Hernandez hadn’t pitched in two weeks since giving up four runs in three innings of a Sunday game against Washington. Gonzalez was asked about bringing in the soft-tossing veteran in that situation, with the bases loaded and one out.
Before Sunday, Hernandez allowed a .303 overall opponents’ batting average and a .340 average with runners on base. Not good.
“Who else would you like me to go with?” Gonzalez replied. “If you give me a suggestion we can talk about it. I could have brought in [Craig] Kimbrel there. Some of the SABR [Society for American Baseball Research] people thought that would be a good spot [for Kimbrel].
“In these situations, the fifth inning, is a perfect situation for [Hernandez]. With all the experience, he can wiggle out of there. He’s not going to spook in that situation. They got him. You have to tip your hat to the Toronto Blue Jays.”
Hernandez stayed in to pitch the sixth and started that inning by giving up a single and consecutive homers to Brett Lawrie and Cory Rasmus, pushing Toronto’s lead to 9-4.
He has allowed 13 hits, nine runs and three homers in 4-2/3 innings in his past two appearances, after allowing 10 hits and two runs in 14-1/3 innings over a span of 11 appearances in four weeks from April 29 to May 25.
“I’m not going to say it’s because I didn’t pitch for a long time,” Hernandez said after being asked if the layoff was a factor. “I missed a lot of pitches. I’ve never made an excuse in my whole career…. I think if I start to throw every two days, a little bullpen [side session], 20 pitches, I’m not going to be all over the place with my pitches.”
they rip fredi gonzalez apart on the braves blogs
Braves win streak ends with thud in 12-4 loss to Toronto | Atlanta Braves