Atlanta Braves beat Boston Red Sox 4-1 as Jair Jurrjens shines on comeback - MLB Update
Starter Jair Jurrjens makes strong comeback to the season as he helps the Atlanta Braves defeat the Boston Red Sox 4-1, at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts on June 22, 2012, in first game of the three match series.
Continuing from the hitting fireworks they demonstrated in the last game, Braves struck 13 hits on Friday. It seems, their hitters have regained the momentum which was lost midway after it peaked at start of the season.
Game did not see customary home-runs from the Braves. It was more like a show of typical run-production techniques.
Short-stop Andrelton Simmons was the stand-out pick from their line-up.
Manipulating the pitch for a sacrifice fly, he substantiated Atlanta lead in the sixth. Before this, in the fourth, he struck a double, which led Jason Heyward to reach home plate.
He managed one hit in three at-bats as he contributed two RBIs.
Largely the Braves owe victory to their pitchers, in particular the starter.
Jurrjens, who was withdrawn from the season earlier for continuous failures on the mound, asserted his significance in rotation. In little more than seven innings, he struck-out four and gave up one run.
The fact Atlanta drew a splendid show from their starter; task was made easier for the closer, Craig Kimbrel. Claiming his 21st save of the season, Kimbrel threw a scoreless ninth.
Atlanta suffered a great setback by the time news about Brandon Beachy’s injury had surfaced.
Since the surgery he has gone through now has put halt to his time in the season, the Braves are without a quality hurler.
In this respect, assertion Jurrjens made in the game for filling the void is great for Atlanta.
Given the kind of career record he possesses, he can rightly neutralise the impact, which was to be suffered with the absence of Beachy.
Winning first match of the series is always great. Keeping the momentum up will be easier now.
Solid performance coming off from Jurrjens on Friday can serve as an inspiration for rest of the starters on rotation.
The Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez will love to see dominant spell of innings from starters in upcoming games.
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