Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Game of the Day (7/21/14)

Marlins 3, Braves 1 (10). The two starters in this one entered the game with very similar levels of experience; the matchup was between Atlanta's outstanding youngster Julio Teheran and Miami's pretty OK kind-of-young Tom Koehler.

Both starters were perfect in the first, and Teheran worked a 1-2-3 second as well. Atlanta scored the game's first run in the bottom of the second when Justin Upton and Jason Heyward singled, with Upton going to third and Heyward taking second on a Giancarlo Stanton throwing error. One out later, Chris Johnson grounded out to bring Upton home.

The starters kept the bases clear in the third, so Christian Yelich's leadoff single in the fourth made him the first Marlin to reach; Teheran didn't allow him to make it to scoring position. Heyward and Evan Gattis both singled with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Johnson flied out to leave them at the corners.

With two outs in the fifth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered to tie the game. After a flawless bottom of the inning from Koehler, Teheran worked around a Jordany Valdespin double in the sixth. An Upton single, a Heyward ROE (courtesy of Adeiny Hechevarria), and a Gattis walk loaded the bases with two outs in the home sixth, but Johnson struck out to strand all three runners. Casey McGehee and Marcell Ozuna both singled in the seventh, but Teheran struck out the last two Marlins to prevent further advancement. Koehler walked Andrelton Simmons to start the bottom of the inning; Jordan Schafer bunted into a force but then stole second and moved to third on a flyout. Mike Dunn replaced Koehler and coaxed a Tommy La Stella groundout to end the inning.

Jordan Walden supplanted Teheran in the eighth; he allowed a single to Yelich and wild pitched him to second before leaving him there. AJ Ramos retired the Braves in order in the home half of the inning. Craig Kimbrel took the mound in the top of the ninth, and began his outing with something less than his customary effectiveness; he walked McGehee, gave up a single to Garrett Jones, and walked Ozuna to load the bases with nobody out. But the incredibly long-named pairing of Saltalamacchia and Hechevarria both struck out, and Donovan Solano lined to second to extinguish a potent threat. Simmons doubled off of Bryan Morris with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but was left on when BJ Upton flied to right.

Shae Simmons relieved in the top of the tenth and allowed a leadoff hit to Yelich. Valdespin bunted the runner to second, and Stanton was intentionally walked behind him. McGehee then drew a walk as well, loading the bases, and Jones followed with a tiebreaking two-run single to give the Marlins their first lead of the day. Anthony Varvaro relieved and stopped the bleeding, but Steve Cishek retired the Braves in order in the bottom of the tenth to finish off the game.

Through regulation, the teams were a combined 0 for 15 with runners in scoring position. The Marlins then got a hit in the first RISP chance either team had in extras. That, I believe, is what is generally referred to as "regression to the mean."

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