We all figured Jaime Garcia was on his way to the Minnesota Twins this time last night. A deal was close, according to many reports, and it seemed inevitable a trade was coming. Aaron Blair had even packed his bag and traveled to L.A. to fill in.
That trade didn’t happen. He was still a Brave.
And as many questioned if the oft-injured southpaw should start tonight against baseball’s hottest team, Garcia turned in his one of his finest performances of the year on the mound ... and at the plate.
The Braves jumped on Alex Wood — who came into the game with an 11-0 record and sub-2 ERA — in the first inning for two runs.
It appeared Wood was on his way to settling down after a rough start. With runners on second and third and two outs in the fourth, Garcia popped up a ball up on the infield. None of the infielders could see it, so Wood called them off and prepared to make what should’ve been a can of corn. Wood dropped the ball as two runs scored.
Freddie Freeman homered in the fifth to push the lead to 5-0. And then with the bases loaded later in the frame with two outs, Garcia stepped to the plate. This happened:
Gar-seeya. #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/d3t3ZeFwEO
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 22, 2017
The Braves led 9-0.
The Dodgers scored their first run against Jaime in the bottom half of the frame, but he limited the damage. Tyler Flowers came up the following inning and mashed a three-run blast to center to push the lead to 12-1.
If this was indeed Garcia’s final start with the Braves — and I can only imagine it will be — he deserves a tip of the cap. With trade rumors swirling and a red-hot lineup staring you down, no one would’ve really blamed Jaime if he got torched on Friday night. He turned in one of the season’s best performances and made for a memorable night.
The bullpen tossed two scoreless innings in relief after Jaime departed.
The Braves and Dodgers continue their series on Saturday at 9:10pm ET. It’ll be Julio Teheran against Rich Hill.