Call it even: Braves avoid another collapse, tie series
ATLANTA — Adding another chapter to his remarkable turnaround season, Mike Foltynewicz threw seven crisp innings before pinch-hitter Adam Duvall hit a two-run homer that carried the Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals on Friday, evening the NL Division Series at one game apiece.
Foltynewicz, who spent a good chunk of his summer in Triple A after a miserable start, has been a different pitcher since returning from the minors. He went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA over his last 10 starts — a dominating run that carried right into the postseason.
The best-of-five series now shifts to St. Louis, where Mike Soroka gets the ball for the Braves in Game 3 on Sunday against Adam Wainwright.
Going against Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty, who had one of the great second halves in baseball history, Foltynewicz allowed only three hits, didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven during an 83-pitch outing that kept the Cardinals from mounting any semblance of offense. They only got one runner as far as second base against him — and that was in the second when Yadier Molina singled and Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies extended the inning by misplaying Paul DeJong’s grounder.
No problem for Foltynewicz. He fanned Harrison Bader to end the threat.
After Kolten Wong hit into a double play to end the seventh, Duvall emerged from the dugout to hit for Foltynewicz in the bottom half. With a runner aboard and two outs, Duvall was greeted by a smattering of boos from the SunTrust Park crowd that clearly wanted Foltynewicz to go at least one more inning — especially after the Braves bullpen imploded the night before in a Game 1 loss.
The heckles turned to cheers when Duvall drove a 3-2 pitch from Flaherty into the center-field seats, giving the Braves a bit of breathing room. Duvall spent nearly the entire season at Triple A, where he set a franchise record with 32 homers, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this as much a victory for the Gwinnett Stripers as the Braves.
Max Fried, normally a starter and pitching on back-to-back days for the first time all season, breezed through the eighth before turning it over to Mark Melancon, who gave up four runs in the ninth inning of the series opener, sending the Braves to a 7-6 loss.
It was another shaky outing for Melancon, who gave up a pair of one-out singles before striking out Molina and Wong to earn the save.
But this one will be remembered for Foltynewicz outdueling Flaherty, who had surrendered three runs only one time in 15 second-half starts.