SAN FRANCISCO – After Braves pitcher Jaime Garcia drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the seventh inning of Friday night’s 2-0 win against the Giants, the left-hander gave credit to Matt Kemp for providing some recent hitting tips.
“I don’t hit as much as other (pitchers) do between starts, but I like to talk to the hitting coach and some of the guys,” Garcia said. “Matt brought up some stuff just from watching me hit in the game and hit in BP. A couple of good things. I’m always picking their brains, so it was helpful.”
The left-handed-hitting Garcia knocked a Matt Cain pitch through the left side of the infield with runners on first and second, and both of those Braves scored when Dansby Swanson came all the way around from first base after seeing left fielder Brandon Belt’s throw to the plate skip off the back of Tyler Flowers’ leg as the big catcher lumbered in with the first run of the game.
Braves manager Brian Snitker left Garcia in to hit for himself because he had been so efficient with his pitches through six scoreless of four-hit ball through that point, and because Snitker remembered an RBI single Garcia had against the Braves last summer. (There was also the matter of the Braves not having quality pinch-hitters to choose from, though Snitker didn’t cite that as a reason for leaving Garcia in.)
The move paid off in a big way, as Garcia became the first Braves pitcher to not allow a run and to account for the only RBIs since Tim Hudson hit a two-run homer and pitched eight scoreless innings in a 2-0 win against Toronto on June 20, 2011.
Garcia has a .147 average with two homers and a .181 OBP in 325 career plate appearances in nine seasons, and in 2012 with the Cardinals he hit .250 (10-for-40) with three extra-base hits and a .686 OPS.
“You know what, he actually has a really nice swing,” Flowers said. “Kemp was working with him a few weeks ago with the timing aspect – he had a tendency to lift his leg a little bit high and be a little bit late. We try to do everything we can, you know? Sharing knowledge, helping guys. But he might have one of the prettier left-handed swings out there – definitely for a pitcher.”
