Two Justin Upton homers seemed to go to waste as the Atlanta Braves end up losing their home opening series with the New York Mets with a final score of 6-4 in game three.
He has undoubtedly the player of the game as he went 3-4 with three RBIs while scoring two runs. He now has a .265 batting average.
"Tonight I was just comfortable," said Upton, who was 6-for-30 entering the game. "The only thing I can do is just try to take that same exact feel to tomorrow night and the next day and try to make something of it."
David Hale starting the game for the Braves even though he did stay in there long. Hale pitching only 4.1 innings. He left with the bases loaded and one out, but reliever Anthony Varvaro was able to come in and get the outs needed without any runs being scored.
"It was just one of those days I didn't have command of the fastball at all, and I had to battle the whole time," said Hale, who had allowed only one run in his first three major league starts. "It's frustrating when such a simple pitch, and one that's supposed to be my bread and butter, is just missing."
As shocking as it might sound, the Braves bullpen was outpitched by the Mets bullpen, which is known for blowing leads.
"It's funny out of the bullpen, when somebody comes in and doesn't do the job that you expect them to do it kind of screws up the rest of the way," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Last night we ran into it in the ninth inning there bringing (Craig) Kimbrel in (with runners on) and then today in the seventh. It's still nine games into the season so we'll figure that out and gets some guys in the right situation."
Before the game, Chipper Jones was out watching the Braves batting in their cage. He noticed something about B.J. Upton's swing and gave him a few pointers. That proved to be help as B.J. belted a triple out to center field in his second at-bat of the game.
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, .171 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (1-4, 1 R, 1 K, .152 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, .419 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (0-4, 4 K, .229 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, .265 AVG)
Dan Uggla, 2B (0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, .176 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, C (0-3, 1 BB, .167 AVG)
Ramiro Pena, SS (1-4, 1 K, .200 AVG)
David Hale, P (0-2, 1 K, .000 AVG)
Jordan Schafer, PH (0-1, .000 AVG)
Evan Gattis, C (0-1, .200 AVG)
Pitchers:
David Hale, SP (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, .289 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Luis Avilan, RP (0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA)
Gus Schlosser, RP (1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR 7.20 ERA)
Ian Thomas, RP (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 3.38 ERA)
He has undoubtedly the player of the game as he went 3-4 with three RBIs while scoring two runs. He now has a .265 batting average.
"Tonight I was just comfortable," said Upton, who was 6-for-30 entering the game. "The only thing I can do is just try to take that same exact feel to tomorrow night and the next day and try to make something of it."
David Hale starting the game for the Braves even though he did stay in there long. Hale pitching only 4.1 innings. He left with the bases loaded and one out, but reliever Anthony Varvaro was able to come in and get the outs needed without any runs being scored.
"It was just one of those days I didn't have command of the fastball at all, and I had to battle the whole time," said Hale, who had allowed only one run in his first three major league starts. "It's frustrating when such a simple pitch, and one that's supposed to be my bread and butter, is just missing."
As shocking as it might sound, the Braves bullpen was outpitched by the Mets bullpen, which is known for blowing leads.
"It's funny out of the bullpen, when somebody comes in and doesn't do the job that you expect them to do it kind of screws up the rest of the way," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Last night we ran into it in the ninth inning there bringing (Craig) Kimbrel in (with runners on) and then today in the seventh. It's still nine games into the season so we'll figure that out and gets some guys in the right situation."
Before the game, Chipper Jones was out watching the Braves batting in their cage. He noticed something about B.J. Upton's swing and gave him a few pointers. That proved to be help as B.J. belted a triple out to center field in his second at-bat of the game.
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, .171 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (1-4, 1 R, 1 K, .152 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, .419 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (0-4, 4 K, .229 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, .265 AVG)
Dan Uggla, 2B (0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, .176 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, C (0-3, 1 BB, .167 AVG)
Ramiro Pena, SS (1-4, 1 K, .200 AVG)
David Hale, P (0-2, 1 K, .000 AVG)
Jordan Schafer, PH (0-1, .000 AVG)
Evan Gattis, C (0-1, .200 AVG)
Pitchers:
David Hale, SP (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, .289 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA)
Luis Avilan, RP (0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA)
Gus Schlosser, RP (1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR 7.20 ERA)
Ian Thomas, RP (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 3.38 ERA)