ATLANTA _ Safe to say that just days after the Braves great trade deadline bullpen makeover, prospective closer Shane Greene is the one acquisition who has everyone's attention.
No, not the first impression that he or anyone else in the Braves orbit wanted.
Liken it to serving Spam sliders as appetizers at a fancy dinner party or setting fire to the principal's desk the first day of school, if you will.
In a span of about 18 hours, Greene has recorded a blown save and a loss. In his first two innings as a Brave, he has given up seven hits and four earned runs. Those are just two fewer earned runs than he gave up in 39 previous innings with Detroit this season.
"Unfortunate that I showed up with everybody excited for me to get the job done and I haven't gotten that job done two days in a row. I got to pitch better," Greene said Sunday following the Braves 10-inning, 6-4 loss to Cincinnati.
The three runs Greene gave up Sunday were the result of a three-run homer on the first pitch Tucker Barnhart saw. Just like that, a Braves specialty _ the late-inning rally _ was undone.
Ronald Acuna, who drove in the winning run in extra innings Saturday after Greene blew that save, could not rescue the new reliever this time. Acuna blasted a dramatic two-run homer in the ninth to tie Sunday's game, but that was insufficient this day.
"Just couldn't put the (10th) inning down _ two out and nobody on, couldn't get the last out," said a rather grim Braves manager Brian Snitker.Greene had erased a lead-off single by Josh VanMeter by getting Nick Senzel to ground into a double play. Just one more out and the Braves would take the series from the Reds. But Greene gave up back-to-back, hard-hit singles to Aristides Aquino and Jose Iglessias, setting up Barnhart for his winning blow.
"Today I threw a homer pitch and he hit it over the fence," Greene said.He added, "Last night I felt like I had really good stuff, just some bad luck there. (Sunday) I made one bad pitch and paid for it."
"Back door cutter that started backdoor and ended up more middle in," said Greene's catcher, Tyler Flowers. "That's a spot that guy does damage. Obviously he was ready to get something out of that AB."
Snitker was in no position or mood to make any judgments about his new closer, one of three relievers the Braves acquired at the close of July. "I haven't seen him enough to think anything yet. Those guys have those kind of games. We'll see," the manager said.
Greene wasn't the only problem Sunday.The Braves were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They were playing with a new-look lineup, not starting Freddie Freeman in order to give him a little break, moving Josh Donaldson into the No. 3 spot and Adam Duvall into clean-up.
Starter Julio Teheran faced the minimum the first two innings and then lost the plate. He ended up walking six Reds, which tied a career high for him, while going five innings and giving up three runs.
But all focus was on the new closer and the squandering of what might have been another spectacular moment for Acuna.Flowers spoke for patience, for the team still comfortably leading the NL East. "Write it off as one of those things," he said. "Everybody knows what he's capable of and what he's going to bring. We just got to work through it, get him back to where he was and he'll be just fine for us."
