Some quality gaps are too hard to bridge, but the Atlanta Braves somehow managed to even up things with the Los Angeles Dodgers, beating the visitors 4-3 in game 2 of their divisional series, getting just about enough from Mike Minor when there were runners in scoring positions and some solid closing from Craig Kimbrel.
The Braves were an awful 6-for-29 on the day, with Chris Johnson being the only player to get multiple hits, but it turned out to be enough, as the Dodgers only had Hanley Ramirez being clinical when he stepped up to bat.
Ramirez finished with 3 RBIs, 3-for-4 and one home run, and is now the 3rd player all-time to have at least 4 extra-base hits combined in his first 2 postseason games. The others are Jim Edmondsand Marquis Grissom. He’s also the 2nd player in MLB postseason history with at least 2 doubles and a home run in a game within his 1st 2 career postseason games. The other was Ron Cey in the 1974 NLCS for the Dodgers.
On the other side, Jason Heyward’s two-run single in the seventh was his first career postseason RBI after already blowing his chance through the first six games.
The problem for the Braves is that it feels like in the long run, they just don’t have the consistency and talent to withstand the Dodgers’ lineup and quality pitching, and that their 2-for-7 with runners in scoring positions, leaving 7 men on base throughout the game, won’t be something that will be constantly repeating. For the Braves, it wasn’t the best of performances with 3-of-9 in that aspect, leaving 5 players on base.
It was simply about being clutch for the Braves, despite the strong performance from Greinke, who left after six innings, giving up 4 hits and two runs. Andrelton Simmons, Chris Johnson and Jason Heyward all had their moments of coming up big just when it looked like the Braves are throwing it away, not willing to produce such a massive let down in front of their home fans.