Paul Maholm gives up home run as Atlanta Braves lose to Pittsburgh Pirates 1-2 - MLB Update
Starter Paul Maholm allows a home-run in the fifth inning as Atlanta Braves are edged out by Pittsburgh Pirates 1-2 at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 1, 2012 in the first match of the three game series.
The run-draught prevailed all through the innings. Pitchers from both sides were incredible on the mound.
Maholm struggled to protect the impressive lead. He struck-out eight and completed seven innings. Except for the home-run that he surrendered, he was going perfectly in his quest for rattling the line-up of the opposition.
Paul will be disappointed as Atlanta provided him little run support. Just two hits from them in the game can hardly ensure a win for him. With the post-season around the corner, imperfection in any area can be damaging to their chances.
The defeat of the Braves in turn has made the Washington Nationals an automatic winner of the Division title. The opportunity to claim the title has now been missed by the Braves. There were chances that if the Braves won on Monday than they could have ended
up keeping the Nationals from clinching the crown and pulling off the title for themselves.
Centre fielder Michael Bourn and right fielder Jason Heyward were the two batters that produced a hit for Atlanta on Monday.
Braves’ third baseman Chipper Jones has commented on the defeat stating the need for performing well in the important matches ahead.
"It is what it is now," Jones said. "We play Friday and all our concentration should be on getting ourselves ready for Friday."
Jones earlier was quoted as expressing the desire to see the Braves finishing top of the table. He is disheartened as the Braves now will begin the post-season as the second-placed team.
"It's a little disappointing we're going to finish second," said Chipper Jones. "But we live on past Wednesday."
Braves will be hoping that their batters perform well and come up with better run-support in the next two matches. Gaining momentum before the post-season is extremely important for Atlanta.
It will be interesting to see how they get back in the groove in the upcoming games.
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