Mike Foltynewicz loves trying to one-up his fellow hurlers in the Atlanta Braves red-hot pitching rotation.
He kept even with cohorts by tossing five shutout innings and Freddie Freeman homered as the Atlanta Braves held off the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 on
Sunday.
”It’s like a friendly competition with a fun group of guys
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The Braves outscored St. Louis 22-10 in sweeping a three-game series in St. Louis for the first time since May 11-13, 2012.
Tommy Pham homered for St. Louis, which has lost four in a row. The Cardinals scored five times in the seventh to rally from a 6-0 deficit.
Foltynewicz matched Julio Teheran and Max Fried to post the Braves third successive scoreless appearance by a starter. Teheran tossed six scoreless
innings a 5-1 win on Friday. Fried did not allow a run in 6 2-3 innings of an
11-4 victory on Saturday.
”They’ve been awesome,” said Atlanta infielder Charlie Culberson, who had two hits and drove in two runs on Sunday, ”It makes it easier for us (hitters). A
little bit more relaxed for us going up there.”
Foltynewicz (6-4) surrendered one hit – a fourth-inning single to Marcell Ozuna. He struck out nine and walked three in an 86-pitch outing.
”He never gave in, he kept grinding,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Foltynewicz has allowed just two hits and one run over 10 innings in two outings since coming off the disabled list with tightness in his right tricepts
on June 25.
”He was kind of wildly effective,” St. Louis infielder Kolten Wong said. ”When you’re throwing as hard as he was
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The Braves three starters allowed seven hits over 17 2-3 innings with 24 strikeouts in the series.
”We’ve been feeding off each other,” Foltynewicz said. ”We’re always pulling for each other, pushing each other, asking questions. We hang around together
and you can see that we take it out to the mound. It’s been a really fun
time.”
A.J. Minter picked up his third save in as many tries by setting the side down in order in the ninth. He has not allowed a run in his last seven
appearances.
Freeman’s 16th homer of the season, a two-run drive, pushed the lead to 3-0 in sixth. The blow highlighted a five-run uprising that also included a
run-scoring hit from Culberson.
Pham hit a three-run homer off Peter Moylan in the seventh to bring the Cardinals to within 6-5.
St. Louis starter John Gant (2-3) allowed four runs on four hits over 5 1-3 innings.
”I’ve definitely got to do better,” Gant said. ”Came out on the losing end, so anytime that happens, improvements need to be made.”
Francisco Pena had a two-run single in the seventh for St. Louis
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The Braves have been in first place or tied for first in 60 of the last 62 days. They kicked off their 10-game road trip in style.
”To come out and win the first three games, that’s really nice,” Culberson said. ”But this series is done. We took care of business. Time to move on.”
Atlanta infielder Ozzie Albies extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a sixth-inning single.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: C Tyler Flowers returned to the starting lineup after missing Saturday’s game. He suffered a muscle cramp in the sixth inning of Friday’s 5-1
win.
Cardinals: RHP Luke Gregerson began a rehab stint with Triple-A Memphis on Sunday. He did not allow a hit over one inning. Gregerson was placed on the
10-day disabled list with shoulder impingement on May 16.
UP NEXT
Braves RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-2, 2.68) will face RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (2-0, 1.93) in the first of a three-game series against the Yankees in New York.
Sanchez is 4-1 in six lifetime starts against the Yankees.
Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (4-4, 3.22) takes on Arizona LHP Robbie Ray (3-0, 4.01) in the opener of a three-game series in Arizona that kicks off a
nine-game road trip. Martinez is 2-0 in three starts at Chase Field.
With the first full week of preseason games upon us, teams have been releasing their first depth charts of the year and several of them have players
listed at spots that make you scratch your head a little bit.
One of those is in Washington, where second-round pick Derrius Guice is listed alongside undrafted rookie Martez Carter behind Rob Kelley
Keke Coutee Jersey , Chris Thompson, Kapri Bibbs, Samaje Perine and Byron Marshall. Given that the team won’t be keeping six tailbacks or cutting
Guice, that seems totally out of whack.
It’s all the more misleading once you listen to quarterback Alex Smith talk about his teammate. Smith said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Guice has shown an
ability to do everything they ask for from a running back.
“I didn’t know anything about him when we drafted him,” Smith said, via the
Washington Post. “You hear all this nonsense, I guess, that’s out there. The kid has a smile on his face 24/7. He loves playing ball, he loves
being out there. Then to be honest
Shon Coleman Jersey , I don’t feel like there?? a real weakness in his game. Pass game, protection, certainly he can run the ball. I feel like he does
a heck of a job in protections, I feel like in the pass game he?? a weapon as
well. So, I’m excited for him. Certainly as a running back, I think those guys
really get to shine when we get the pads on and it goes live, and they can show
breaking tackles and open-field stuff. … I think he’s got a lot ahead of
him.”
The least of the things Guice would appear to have ahead of him is a climb up the depth chart. Whether or not he’s starting against Arizona on September 9, it
is a good bet he’s going to be playing a pretty significant role in his first
NFL regular season game.
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