Atlanta Braves lose to St. Louis Cardinals 4-5 in Spring Training outing - MLB Update
Atlanta Braves pitchers continue their below par show as Jonny Venters leaked two runs in two innings to give St. Louis Cardinals a 4-5 win during their Spring Training Grapefruit League contest at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida on March 12, 2012.
Braves started off positively and until three innings they stood one run ahead. However following two quiet innings, Cardinals came down hard as they put two runs to take a one run lead. Slight resistance in the form of addition of one more run in ninth
inning by Braves was just short of surpassing Cardinals' lead as they still were one run ahead.
From day one, the greatest weak-link prevailing for the Braves is their low quality relievers and closer and inauspiciously for them, their opponents know how to exploit their loopholes. In one respect, today’s game was similar to that of last game for Braves
that as soon as their relievers appear on the mound, opposition will seize upon an opportunity to score runs and amass as many runs as possible.
Cardinals owe a lot to Kolten Wong in their win as he brought a winning single in the ninth while being under threat of two outs.
A troubling fact for both sides is high number of walks given in the play and total 19 walks came out in the game. Worse though came forth from Braves’ starter Brandon Beachy who alone awarded 12 walks.
"It was pretty terrible," Beachy said. "I was struggling to throw strikes at times. I was trying to make adjustments, and they are just not coming as quickly as I need them to."
First inning he pitched was amazing but in second he went awry and at the end of his third inning, he had five walks, two hits and one earned run while recording three strike-outs.
While Beachy had left the mound after a poor start, it was Braves’ closer Cory Gearrin who bore the brunt by being termed as responsible for loss at the end of play. Similarly, credit for the win went to Jason Motte, Cardinals’ closer.
As far as batters are concerned, Braves do not see much of a problem as players like Michael Bourn, Martin Prado has been impressive in the last couple of games. It is the pitching department that seeks attention and certainly they will be looking to improve
on this in their remaining Spring Training outings.
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