Wisler takes responsibility for hard-luck loss

ATLANTA -- Through this season's first two months, Matt Wisler has consistently shown he possesses the talent necessary to serve as a valuable asset within the Braves' rotation for many years to come. But as the young hurler has encountered some tough luck, he has continued to display a sense of maturity and accountability that should only enhance his tremendous potential.
After coming up on the wrong end of his battle against a dominant Jake Peavy during Tuesday night's 4-0 loss to the Giants, Wisler understood the significance of the two-out single he surrendered to Peavy during a decisive sixth inning and the reality that he had no room for error. But what bothered him most was not keeping his team's deficit at one run during San Francisco's three-run eighth inning.
"Overall, I felt good," Wisler said. "That's probably the best I've felt all year. I had good slider command. I was throwing it for strikes and balls when I needed to. Overall, I was happy with the outing. I was just frustrated by the results of the eighth."
After his 29th career start, in which he allowed four hits and three runs over seven-plus innings, Wisler provided appropriate credit to Peavy, who celebrated his 35th birthday by surrendering one hit and facing the minimum over seven scoreless innings. But at the same time, Wisler acknowledged the result might have been different had he retired either of the two batters he faced in the decisive eighth.
Wisler exited after walking Brandon Crawford and surrendering a Gregor Blanco double to begin the eighth. The 23-year-old hurler watched helplessly as two runs were added to his line courtesy of Matt Duffy's sacrifice fly and a Denard Span single. But at the end of the night, he certainly wasn't complaining about the lack of support he received from the bullpen or an offense that has now provided two runs or fewer of support in seven of this season's 10 starts.
"It's going to come," Wisler said. "I'm going to trust that every time I go out, these guys are going to battle for me and try to get the runs that they can. I'm not going to bash them. It's a tough game up here. Peavy threw the ball really well today. I can do a better job of keeping it to a one-run game."
As Wisler produced a 2.51 ERA over the six starts he made in May, he pitched into the eighth inning four times and limited opponents to a .206 batting average. Unfortunately, these numbers might have been even better had he not surrendered Peavy's two-out single in front of a Span triple during the decisive sixth inning or a two-run single to Brewers starter Wily Peralta during Thursday's loss to Milwaukee.
But instead of making excuses, Wisler simply acknowledged he got beat and in the process further proved why the Braves believe he has the makeup to become something special.
"Both times, they weren't bad pitches," Wisler said. "They were just putting the bat on the ball. I've just got to bear down and make better pitches."