Braves-Phillies: Atlanta's Relief Pitching Falls Apart in Epic Collapse

Atlanta Braves Relievers, 7th Inning vs. Phillies, April 8, 2009:

1 IP, 5 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 6 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 81.00 ERA, 1 HBP, 1 BS, 1 L.

Phillies 12, Braves 11

This entry is about the ‘efforts’ of every Braves relief pitcher who took the mound Wednesday afternoon—with the exception of Jeff Bennett, I guess.

I listened in horror from the office as Eric O’Flaherty, Pete Molyan, Blaine Boyer, and Jorge Campillo all lost the ability to throw strikes, which blew a seven-run lead.

In baseball, part of the fun is seeing something you’ve never seen before—and four bases-loaded base-on-balls in one inning certainly qualifies, in my case anyway. And, apparently, I am not alone.

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“I’ve never seen that,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said, “I’ve seen a couple of walk-ins, but nothing like that all in one inning. We got a quick out and [Chase] Utley hit one off the end of the bat, blooper to left. Then we end up hitting [Ryan] Howard and all hell broke loose. We couldn’t throw a strike.”

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As ShysterBall put it:

“Bobby Cox has been in professional baseball for over 50 years, and dadgummit, I believe him.”

 

After a good/decent start by Javier Vasquez, with the Braves cruising 10-3 in the seventh, Eric O’Flaherty—the LOOGY—gets the ball to start the bottom of the seventh so he can face Victorino, Utley, and Howard. After retiring Victorino, Utley singled to Center and the carnage really gets going when he hits Ryan Howard.

O’Flaherty’s line: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 10.80 ERA, 1 HBP.

 

Cox pulls him for Moylan. It would be Molyan’s first appearance in a game that counts since April 11, 2008, as he had Tommy John surgery 11 months ago. After the game he was able to review some of the footage and he noted something was mechanically wrong with his delivery.

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“I looked at my mechanics and [they] were a little bit off,” Moylan said, “I was flying open and I wasn’t able to put the ball where I wanted it and the ball wasn’t sinking. When my ball doesn’t sink, it’s an 88 mph straight ball that doesn’t do anything.”  Pete Molyan via Mark Bowman / MLB.com

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Is it possible Moylan should be throwing simulated games in Florida right now, still rehabbing? Good mechanics come and go—even for healthy pitchers—but ones with new elbows are particularly susceptible to mechanical flaws.

Moylan’s line: 0.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, ∞ ERA.

 

Blaine Boyer would be the next one to enter the fray and he probably had the worst outing of any of them—a small feat, really—as he only managed to get one of his nine pitches over for a strike. Two of the four bases-loaded walks were his. Boyer was given ‘credit’ for the loss.

Boyer's line: 0.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, ∞ ERA, 1 L.

 

Jorge Campillo then relieved Boyer, and was the man who got the blown save. A seven-run lead should never become a save situation in the first place, but I digress.

Campillo’s line: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 13.50 ERA, 1 BS.

 

So, yeah. Tough day to be a Braves fan. But, in baseball—as in life, if something can happen, it most certainly will happen. At least once, anyway.