The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Off to big start in new home
Inciarte gets first hit, first run, rips two-run home run at SunTrust.
No Braves player was more excited last week about getting back to Atlanta and opening the new ballpark than center fielder Ender Inciarte. He said after his two-homer game in a win at Miami on Wednesday he hoped that would be a momentum-changer for the Braves before Friday’s home opener at SunTrust Park, which he said “is beautiful and hopefully it’s going to be a really positive ballpark for us.”
Inciarte hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to help assure the home opener was a positive experience for the Braves and a standing-room-only crowd of 41,149, who watched the home team pick up a 5-2 win against the San Diego Padres in the first of a four-game series and seven-game homestand.
Inciarte cornered the market on firsts at the new ballpark, getting the first hit and scoring the first run after catching a fly ball for the first out. He helped Julio Teheran get the first win at SunTrust Park on a night when the Braves’ No. 1 starter labored for much of his six innings, but made plenty of big pitches when he needed them most. Teheran (1-0) was charged with five hits, two runs and four walks with five strikeouts and had the winning RBI.
Inciarte’s three homers in the past two games match his total from his entire first season with the Braves in 2016, when the Gold Glove winner hit .291 with a .351 OBP and three homers in 578 plate appearances.
After the first four batters in the bottom of the first inning had been to the plate, the Braves already had their first hit, their first two runs and first two extrabase hits at their new ballpark, including Nick Markakis’ two-run double that provided a 2-0 lead for Teheran.
Freddie Freeman’s double was the first extra-base hit.
This was unusual ground for Teheran, the hard-luck pitcher who had but seven wins to go with a 3.21 ERA in an All-Star season in 2016 and entered Friday with no decisions and two team losses in two starts this season despite allowing no earned runs.
Perhaps he was so surprised to have a lead before his second inning, he forgot how to act. Teheran gave the lead back right away.
He walked the first batter in the second inning, then induced a double-play grounder before hitting No. 7 hitter Erick Aybar with a pitch. Three consecutive singles followed, including run-scoring hits by pitcher Jhoulys Chacin and Manuel Margot, who was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the inning.
Teheran also gave up a leadoff walk and a single to start the third inning, but worked out of that trouble with a double-play grounder and a strikeout to start a solid run of pitching for the Braves’ four-time opening-day starter. He got nine outs in a span of nine batters before hitting Yangervis Solarte with a pitch to start the sixth inning, then walking Ryan Schimpf.
With his pitch count already near 100, Teheran again worked out of a tight spot by getting the next three batters on a line out, a fly out and a strikeout of Austin Hedges, after which Teheran gave a little pump of the arm to show his excitement before walking off the field. He threw 66 strikes in 105 pitches.
Chacin had a 5.40 ERA and one win in five starts for the Braves in 2016 before he was traded to the Angels on May 11.
To understand how severe is the Padres’ current rebuilding project, consider that Chacin was their opening-day starter this season.
He was rocked for a careerhigh nine runs in 3⅔ innings in an opening loss at Dodger Stadium, then had a stunning bounce-back game when he outpitched Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in Chacin’s second start, working 6⅔ scoreless innings and allowing just three hits.
Braves left fielder Matt Kemp said he plans to return from injury Wednesday, the first day he’s eligible to be activated from the 10-day disabled list. He said he doesn’t need a rehabilitation stint in the minor leagues for his right hamstring injury.
“No, I’m ready,” Kemp said Friday. “I will be ready. Mentally, I am staying focused in the cage and doing what I need to do, what I need to help my team win as many games as we can.”
The Braves placed Kemp on the disabled list retroactive to April 8, two days after he left a game in Pittsburgh early because of what the team said was hamstring tightness. Kemp said he felt “pretty good” while running the bases before the home opener Friday.
Kemp, 32, has played in 16 minor league games on rehabilitation assignments since becoming a full-time major leaguer in 2008. He played eight games in the Dodgers’ farm system following DL stints in 2012 and 2013.
“If I felt like I needed to get some at-bats down there, I would,” Kemp said. “But I’ve been doing this for a while, so I know when I’m ready and when I’m not.”
At the time of his injury Kemp was 8 for 16 with six extra-base hits, including two homers and four doubles. Through eight games Kemp led the Braves in slugging percentage (1.125) and was tied for the team lead with four RBIs.
Reliever promoted: The Braves recalled right-hander Luke Jackson from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday and put him in the bullpen for the home opener against the Padres.
The Braves optioned Jackson to Gwinnett late in spring training. Jackson, 25, started for the G-Braves on Monday and allowed three earned runs over 4⅓ innings with six strikeouts and one walk.
“He threw the ball really well, actually, so it kind of worked out with a couple of days (rest),” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s gassed up and ready to go.”
To make room on the roster for Jackson, the Braves sent Jason Hursh back to Gwinnett. The Braves promoted Hursh on Wednesday after placing righthander Chaz Roe (upper back) on the 10-day disabled list.
No concern for Swanson: Dansby Swanson came back from the Braves’ eight-game season-opening trip lugging a .167 batting average in 36 at-bats and a .211 on-base percentage, with more than four times as many strikeouts (nine) as walks (two) and with his only home run Sunday at Pittsburgh.
But the Braves and their young shortstop weren’t concerned at all, since Swanson — he was 1 for 8 in two games at Miami — hit plenty of balls hard but right at fielders on the opening trip, and he wasn’t letting it affect him mentally. No frustration from the rookie sensation.
“Obviously we wish our record was better, but we feel confident with where we’re at,” Swanson said, speaking for himself and the team. “It’s not like we’re just getting our doors blown off every time we go out there and we’re overmatched. We’re playing hard, playing the game the right way, just the breaks haven’t gone our way”
Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said a slow — or hot — start for a team or a player is always magnified since it comes at the beginning of the season.
“I always say until that 100 at-bat mark comes around, it’s like, let’s just settle in,” Seitzer said. “Get accustomed to the pitching we’re going to see, keep making adjustments where we need to, and just keep trying to keep what I call the Nick Markakis flat line, where you’re the same guy whether you’re hitting or not hitting.”