Braves, Mets hot in NL East
Apr 16, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher
Julio Teheran, left and Atlanta Braves catcher
Evan Gattiscelebrate final out against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves defeated the Phillies, 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
With multiple interdivision match ups in the NL East this week, teams are beating up on each other and getting an early taste of what’s in store for the rest of the season. The Braves and Mets are hot, while the Marlins haven’t figured things out recently. Here’s a midweek breakdown of how those teams, as well as the Nationals and Phillies are faring.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves are winners of five in a row and seven of their last ten. They won their fourth series of the season after a 1-0 win over the Phillies Wednesday night. Evan Gattis was a perfect 4-4 with the game-winning home run in the fourth inning. Julio Teheran went the distance and gave up only three hits with four strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the year.
Gattis has been on a tear of late hitting .556 the past week with three home runs. The long ball has come often for the Braves who have multiple home runs from five players. Not surprisingly, one of those players is second baseman Dan Uggla, who belted a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning on Monday night.
Teheran has lived up the hype of being the opening day starter and ace so far. He has a 1.93 ERA and an opponent BA of .228. The more surprising Atlanta pitcher has to be Aaron Harang, who has a 0.96 ERA with opponents hitting only .145. Who has an even lower earned run average than both of those guys? That would be Ervin Santana. He sits at 0.64 through two starts and has made his one year deal look like a bargain right now.
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Miami Marlins
Miami is 1-9 in its last ten games; that is never good and something a young team does not want to see happen too often. The good news is that the Marlins did find a way to beat Stephen Strasburg. They scored six runs on eight hits in only four innings off the former number one draft pick on Tuesday night. Wednesday was back to the losing ways as Miami lost its fifth game in six tries against Washington.
Left fielder Christian Yelich leads the team over the past week with a .345 batting average. He has found success right away this season for the last place Marlins and could command a long-term contract next off-season if Miami wants to try lock him up alongside Giancarlo Stanton. Speaking of Stanton, he is still crushing the baseball and hit a moonshot that traveled an estimated 457 feet off of Strasburg. He is the leader of the ball club and for good reason.
Despite a 10-strikeout performance Wednesday, Jose Fernandez still took the loss for the Marlins. He allowed three runs, none of them earned, and four hits. That was not enough as he had little run support against Washington. Tom Koehler has been hot for the Marlins recently, going 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA and an opponent BA of .140 in two starts. Miami may not be giving up many home runs defensively, but they are giving up too many hits, walks, and runs. They need to buckle down on the mound and keep the team close if they need to rely on Stanton’s power late in games.
Apr 16, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Mets pitcher
Daisuke Matsuzakaprior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets
Daisuke Matsuzaka is back in the Major Leagues. The former Red Sox was recalled, or promoted to sound more positive, prior to the game Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. Matsuzaka will work out of the bullpen and could be a replacement starter for Bartolo Colon or Jenrry Mejia.
The more intriguing news in New York is that the Mets swept Arizona on the road. Granted, the D-backs are a lowly 4-14 on the season, three wins is three wins. You take W’s whenever you can get them. The Mets took advantage of their opponent; they held them to five runs in the three-game series while scoring 21 of their own. New York will have a tougher test starting Friday when they host the Braves.
The outfield has seen plenty of injuries early on this season. Chris Young has missed time, Curtis Granderson skipped playing time after a collision with the wall at Chase Field, and Juan Lagares recently appeared on the disabled list and not on the active roster. This comes as a blow to the lineup since Lagares was the team’s leading hitter.
New York’s hitting woes were not seen in Arizona, but their numbers on the season still are down. Rookie Travis d’Arnaud sits at .154 with only two RBI. Said by some to be a ROY candidate, he is not playing up to his potential as a top prospect. Shortstop Ruben Tejada has been struggling as expected, but the fact that it was expected is what makes it even worse. He is batting .186 with three RBI and no home runs. It may be time to consider other long-term options at that position.
Apr 16, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher
Cliff Leethrows a pitch during first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia Phillies
Cliff Lee had 13 strikeouts and gave up only one run Wednesday night against the Braves. He went all nine innings and had an impressive outing. The problem is that his team didn’t give him any run support as the Phillies lost 1-0 to Atlanta. With games like that, it will be hard for Philadelphia to keep itself in contention as they are currently in fourth place.
The Phillies are 4-6 in their last ten games and have lost two in a row. They are two games under .500 but have a tougher road ahead if games go the way they did Monday and Wednesday. Monday, Philadelphia scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a one-run lead, only to have that lead erased by a grand slam from Dan Uggla as the Phils lost 9-6.
Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins have hit .440 and .348 respectively over the last week. Despite Lee giving up 19 hits in his last two starts, he has a 2.40 ERA over that span. Closer Jonathan Papelbon has rebounded from his walk-off walk to the Rangers a week ago to convert two of two save opportunities and has not allowed a run with only one hit over the past seven days.
Philadelphia ace Cole Hamels is scheduled to make a rehab start with Class A Clearwater in order for a possible return to the rotation next week. If Hamels pitches at the level that he can, and Lee continues to dominate on the mound as he has so far this season, the Phillies could find themselves in the midst of the division race with some added offense. As the old saying goes, you can’t win it if you’re not in it.
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Nationals
After getting blown out on Jackie Robinson Day 11-2 by Miami, the Nationals bounced back to win the series with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night. Washington ace Stephen Strasburg took a pounding the night before, but his team responding by handing Jose Fernandez a no-decision and getting a series-clinching victory. Rafael Soriano picked up his third save of the season and Drew Storen recorded his first win of the year in relief.
Bryce Harper has been on a tear as of late, hitting .524 over the last week but does not have a home run in that time frame. Shortstop Zach Powers is 2-4 with two solo home runs. That gives him a slugging percentage of 2.000, but those are his only four AB of the season as well. Do not expect him to keep up that pace whether or not he sees any increased playing time.
The Nationals take on the second-place St. Louis Cardinals to wrap up the week. They begin an 11-game home stand against the Cardinals, Angels, and Padres. Washington is a game and a half behind Atlanta for the NL East lead; they need to at least split with St. Louis and win the other two home series in order to keep pace with the division leader.