No warm homecoming as Braves feast on Wood in lefty's return to Turner Field
ATLANTA -- The one and only time Freddie Freeman had faced Alex Wood was in 2013. The left-hander came in to pitch two innings of relief for the Braves' Future Stars and Freeman swung at the first pitch.
The result? An easy out.
For nearly three years, Freeman was able to watch Wood's deceptive delivery from a vantage point at first base. But Tuesday they met for the first time as the Dodgers opened a three-game series in Turner Field.
"It's obviously going to be different (facing him) with his motion," Freeman said before the game, "We've got to be able to slow it down and look his release point and not get caught up in his motion."
The Braves did just that, and for Freeman, it had shades of that at-bat three years ago.
The two-time All-Star again swung at the first offering, but this time it was a single that aided the Braves' two-run first inning in an 8-1 victory. Wood lasted just four innings, giving up seven hits and six runs (three earned) with three walks and a strikeout and he walked two batters.
It was the third time in 15 starts with the Dodgers in which he had a single K and the opponent scored six or more runs with him on the mound. In 55 starts with the Braves he never did that once.
Wood, taken by Atlanta in the second round of the 2012 draft, appeared in 86 games overall, and in 2014, his last full season in Atlanta, he was 11-11 with a 2.78 ERA, and racked up 170 strikeouts to 45 walks.
He had the look of a star on the rise, a top-end anchor alongside Julio Teheran.
But after 20 stars in '15 Wood was dealt to the Dodgers along with prospect Jose Peraza in exchange for Hector Olivera and Paco Rodriguez. The Braves, of course, are without either of those pieces they acquired as Olivera was placed on administrative leave after an arrest last Wednesday and Rodriguez is out the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late September.
"Obviously a left-handed guy like that is a very rare commodity in this game," Freeman said. "He was one of the guys we counted on for the past couple of years and it's tough seeing him in a different uniform."
A lefty continues to be the missing element in the Braves' rotation. Since Wood, Manny Banuelos is the only left to make a start, with six a season ago. He opened this season on the disabled list with soreness in his surgically repaired elbow.
Wood entered Tuesday at 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA, six strikeouts and five walks and on the heels of seven one-run innings agains the Padres in which he gave up five hits. He's been at his best with the knuckle curve he developed as a Brave, with a pitch value of 6.3 and 15.8 swinging strike rate (both ranking as Wood's best).
"I love Alex Wood," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Not only what he gives you on the field, but his competitiveness, his work ethic. ... He is funky, but that deliver is not what makes him effective. He has good stuff. The delivery, you don't see that delivery, but he wasn't getting people out because of that delivery."
A North Carolina native and University of Georgia product, Wood struggled in the return to the stadium in which he made his MLB debut on May 30, 2013 (he threw one inning of relief in an 11-3 rout of the Blue Jays that day).
The first three Braves batters swung on the first pitch, resulting in a single (Nick Markakis), a swing bunt into a force out of Markakis (Daniel Castro) and Freeman's base hit. After an Adonis Garcia walk, Jeff Francoeur scored Castro and Tyler Flowers made it 2-0 on a sharp single to right.
Wood again found trouble in the third inning as he hit Garcia, followed by back-to-back singles from Francoeur and Flowers to make it 3-0. Erick Aybar reached on a fielding error by third baseman Justin Turner before Mallex Smith walked to go up 4-0. Then in the fourth the Braves added two more runs with RBI hits via Francoeur and Flowers.
Troubles in road starts has been an issue for Wood as a Dodger, heading into this matchup with a 6.48 ERA in eight starts, going 2-5. By comparison, he had a 3.00 ERA in 30 road starts with Atlanta, and he was typically strong at Turner Field with a 3.23 ERA and 180 Ks to 50 walks.
The former Brave found no such luck in his homecoming, his woes setting the stage as Atlanta joined the Twins as the only teams in history to start the season 0-9 and then win their next four.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' is out now, and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners' will be released Nov. 1, 2016.
