Braves make it two straight over Blue Jays
Starter Estrada struggles over 6 innings
Somebody forgot to tell the Toronto Blue Jays that the Atlanta Braves are not a very good team.
The Braves cruised into the Rogers Centre on Monday with a 13-21 record and won the first two games of a four game, home and away series against Toronto.
After downing Toronto 10- 6 on Monday, the Braves, third in the National League East, feasted on Jays’ pitching again on Tuesday, beating the Jays 9-5.
Toronto starter Marco Estrada struggled off the start, giving up two runs on four hits and throwing 34 pitches in the first inning and was inconsistent all day. He went six innings, giving up eight hits and five runs while striking out five.
The loss ruined a great day at the plate by Kevin Pillar ( a double and home run) and Devon Travis ( two doubles). Justin Smoak walked three times.
In the first, after giving up his fourth hit of the inning, a single by Nick Markakis, Estrada was visited on the mound by Jays pitching coach Pete Walker. Estrada promptly got Tyler Flowers and Danny Santana to fly out to left.
The Braves added to their l ead in the fourth when Jace Peterson slapped a single to right with Flowers on second. Jose Bautista came up with the ball and attempted to nail Flowers at home, but the ball went wide, allowing Peterson to move to third. Bautista was hit with an error on the play. It didn’t appear that Bautista had much of a chance to get Flowers at home. The better play was probably to keep Peterson at first but the errant throw cost the Jays a run.
Atlanta starter Jaime Garcia didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning when lead off hitter Kevin Pillar stroked a double to left. Travis, who l eads the Major Leagues with 12 doubles in May, was up to his old tricks in the fourth, smashing a double to the gap in left centre with two out to score Kevin Pillar and Justin Smoak. In the same inning, the Jays pulled off a double steal with Tra- vis and Darwin Barney going to third and second. But Ezequiel Carrera struck out to end the inning.
Estrada coughed up those two runs in the top of the fifth. Brandon Phillips, who is 11- for-28 against Estrada in his career, hit his second double of the game and Freddie Freeman followed that up with a two-run home run to centre.
Pillar responded in the bottom of the fifth with a two- out, line- drive home run to left centre, putting the score at 5-3.
The Jays tied it 5- 5 in the sixth. After striking out Kendrys Morales and walking Smoak, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker pulled Garcia, a left- hander, for hard throwing right- hander Jose Ramirez, who gave up a double to Travis, followed by a single by Barney ( on a 99 MPH fastball), which scored Smoak. Carrera hit a grounder to second to score Travis from third. But all of that energy quickly deflated in the top of the seventh when Braves’ short stop Dansby Swanson, greeted Toronto reliever Danny Barnes with a home run to centre, putting Atlanta ahead 6-5. Later in the inning, Jays’ catcher Luke Maile threw out Freeman on an attempt to steal second. Freeman came off the bag and Travis applied the tag. Mailer has now thrown out three of seven attempted base stealers for Toronto.
Smoak made a tremendous play in the eighth to save two more Atlanta runs from scoring, diving to his right to scoop up a Peterson smash and dishing the ball to pitcher Ryan Tepera at first to get the diving Peterson. The Braves called for a review on the play but the original call stood.
Toronto had a great chance to add runs in the eighth. Morales opened the inning with a single off reliever Arodys Vizcaino, and was pulled for pinch runner Darrell Ceciliani, who moved to second on a wild pitch. Vizcaino walked Smoak. With two on and none out, Travis struck out and Barney hit a hot smash to Phillips at second, who turned it into a double-play.
Toronto manager John Gibbons elected to bring in closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth with two out and two on. Osuna gave up a double to Matt Kemp to score both runners, giving the Braves a two- run cushion. The big right- hander then gave up a single to Markakis to score Kemp, making it 9-5.