BOSTON — The second-guessing started when Rafael Montero was requested to guard a two-run lead within the eighth inning of Saturday night time’s sport towards the Crimson Sox at Fenway Park. The reason was offered as Braves supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned three of his prime relievers had been unavailable throughout what grew to become a troublesome 7-6 loss.
“We had been staying away from a bunch of fellows and we had been simply hoping to get via it someway,” Snitker mentioned.
With nearer Raisel Iglesias, prime setup man Daysbel Hernández and prime lefty Dylan Lee unavailable except completely vital, Pierce Johnson was requested to scrub up Montero’s eighth-inning mess. He surrendered a game-tying two-run single after which allowed Rafael Devers to steer off the underside of the ninth with a walk-off homer.
“I hung a curveball to their greatest hitter,” Johnson mentioned. “No person is attempting to do this.”
Devers’ homer ended what had the makings of being a great night time for the Braves. Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna homered in back-to-back trend within the first inning, and rookie catcher Drake Baldwin additional bruised Crimson Sox starter Lucas Giolito with a two-run homer within the third. This offered cushion for Grant Holmes, who restricted his harm to 2 runs over six innings.
It appeared just like the Braves had been going to maneuver two video games above .500 for the primary time this yr, till it didn’t. This was day 16 of a 17-day stretch of video games. The Braves haven’t gained or misplaced a sport by greater than three runs since Might 5. So their major relievers have been ceaselessly used over these previous two weeks.
“All people’s finished an awesome job via this lengthy stretch,” Johnson mentioned. “You understand, folks have thrown a number of days in a row. Dylan has been used like a workhorse. Iggy and Daysbel too.”
The Braves weren’t going to ask Iglesias to pitch a 3rd straight day after notching saves on Thursday and Friday. Hernández threw 23 pitches on Friday. He hasn’t been used on consecutive days since April 9. As for Lee, it wasn’t revealed why he wasn’t out there. The lefty threw eight pitches on Monday, and 13 on each Tuesday and Thursday.
“We had a few video games the place we acquired [Hernández] sizzling and didn’t use him,” Snitker mentioned. “We have a look at that complete factor so far as for the long run. We’ve been taking part in so many shut video games, these guys have been getting up quite a bit.”
So the Braves handed a four-run seventh-inning result in Aaron Bummer, whose anticipated statistics haven’t mirrored his precise stats since he joined Atlanta final yr. The lefty surrendered a Ceddanne Rafaela double that raced previous the third-base bag and a Devers opposite-field single.
Alex Verdugo’s ill-advised late throw to the plate allowed Devers to achieve second on the play and jog house on Alex Bregman’s double off Enyel De Los Santos.
De Los Santos recovered to retire the subsequent two batters. However when the eighth inning started the Braves handed the ball to Montero, who has at the least proven some indicators of encouragement because the Astros primarily gave him to Atlanta in April.
Montero entered the day having surrendered a .467 OPS over his previous seven appearances. However he had solely been requested to guard a slim lead within the eighth inning or later twice throughout this stretch. He protected a one-run ninth-inning lead in a Might 6 win over the Reds, and he allowed an eighth-inning run whereas attempting to guard a two-run lead towards the Pirates on Might 10.
Every of the three balls put in play towards Montero on Saturday had an exit velocity of 102 mph or greater. So it appears protected to imagine he gained’t be comfortably given any high-leverage conditions any time quickly.
“There’s going to be days and spurts and issues like that the place it does not occur,” Snitker mentioned. “You wish to get on a roll and also you need everyone to be excellent, however they cannot be.”
