ATLANTA -- As Braves manager Brian Snitker evaluated the two-run deficit he faced entering the sixth inning of Friday night's 11-5 loss to the Rockies at SunTrust Park, he felt fine sending Sean Newcomb out to face the bottom of Colorado's lineup with just 85 pitches under his belt.
But instead of having a reliever available when Newcomb encountered almost immediate trouble, Snitker allowed his left-hander to battle through some misfortune and ultimately realize his fourth matchup of the night against Charlie Blackmon would not end in a result as favorable as the previous three.
"He had pitched [Blackmon] pretty good," Snitker said. "Rather than bring somebody out of the bullpen again, I was thinking we're down in the game and hoping to leave him out there and he could get him again."
Newcomb had been allowed to face a hitter for a fourth time in a game just once previously this year. But the Braves were hesitant to dip into their bullpen and hopeful Blackmon would fare much like he had when he had struck out in the third and the fourth. But the changeup that had concluded the second of those strikeouts was not as effective in the sixth, when the Rockies center fielder extended Colorado's lead to 6-1 with a two-run triple that bounced past first base on the way to the right-field corner.
"Just being a lefty, I thought I was more likely to face [Blackmon]," Newcomb said. "I was ready to get him. I thought I made some good pitches. It was just a good hitter, who hit a good changeup down the line."
Once the dust settled at the end of evening, during which utility man Charlie Culberson's first career relief appearance was much more impressive than the latest provided by Kolby Allard, the Braves were staring at a second consecutive loss, both of which have been influenced by the need or desire to protect bullpen assets. Their one-run, ninth-inning lead in Thursday's loss to the Rockies evaporated as Brad Brach handled the closing duties because closer A.J. Minter, Jesse Biddle and Jonny Venters were all unavailable.
"You've got to look a day or two ahead when you're doing all this," Snitker said. "Your starter is out there and he's probably on his last leg. He's one guy away and you hope he can get that last out."
The Braves' bullpen did not begin stirring until Chris Iannetta delivered a one-out single that scored Ian Desmond, who had singled and stolen second base. Rockies starter Kyle Freeland then further frustrated Newcomb with a sacrifice bunt attempt placed well enough to result in an infield single. This set the stage for Blackmon.
"I was just hoping where we were, he could get through that sixth," Snitker said. "But it was just kind of a rough night for him."
Before doubling down in the sixth, the Braves seemed fortunate to get five innings from Newcomb, who escaped a second-inning, bases-loaded threat unscathed and then allowed Desmond to produce a three-run triple against a changeup at the knees in the third inning.
Newcomb followed his 134-pitch near no-hitter against the Dodgers with a strong six-inning effort during an Aug. 7 win over the Nationals. But he allowed a season-high 12 hits against the Brewers on Sunday and then was charged with a season-high seven earned runs over 5 1/3 innings during this matchup against the Rockies.
"I honestly felt pretty good today," Newcomb said. "It seemed like they were hitting balls hard right at people and then hitting balls soft for hits. I was pretty happy with the way I was delivering pitches, but obviously not the outcome."
Ronald Acuna Jr. was awarded an infield single in the first before scoring on a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly that accounted for the only run allowed over six innings by Freeland, who has a 2.20 ERA over his past 12 starts.
Dansby Swanson scored Adam Duvall with a seventh-inning double and the Braves tallied three in the ninth. But by that time, they were a long way from their two-run, sixth-inning deficit that further became a distant memory once Allard provided further indication he's not ready to take the big leagues by storm by allowing three eighth-inning runs in his latest shaky appearance.
Culberson showed why the Yankees were at least interested in drafting him as a pitcher before the Giants took him as a shortstop with the 51st pick in the 2007 MLB Draft. Pitching for the first time since high school, the Braves' utility man hit as high as 93.7 mph with his fastball, as he allowed just one run in the ninth inning. He joined Jonny Gomes (Aug. 28, 2015) as the only position players to pitch for Atlanta dating back to 1990.
"If my arm was in better shape, I know I could get more," Culberson said. "I love to pitch. That's something that even though I haven't done it for a long time, maybe one day it would be cool to give it a go as a two-way guy. I've always joked around about it. No, I'll leave it at that tonight with one outing. It was fun."
Mike Foltynewicz will attempt to complete his second strong start of the homestand during Saturday's 7:10 p.m. ET game against the Rockies. Foltynewicz limited the Marlins to one run over eight innings Monday and enters this start having allowed two earned runs or fewer in 18 of his 23 starts. Colorado will counter with Antonio Senzatela, who has a 3.60 ERA in five starts this year.
The Twins are adding one of the top shortstops on the international market to their Minor League system.
The club has agreed to a deal worth an estimated $3 million with Jelfry Marte of the Dominican Republic, according to industry sources. Marte, who is ranked No. 3 on MLBPipline.com's Top 30 International Prospects list, is a good runner with quick hands, a strong arm and the defensive tools that could make him a future everyday shortstop in the big leagues.
The Twins have not confirmed the deal, as it's pending a physical. But speaking in general terms, vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff said the organization can never have too many young shortstops, even after taking Royce Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft.
"Middle of the diamond players is our objective both in the Draft and internationally, no doubt," Radcliff said. "That'll be our focus forever to try to find those guys."
At the plate, Marte makes consistent hard contact from both sides of the plate. He has shown good bat speed and a solid hitting approach. He is a line-drive hitter now, but could develop some pop as he grows and his body matures.
According to the new rules established by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, every team will get at least $4.75 million to spend on international prospects. Any team receiving a Competitive Balance Round A pick in the Draft will get $5.25 million in international bonus pool money. Additionally, teams receiving a Competitive Balance Round B pick will have $5.75 million to spend.
Prince Fielder is off to a great start and one GM predicts that he'll be one of the most interesting free agents of all-time. The GM says that Fielder runs hard and is more athletic than most people think. He's about to turn 27 years old which means that he's about four-and-a-half years younger than Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols. A team like the Cubs could use Fielder against Pujols, saying that if he doesn't meet their price, they could sign Fielder instead.
The Marlins are second in the National League in ERA and first in bullpen ERA by a wide margin. Theyr'e going to have to keep winning with pitching as Hanley Ramirez is off to a slow start, Logan Morrison is out with an injured foot and Mike Stanton still hasn't found his form since coming back from a hamstring strain. Last week, Rosenthal pointed out the potential availability of Mark DeRosa and this week he says that the veteran would be a perfect fit in Florida.
The Yankees will soon face some decisions regarding their rotation. Kevin Millwood has an out in his contract if he's not in the majors by May 1st. The club might have better options such as Adam Warren and possibly Hector Noesi or David Phelps. In addition to those prospects, Carlos Silva is working his way back into shape and Phil Hughes is about to start a rehab assignment this week.
Miguel Tejada is off to a rough start in 2011 as he looks less-than-sharp in the field and is hitting just .209/.239/.328. The Giants don't have any great internal options at shortstop, so Rosenthal says to keep an eye on Jose Reyes, Marco Scutaro, J.J. Hardy as possible trade targets.
What a weak compliment by that GM there, considering if Prince Fielder was slower than what most people think then he wouldn’t actually be in motion.
Lol, if Pujols does end up going to Free Agency that whole ‘we’ll just sign Fielder instead’ thing won’t work. I say this because Pujols probably won’t want to be screwed around with, so he’ll just walk away and whatever team says that will likely lose their chance to sign him.
Exactly. The Cubs would have no leverage with a stupid statement like that, Pujols probably would be so offended at being compared to Fielder he would end all discussions, and what makes everyone think that the Cubs would get either of those two players? If anything the Cubs are the last place I would imagine those guys, Pujols first will give the Cards a legitimate chance to sign him, and if he becomes a FA I can think of 5 teams (Not Boston or New York) that would sign him over the Cubs, first would be the Angels as Kendrys Morales has had a rough time getting his leg to heal from jumping too hard, Seattle because Smoak is still a question mark and they want to build around Felix with offense, The Orioles because they will understand they are really falling behind the AL east and are a few pieces off, Atlanta because they are always a perfect dark horse team and Colorado because he could get maybe 40 home runs just at Coors.
Really? Wow. I had absolutely no idea they could do that. You might be ahead of all of us with your baseball knowledge.
Do the marlins have any young middle infielders that the giants could trade derosa for? Giants do need another starting pitcher with zito out and mad bum struggling
It is now obvious that Score Keepers and Umpires HATE the Detroit Tigers. Will we ever get a no hitter?
it was the 6th inning. penny has only pitched 4 complete games in his career. he hit 94 pitches in the 7th inning. no way in hell he was going to throw 9 innings.
Gallarraga’s perfecto still pisses me off, how cool would it of been to have three perfect games in a year? Jim Joyce and his stupid mustache blew the call and I hate how I know his name.
Even with Jed Lowrie’s hot start i don’t see the red sox trading Scutaro unless they have a player of equal ability in line to replace him.
A back up infielder who can play 2B-SS-3B at the same level as Scutaro, Im implying Lowrie is the starting SS not the back up.
Considering Scutaro’s production wouldn’t be that hard replace they have several options. Yamaico Navarro and Jose Iglesias are capable of handling the back-up role or taking over starting if need be (in case Jed gets injured). Also Pedroia could potentially go back to ss for a bit if absolutely necessary. There are plenty of ss and 2nd basemen who can be had for cheap with similar production to Scutaro, especially once certain teams come back down to earth.
It’s hard to say for sure because he barely got a taste of the majors last year, but Navarro looks like he could potentially be a superior player to Scutaro.
Oscar Tejada didn’t look too far off from the majors and I forget if Linares was an infielder or an outfielder but he was good too.
Linares is an outfielder, but yeah he looks like a pretty good player. Tejeda has looked good so far this year, and he started showing good stuff last year, but he’s just started playing 2B and is only 21 in his first taste of AA, so I doubt he gets called up anytime before September, if even then. They are also not quite sold yet on his defense, so there is talk that he may end up in the outfield.
Agreed. I think if Scutaro is traded, Navarro will get the job. He plenty good enough for a major league utility role. I’d like to see Iglasias continue to work on his hitting at Pawtucket for now.
Yeah I’d much rather see Iglesias stay in AAA for the year, and then maybe get called up in September. But if he needs to be called up, you don’t have to twist my arm on it. He couldn’t do any worse than what Scutaro is doing so far offensively while playing much superior defense.
“And they have a guy that can replace Jed, its me Jose Iglesias, don’t tell me you forgot about me.”
I’ve been saying for a while that Prince will go to the Cubs. He’d be a monster in that park and the fans would love him. As an added bonus, he’d face off the the Brewers every year. Marketing gold.
They’re going to have to “keep winning with pitching”? Hanley Ramirez is *never* going to hit? Ever? Never ever? Really?
With his value at an all time low, I wonder if Theo has been calling the Marlins about his availability…..
Right now it’s more the fact that they’ve graduated all their stars to the big club. They scout too well to not reload the system soon, but for the time being, that’s one barren system
He isn’t? Paint me surprised, next you will tell me he is a terrible talent analyst and his trade proposals and rumors are ridiculous……