to step up," said Collins. "We're not in terrible shape and we're not in great shape right now. What we have to do is go on the road and play well on the road, which is something we've done the last couple of years."
Even though the Mets spoiled the Braves' home opener, they did not ruin what was a great night. Earlier before the games, baseball immortal Hank Aaron was honored for his feat of breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record when he hit his 715th homer in front of the Atlanta faithful 40 years ago from today.
Tomorrow, the Braves will once again host the Mets at Turner Field. Former Kansas City Royals pitcher Ervin Santana, who should have all ready played this year, but was recovering from an injury, will get the start against Zach Wheeler.
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-5, 1 K, .107 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (1-4, 2 K, .138 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (1-4, .391 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (1-4, .296 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (2-4, .231)
Dan Uggla, 2B (1-4, 2 K, .222)
Evan Gattis, C (1-4, .188 AVG)
Andrelton Simmons, SS (1-4, .292)
Aaron Harang, P (0-2, 1 K, .000 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, PH (0-1, .222 AVG)
Pitchers:
Aaron Harang, SP (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K, 0 HR, 0.71 ERA)
Gus Schlosser, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 7.36 ERA)
Luis Avilan, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Ian Thomas, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 5.40 ERA)
Pedro Beato, RP (1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Although the Braves had a great spring training hitting the ball, this was the second time the Braves have been shutout so far even though the bats actually look to be improving. Second baseman Dan Uggla and center fielder B.J. Upton both posted hits, but they both struck out twice, which is never good especially in only four at-bats.
The Mets seemed like they made it their mission to score early runs due to the awful pitching of their bullpen.
"That's exactly why I said it," Mets manager Terry Collins said of putting an importance on a quick start. “Seeing who we're playing, you could fall into a dark hole right out of the gate. So it was important, I thought, for us to get out of the gate and get off to a good start because of who we were playing. Like I said before, they’re five playoff teams. Teams people thought really had a chance to be playoff contenders."
"So when you face that challenge coming out of spring training and certainly the way we went, had spring training go along with some injuries and some guys not get the amount of at-bats or the amount of innings we want them to have, we knew we had to step up," said Collins. "We're not in terrible shape and we're not in great shape right now. What we have to do is go on the road and play well on the road, which is something we've done the last couple of years."
Even though the Mets spoiled the Braves' home opener, they did not ruin what was a great night. Earlier before the games, baseball immortal Hank Aaron was honored for his feat of breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record when he hit his 715th homer in front of the Atlanta faithful 40 years ago from today.
Tomorrow, the Braves will once again host the Mets at Turner Field. Former Kansas City Royals pitcher Ervin Santana, who should have all ready played this year, but was recovering from an injury, will get the start against Zach Wheeler.
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-5, 1 K, .107 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (1-4, 2 K, .138 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (1-4, .391 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (1-4, .296 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (2-4, .231)
Dan Uggla, 2B (1-4, 2 K, .222)
Evan Gattis, C (1-4, .188 AVG)
Andrelton Simmons, SS (1-4, .292)
Aaron Harang, P (0-2, 1 K, .000 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, PH (0-1, .222 AVG)
Pitchers:
Aaron Harang, SP (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K, 0 HR, 0.71 ERA)
Gus Schlosser, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 7.36 ERA)
Luis Avilan, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Ian Thomas, RP (0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 5.40 ERA)
Pedro Beato, RP (1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)