Atlanta bullpen must get better
With the Atlanta Braves’ three-game sweep of the Cardinals just completed Sunday afternoon in St. Louis, Braves announcer Chip Caray turned to sidekick Joe Simpson and said of the start of tonight’s three-game series at Yankee Stadium in New York, “This should be fun.”
If he’s right, if the Peachtree Pounders can win at least of two of three from the Bronx Bombers, Braves Nation might be justified to dream bigger dreams for this fall than merely reaching the playoffs. Their heroes just might make it all the way to the World Series.
And this certainly has the look of a Fall Classic played in July. Atlanta will enter Yankee Stadium with the best road record in the National League (2517). The Yanks arrived at their home park for Sunday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox with the best home record (30-12) in the majors.
The pitching matchup isn’t bad, either. Anibal Sanchez — who owns a 4-1 record and a 3.79 ERA in six career starts against New York — will challenge the Pinstripers’ Jonathan Loaisiga, who is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA this season.
Then there’s that run
differential thing. Heading into the Boston game, the Yankees were third in the majors at plus-101, and the Braves were fifth at plus-82.
Finally, if you’re old enough to remember the 1996 World Series, you know that Fall Classic between the Braves and the Yankees likely reversed the fortunes of each franchise for at least a decade.
Up 2-0 in that best-ofseven series leaving New York, Atlanta seemed destined to not only repeat its 1995 title but possibly begin a dynastic run built on All-Star starting pitching and timely hitting. Instead, the Yanks won three straight in the Big Peach, none more stunning than their climb from a 6-0 hole in Game 4 to win 8-6 in extra innings. The key blow in that game was a threerun homer in the eighth by New York reserve Jim Leyritz.
It was the second-biggest comeback in World Series history.
The Braves were devastated. They lost the next game at home, the game after that in New York, and any talk of a dynasty was done. They haven’t won a World Series game since, having dropped eight in a row. The Yankees have won four more world championships.
That was 22 years ago, of course. The rosters have changed. The stadiums are different. In the Braves’ case, they’re actually on their second ballpark — that World Series was played in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
But something intangible changed for both clubs that October. The Braves began to play like a team expecting to lose once the playoffs began. The Yankees got their old swagger back, seemingly shocked anytime they didn’t win it all. Thus it was no surprise that when the two met in the 1999 World Series, it was a New York sweep.
And it could be a sweep this time around for the Yanks. Especially if Atlanta can’t improve the performance of its middle relievers, who turned a 6-0 lead against the Cardinals on Sunday into a needless nailbiter of a 6-5 win.
Said a surprisingly critical Simpson regarding the bullpen on the postgame show: “Between the fifth and the eighth inning, somebody’s got to step up, or they’ve got to go out and get somebody else.”
He’s right, though. And this three-game sweep of the Cards was a microcosm of the entire season regarding that bullpen, but especially of late. Saturday’s 11-4 win included the Redbirds scoring all four of their runs in the ninth. St. Looie’s lone run in a 5-1 loss Friday also came in the ninth.
Yes, the Braves have been without injured closer Arodys Vizcaino. And, yes, when you have the best record in the National League (48-34), you’re doing something right. But while the starters have produced an NL-best ERA of 3.31, the bullpen keeps struggling, which is a little like the Atlanta bullpen did in that ’96 World Series loss to the Yanks.
Still, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman crushed his 16th homer of the season — but first in two weeks — on Sunday. Starter Mike Foltynewicz lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.02 with five scoreless innings while striking out nine batters. A.J. Minter earned his third save in as many chances, and he has not allowed a run in seven straight appearances.
So there’s certainly more to like than dislike, whatever the bullpen situation. And assuming Vizcaino is ready to return to closing, Minter looks more than ready to become an eighth-inning wonder.
Besides, the Braves arrived in St. Louis having lost five of seven. Now they go to New York having won three straight.
“This was a wellplayed series,” Braves skipper Brian Snitker said. “Coming off a tough homestand, it was good to get three here.”
But if they expect to keep playing well, if they expect to become good enough to possibly meet the Yankees again come October, they’ve got to have somebody in the bullpen step up on a consistent basis in the fifth through eighth innings, or they’ve got to add somebody who can.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfree press.com.