ATLANTA — Bryse Wilson’s second start was defined by a wacky second inning. The mistake-ridden frame put the Braves in an early hole from which they never escaped. They lost Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader 5-0 against the Diamondbacks at Truist Park. The game was seven innings as part of MLB’s doubleheader rules.
The second inning started with the most common culprit of messy frames: a lead-off walk. Wilson walked Josh VanMeter on five pitches, then sailed a pick-off attempt over first baseman Freddie Freeman’s head, allowing VanMeter to advance all the way to third. Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt blasted a home run that put Arizona up 2-0. Wilson walked the next hitter, Nick Heath, and committed another throwing error trying to pick him off at first.
“It was very frustrating,” Wilson said of his erratic throws. “It’s a small part of the game that’s very crucial and can hurt you at times like it did today.”
Wilson retired seven of the next nine — Kole Calhoun hit a solo homer in one of those at-bats — but the Braves had zero margin for error against Arizona starter Zac Gallen. Overall, Wilson allowed three runs (two homers) on four hits across four innings. He struck out four and walked two.
“I just have to move on to the next one,” Wilson said. “Take the good out of it. I threw two bad pitches over the plate. They made me pay for it. It got away from me in the second inning, but overall I thought I threw pretty well.”
Gallen, 25, was near flawless. He hit Ronald Acuna during the first at-bat of the game and walked Austin Riley in the second inning. The right-hander retired 11 consecutive Braves before walking Acuna in the sixth. Freeman followed with a soft knock to right that ended Gallen’s no-hit bid, but Marcell Ozuna hit into a double play to quickly erase the Braves’ only scoring opportunity.
Much has been made of the Braves’ up-and-down offense, which had scored at least four runs in eight of nine games since the lineup change April 13. The group had no answers for Gallen, who pitched the entire seven innings. He allowed just the one hit and struck out six. Gallen is emerging as one of baseball’s better young starters. Since 2019, he has three starts in which he’s allowed one hit or fewer over seven or more innings, which is the second most in MLB over that span.
“He’s got three, four pitches and he can command them,” manager Brian Snitker said of Gallen. “He moves the ball around. He doesn’t let you eliminate a pitch. His stuff is good. It’s a good breaking ball, has good depth. I can see why he’s very successful. Very athletic guy, too.”
Game 1 was just the Braves’ second loss since MLB implemented seven-inning doubleheaders during the 2020 season. The Braves dropped to 7-2 in such games.
The Braves and Diamondbacks wrap up their series with game 2 of the doubleheader later Sunday afternoon. It will feature dueling lefties in Drew Smyly versus Madison Bumgarner. First pitch was scheduled about 40 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
