|
 Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox continue to try to do the same
thing.
Markakis, 6-for-41 with three RBIs lifetime against Buchholz, went
3-for-4 with three RBIs against the enigmatic right-hander and added
another hit to help the staggering Atlanta Braves end an eight-game
losing streak with a 5-3 victory over Boston.
"If you look at my track record against him in the past it's not
very good," said Markakis, one of the few bright spots of this
disastrous 5-17 Atlanta start. "I just went up there with the
approach to try and hit his mistakes. He left a couple balls out
over the plate for me. I took a good swing at them and ended up
finding some grass."
Mistakes continue to plague Buchholz, who has allowed five runs in
four of his first five starts (none in the other) and is 0-3 with a
6.51 ERA. He missed the second half of last season with a right
forearm strain.
Buchholz yielded eight hits in 6 1/3 innings, but the worst part of
his night was walking No. 7 hitter Jace Peterson -- batting .205
coming in -- three times. Peterson scored twice as the bottom third
of the Atlanta order scored all the runs with Mallex Smith driving
in two.
 "When he's gotten in trouble it's been more location and pitches up
in the strike zone," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Buchholz.
"That was the case tonight in combination with the walks that were
bunched in with some hits.
"They did a good job with two outs and men in scoring position but
to say it's any one pitch that's getting him in trouble, it's more
just general location rather than one pitch that he's getting burned
on."
Buchholz appears baffled, saying, "I feel good with most of my
pitches. Fastball command wasn't there. You can't just walk guys
because that usually ends up hurting you."
The win, which snapped a four-game Red Sox winning streak, salvaged
the finale of the two-city four-game series for the Braves. The five
runs off Buchholz were more runs than the Braves had scored in any
of the games of their second long losing streak of the season.
"We did a lot of good stuff on the whole game -- pitching-wise,
offensively," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (1-1) went five-plus innings for
his first win as a Brave. Five relievers finished up, with Arodys
Vizcaino pitching the ninth.
Vizcaino struck out the first two hitters then gave up a run on two
hits with the RBI coming on the second hit of the game by Dustin
Pedroia. He then got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to end it and
earn his second save.
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Smith, who also had three hits, stroked a long RBI double in a
three-run second and singled home a run in the sixth before doubling
in the eighth. He was caught stealing twice, once on an overturned
call at second base.
Freddie Freeman added three singles and a walk for the Braves.
Hanley Ramirez drove in the other two Boston runs with an RBI single
in the first inning and a run-scoring double in the third. He added
another single in the sixth.
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in a strange first inning that saw
Bogaerts reach second thanks to the new neighborhood call on a David
Ortiz grounder, only to vacate the base and be tagged out for the
second out of the inning. "A mistake," Farrell said.
NOTES: Struggling RHP Bud Norris, 1-4 with an 8.74 ERA after lasting
only 1 1/3 innings Wednesday, may not make his next scheduled start
against the Mets in new York. "We're still hashing through that and
talking though that kind of stuff to see what's best for him, and
what's best for us," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "But I think the
No. 1 priority is to get him fixed." ... Red Sox LF Brock Holt,
1-for-12 in the first three games against Atlanta, was out of the
lineup before grounding out as a pinch hitter. He failed to reach
base for the first time all season on Wednesday. ... Friday makes
the 30th anniversary of Roger Clemens' first 20-strikeout game,
against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. ... LHP Eduardo
Rodriguez, yet to pitch because of a knee injury, made his first
minor league rehab start for Pawtucket on Thursday, throwing 75
pitches and allowing six hits and two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
... LHP Henry Owens makes his second 2016 big league start when he
opens a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday at
Fenway. ... RHP Aaron Blair will pitch for the Braves in a matinee
against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
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reserved.]
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