Not like this. Not like this.
A frustrating start to the season didn’t get any better for the Atlanta Braves. The Braves netted a whole two baserunners, and they never threatened. And the Padres continued beating up the bullpen, scoring 3 runs in 4 innings pitched between Jose Suarez and Hector Neris.
AJ Smith-Shawver had an okay start, going 4 innings while giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He struck out 4 and walked 3 more. His splitter was amazing, getting 10 whiffs on 14 swings, but his command was erratic, which made it difficult to get to the splitter. At times, it seemed like he was having a lot of success with the splitter, so that’s all he wanted to throw. But at some point, the Padres hitters figured out that he couldn’t get it in the zone, so they waited for the fastball and the curve/sweeper, which it seemed like AJSS didn’t want to throw for strikes.
No matter how he pitched, Nick Pivetta was everything the Padres could have hoped for. He wasn’t exactly dominant, but the Braves couldn’t muster anything off of him. He threw strikes with his bevy of pitches, so while he only got 8 whiffs on the evening, it didn’t matter because Atlanta wasn’t hitting him. Only 3 of the top 10 exit velocities came off the bats of Braves, and only 2 of them were off of Pivetta. Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada (I wish we had that guy) came in and dispatched Atlanta, with Estrada striking out the side on 13 pitches.
AJSS gave way to Jose Suarez, who actually looked okay. He got four Ks on the evening, but then came Hector Neris, who gave up two runs in the bottom of the 8th to eliminate any doubt that the Braves would come back in this one.
There’s not a lot to say about this one. Even when Atlanta got a runner on late, Marcell Ozuna got himself out on a baserunning mistake that ended the only meager threat Atlanta mustered on the evening.
Atlanta heads to (oh lord help us) Los Angeles to play the Dodgers for a three-game set starting tomorrow at 10:10 p.m. EST. The way baseball works, Atlanta is likely to walk out of there with two wins, but the way the season has started, it may be that they only come out of there with two runs. It’s been 22 innings since they scored.
