(Pic)-Garret Anderson, with Ryan Church, acknowledges the fans after his 2,500th hit. (John Amis/AP)
ATLANTA (MLB.com)- Tommy Hanson's stellar rookie season has come to a close, and over the course of the past four months, the rookie right-hander has managed to provide belief that he actually exceeded the great expectations set this past offseason, when he was widely proclaimed the game's best pitching prospect.
Hanson ended his year in impressive fashion at Turner Field on Thursday night. But his seven strong innings weren't enough for the slumbering Braves, who prolonged their recent offensive woes during a 2-1 loss to the Nationals.
"Tommy pitched a real nice ballgame," manager Bobby Cox said. "He had plenty of strikeouts, threw a lot of strikes and had just one run to work on. We just couldn't get the hitting going again tonight."
Pete Orr's ninth-inning RBI single off Rafael Soriano served as the decisive blow to Atlanta, which learned early Thursday evening that Colorado had won and consequently eliminated it from the postseason race.
"I have so much respect for everybody over there," said Orr, who as a rookie in 2005 helped the Braves make their most recent trip to the postseason. They have been always great to me. They gave me an opportunity over there. The hit was special for me because I hold the Braves so highly."
The same offense that hit .296 during a 14-2 stretch that carried Atlanta into this homestand managed to hit just .195 while losing two of three to Florida this week. Those offensive struggles were prolonged by Washington starter Garrett Mock, who allowed one run and five hits over six innings.
With one of those hits, a second-inning single, Garrett Anderson became the 89th Major Leaguer to notch 2,500 hits in his career.
Active hits leaders:
Rank Player Hits-
1. Ken Griffey 2,761 2. Derek Jeter 2,745 3. Pudge Rodriguez 2,711 4. Omar Vizquel 2,704 5. Gary Sheffield 2,689 6. Alex Rodriguez 2,528 7. Garret Anderson 2,501 8. Manny Ramirez 2,493 9. Johnny Damon 2,422 10. Chipper Jones 2,405 "It's just one of the many [accomplishments] along the way," Anderson said. "I don't think any of them are more special than the others. They are just accomplishments you get to reach when you play a lot of years."
Nate McLouth's third-inning leadoff blast accounted for his first home run since Sept. 10. But it obviously wasn't enough for Hanson, who registered nine strikeouts and limited the Nationals to one run and five hits in seven innings.
"I wanted to finish up my last game on a good note, and I think I did that," said Hanson, who had been disappointed that he had allowed four earned runs in each of his previous two starts.
Hanson's late-season hiccups tarnished what still ended up being dazzling statistics. The 23-year-old right-hander, who made his Major League debut on June 7, worked 127 2/3 innings, notched 116 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .225 batting average -- best among all Major League rookies who have worked at least 100 innings.
"I think he exceeded the hype," Braves catcher Brian McCann said. "What he accomplished this year, to me, there's not a better rookie. I hope he wins the Rookie of the Year, because he deserves it."
Hanson's 11 wins in 15 decisions and 2.89 ERA rank second among all National League rookie hurlers. Still, it appears that Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan and Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ will provide stiff competition in the balloting for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
"If I do win the award, it would be an honor and I would be happy about it," Hanson said. "But even if I don't, I'm happy with the way my first season went, and I'm just happy with where I'm at right now."
With a little more offensive support during this finale, the Braves could have enhanced the credentials owned by Hanson, who had faced the minimum before Willie Harris greeted him with a fourth-inning leadoff single. Three batters later, the former Brave scored on an RBI double by Ryan Zimmerman, who also doubled off Soriano to begin the ninth.
Combined with his first two months of the season at Triple-A Gwinnett, Hanson completed 194 innings this year -- 56 more than he'd totaled while posting a professional career high in 2008.
Hanson never complained of fatigue, and the results didn't provide any indication that he was bluffing. He surrendered one earned run or less in five of his final seven starts.
"We expected him to pitch well," Cox said. "He dominated in Gwinnett, and we felt he would do well here. He had a start or two where he didn't pitch so well, but by far and away, most of them were excellent ballgames. He's had a great year."
As he heads into the offseason, Hanson will be able to draw upon a number of great memories. When the young hurler produced consecutive scoreless outings against the Red Sox and Yankees in June, he simply provided the base for what developed into a season that at least matched his childhood expectations.
"It was a blast," Hanson said. "This was what I wanted to do since I was a little kid, and this was my first year doing it. Hopefully I'll be able to do it for a while. I definitely have a lot of memories from this year, and it was an awesome time."
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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Fri Oct 2, 2009 6:41am EDT
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