Braves Withstand Rain, Pen for 6-5 Win

Written by: David Lee on 11th April 2009

Braves Withstand Rain, Pen for 6-5 Win | read this item

After two blown leads by the bullpen, the Braves offense bailed them out twice, the second time coming in extra innings. Kelly Johnson drove in the winning run in the tenth for a 6-5 win.

The Nationals started the scoring in the third with an RBI double by Ryan Zimmerman, but the lead didn’t last long for them. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run home run in the home half of the third for a one-run Atlanta lead. Brian McCann added a sac fly RBI in the fifth for a two-run lead.

After a rain delay prevented Derek Lowe from continuing his outing, the Braves hit a snag in the sixth with the bullpen. Buddy Carlyle ran into trouble, allowing a run on a Cristian Guzman RBI single to begin the inning. Peter Moylan relieved him and gave up an RBI double to Ryan Zimmerman. Eric O’ Flaherty relieved him and gave up an RBI single to Adam Dunn that tied the game at four.

The Braves took the lead back in the seventh on an RBI single by Jeff Francoeur. The lead remained one until the ninth, when Lastings Milledge drove in a run on an infield single with two outs to tie the game at five. But again, the Braves bailed out the bullpen in the tenth when Jordan Schafer singled, advanced to second, and scored on a single by Johnson for the win.

Lowe allowed one run on four hits in three innings, walking two and striking out six. After the delay, Carlyle relieved Lowe and pitched two and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Moylan was charged with one run while not recording an out. Jeff Bennett pitched a scoreless inning. Rafael Soriano was the lone reliever to pitch a perfect inning, doing so in the eighth. Mike Gonzalez blew the lead in the ninth, giving up the tying run on three hits. Jorge Campillo earned the win with a scoreless tenth.

Escobar led the offense with three hits, a homer, and three RBI. Brian McCann picked up three doubles and an RBI. Johnson added three hits and an RBI. Francoeur also had an RBI. Schafer added two hits and scored the winning run.

Shairon Martis allowed three runs on five hits in three innings, walking one and striking out one. Wil Ledezma allowed a run in an inning and two-thirds. Saul Rivera allowed a run on four hits in two innings. Joe Beimel was tagged with the loss after giving up the winning run in the tenth.

Kenshin Kawakami makes his Major League debut Saturday night against John Lannan. Game time is 7:00.

Thoughts: Not quite sure what’s up with the pen, but it’s driving me insane already. Two blown leads following the debacle on Wednesday is enough for concern. It’s too early for a rant but I certainly don’t like what’s happening.

Chipper Jones returned to the lineup and went 1-4 with a walk and strikeout. Garret Anderson continues to be sidelined but is able to come off the bench when needed.

Game MVP: Kelly Johnson

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Topics: adam dunn, brian mccann, chipper jones, Ryan Zimmerman, yunel escobar