ATLANTA _ The Braves fumbled away a 3-0 lead in the last two innings Saturday and lost 4-3 to the Rockies, but in a season like this the development of young pitchers has become almost as important as the results on the scoreboard. More important, in the view of some.
It wasn't long ago when plenty of Braves fans and some media members suggested it was time to move Mike Foltynewicz to the bullpen, that he didn't have what it took to be a good starting pitcher. If anyone feels that way now, they're probably keeping quiet until further notice.
Foltynewicz was outstanding again Saturday, limiting the Rockies to two hits and no runs in the first seven innings of a game that unraveled on the Braves in the eighth and stayed that way in the ninth, when the Rockies scored the decisive run on a single, two wild pitches and an errant throw.
This after they'd scored three runs in the eighth to erase the Braves' 3-0 lead. The Braves have lost 10 of their past 11 games against the Rockies, and need a win Sunday to avoid being swept in the first series since the All-Star break.
The winning run scored in the ninth after Trevor Story hit a leadoff single against Jim Johnson, advanced on not one but two wild pitches, and came home on a fielder's choice grounder when shortstop Erick Aybar short-hopped the throw to catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who didn't control it before trying to make the tag.
The Rockies' three runs in the eighth were all charged to Foltynewicz after he gave up two singles and a walk to the only three batters he faced in the inning.
He gave up an RBI single to Nick Hundley that brought in the Rockies' first run, and the other two scored on a wild pitch by reliever Hunter Cervenka and an errant throw by second baseman Gordon Beckham that bounced past Freddie Freeman on a two-out infield single (error allowed runners to advance an extra base).
All runs charged to Foltynewicz were earned, since the error play was followed by a Nolan Arenado single.
And so, Foltynewicz ended up with a line _ seven innings, four hits, three runs, two walks, five strikeouts _ that didn't seem at all representative of his impressive outing. He also contributed a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning to push the Braves' lead to 3-0, after Pierzynski's two-run homer in the second.
Foltynewicz retired 12 consecutive batters between DJ LeMahieu's one-out single in the first inning and Ryan Raburn's one-out single in the fifth, a hit that could've been ruled an error after it bounced off the palm of third baseman Adonis Garcia's glove.
He walked the next batter, then induced an inning-ending double play to begin another stretch of seven consecutive batters retired by Foltynewicz before the eighth inning, when he gave up a single, walk and RBI single and was replaced by Cervenka with none out and the Braves ahead, 3-1.
The performance came on the heels of Foltynewicz's 10-strikeout, no-walks outing Sunday against the White Sox in the Braves' last game before the All-Star break, when he allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings of a 2-0 win at hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field.
Home runs by Jace Peterson and Jeff Francoeur supplied all the Braves' offense in that game at Chicago, and A.J. Pierzynski's two-run homer in the second inning accounted for all the offense Saturday until Foltynewicz's run-scoring single to shallow center in the seventh inning.
Pierzynski had a bunt single earlier in the inning to beat a shift defense, pushing the ball toward third base where there was no defender.
Pierzynski's home run off Rockies starter Chad Bettis was the first of the season for the 39-year-old catcher, in his 190th plate appearance. Pierzynski hit nine homers in 436 plate appearances in 2015 in his first season with the Braves.
Foltynewicz's development was slowed in 2015 by thoracic outlet syndrome, which led to blood clots and season-ending surgery in September to remove part of a rib. He was behind other pitchers this spring and didn't join the major league team until May.
After two strong starts in late May, he returned to the 15-day disabled list for bone spurs in his pitching elbow. He was out for a month, had his first start back from the DL cut short by a rain delay, and gave up four homers and five runs in 52/3 innings of his next start July 5 at Philadelphia.
But his performances in his past two starts would suggest the Philly game was but a blip in what has been an otherwise encouraging stretch for Foltynewicz. He's 2-1 with 3.15 ERA in his past six starts, with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks in 341/3 innings. Foltyniewicz allowed five or fewer hits in five of those games and one or no runs in three.
This after he'd posted a 2-6 record, 6.25 ERA and .335 opponents' average in his previous 16 games (13 starts) going back to June 3, 2015.
