Braves 11, Nats 5
Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals – Box Score – September 26, 2009 – ESPN
I’d really like to thank the Nats for putting PTG Orr in the starting lineup again. Orr did more for the Braves in these last two games than he ever did in a Braves uniform. Today he threw a ball away, an “infield single” in the first that scored two runs, putting the Braves up 4-0. Only one of the four runs was “unearned”, but let’s just say that the Nats aren’t a good defensive team. The Braves added another “unearned” run in the second to go up 5-0.
Tommy Hanson had an odd game. He only allowed four hits and one walk, but he had bad timing; the last of the hits was a homer following a hit and a walk, scoring three runs in the third and cutting the lead to 6-4 at the time. But Hanson had no problems for then on. He wound up striking out seven in seven innings, and is now 11-4 with a 2.98 ERA.
Gonzalez came in to pitch the eighth, and allowed a walk but struck out two and preserved the two-run lead. And then the Braves broke it open. Chipper doubled in McLouth, then McCann seemingly ended the rally with his 21st homer. Escobar doubled in Gorecki, then came in on an ACHE single to make it 11-4.
Bobby brought in O’Flaherty, who after striking out Dunn allowed three straight infield singles, which is pretty hard to do. He then gave up a sac fly, then Bobby brought in Soriano to pitch to one batter with two out and a six-run lead. Whatever. He got a strikeout.
The Braves had thirteen hits, with five different batters with two each. In addition to McCann’s homer, they had five doubles by five different batters. That’s how you do it.
Despite all the cyperink spilled over their usage, it does look like both Gonzo and Sori are going to make it to the end of the season with some effectiveness left. My complements to their surgeons.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pmI hope that will still be the case should we reach the playoffs.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:37 pmMac,
Do you know how long we have Hanson and JJ under contract?
September 26th, 2009 at 3:44 pmKeep hope dead!
September 26th, 2009 at 3:48 pmThey’re year to year. JJ is under team control to 2013, Hanson to 2015.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:50 pmMy hope is still very dead. It would be less dead if the Cards and Dodgers hand’t 90% clinched their divisions.
Who can have hope in Atlanta, when you are preparing for Noah’s Ark?
September 26th, 2009 at 4:09 pm[Eeyore]
It’s hopeless.
[/Eeyore]
September 26th, 2009 at 4:49 pmHaha. Reminds me of Frenchy.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:54 pmFunnily enough, Pete Orr and Jeff Francoeur both hit exactly .300 in their rookie year, 2005.
And both of us have helped us FAR more by being off the team this year: Frenchy, whose departure keyed our second-half renaissance, and Orr, who seems determined to hand us this series.
Thanks, Baby Braves!
September 26th, 2009 at 5:18 pmI don’t see how the Braves can lose another game this season.
September 26th, 2009 at 5:44 pmTimo: Lowe has two starts yet.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:04 pm10,
And the Marlins are no pushovers.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:06 pmKeep hope dead!
Playoff or no playoff, I am very proud of these braves.
Mac, I think Bobby wants to see Sori getting his 100k.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:10 pmI think Timo meant the Braves can’t lose another game and have any shot at the playoffs.
Which I tend to agree with.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:19 pmI will feel good about this if the Rockies lose tonight.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:42 pmWithout looking, who is the qualified Braves leader in OBP?
September 26th, 2009 at 7:06 pmPW, it’s Chipper as usual. Diaz has only 409 PAs.
Here’s a better question- who is the Braves’ OBP leader including all players? (No peeking!)
September 26th, 2009 at 7:12 pmChipper I would think…looks…hmmm. Interesting indeed.
never mind. had to look a little harder.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:13 pmI think Diaz does qualify.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:18 pmYou need 3.1 PA per game to qualify, which would now be 477 PA. So Diaz doesn’t qualify, Mac.
As for the non-qualifying leader, it’s… Manny Acosta’s .500 OBP in 2 PA. Which is only fair, as he lets so many other people on base.
And the Cards have jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:24 pmFish are gonna kick us in the mouth.
I bet the Rocks play .500 ball to finish out…and Braves lose 2 of 3 to the damn Marlins.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:33 pmYou need 3.1 PA/TmG to qualify for the batting title. You only need 2.0 PA/TmG to qualify for the team lead in rate stats. Diaz does qualify. And he’s the leader. Here’s the list:
1. Matt Diaz – .398
2. Chipper Jones – .391
3. Yunel Escobar – .376
4. Casey Kotchman – .354
5. Nate McLouth – .353
6. Martin Prado – .350
7. Brian McCann – .348
8. Garret Anderson – .308
9. Kelly Johnson – .302
10. Jeff Francoeur – .282
And by the way, assuming the Braves play 162 games, you’ll need 324 PA’s at the end of the season. Guess how many Jeff Francoeur has.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:42 pmAcosta’s OBP is good, but he has nothing on Hudson.
.300 .417 .600 1.017
Where’s Big Eleven boy? I just saw a keystone commercial during the Penn State game lol.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:48 pmDiaz is also the team leader in OPS+. Well, LaRoche kills him (and everybody else) but he only has half as much PA. Diaz is having a monstrous year!
September 26th, 2009 at 7:51 pmI hated it when we traded you away, but win a game for your hometown team.
Tulowitzki’s arm is as strong as Blauser’s.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:52 pmHope is a great evil.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:02 pmI really reallly hate the Rockies.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:25 pmWas 3-0, Cardinals. Now 3-3. Keep hope dead.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:25 pmDiaz is the leader in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+, etc..
September 26th, 2009 at 8:39 pmLaRue homers, 4-3 Cardinals in the 7th.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:17 pmCardinals solo homer to take the lead
September 26th, 2009 at 9:19 pmWhy do you run for Holliday? With 2 out, there’s about a 1 in 10000 chance a set of circumstances developes where Lugo scores but Holliday doesn’t. If this goes extras, the genius has outsmarted himself again.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:46 pmWainwright closing in on 130 pitches. Did the St. Louis bullpen not show up to the stadium or something?
September 26th, 2009 at 9:52 pmAdam Wainwright, another former Braves helping us out – they were some filthy curves.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:53 pm@33,
I think Wainwright did o.k. for himself in the 8th.
But if I was one game from clinching, no way I would have left him out there that long.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:54 pmOh, Joooooooooonnnnnnnn….
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score, September 26 2009 – NCAA College Football – ESPN
This never would have happened if Joe Paterno was alive.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:01 pmLudwick goes deep pinch-hitting for Wainwright. 6-3 Cards, middle of the 9th!
September 26th, 2009 at 10:02 pmKEEP HOPE ALIVE!!!
September 26th, 2009 at 10:03 pmThank you Ryan Ludwick. ST. L. 6, Rockies 3, top of 9.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:03 pm18-10 with 8 minutes left, not sure if that’s Big 10 football or basketball.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:04 pmjeez, from the comments, I could swear that a few folks on here have… hope.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:09 pm@36, that joke never gets, um, old
Close it out Cards! 6-3 bottom of the 9th in Coors
September 26th, 2009 at 10:11 pmCards Win 6-3.
2 1/2 back.
Hope is clawing her way out of the coffin, Mac.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:18 pmCardinals win! Braves 2.5 back with eight to play!
September 26th, 2009 at 10:19 pmMac’s Top 10:
1. Alabama
September 26th, 2009 at 10:20 pm2. Texas
3. Florida
4. Boise (!)
5. Va Tech
6. LSU
7. Cincy
8. Iowa
9. Oklahoma
10. Ohio State
21-10
A dream is crushed…
September 26th, 2009 at 10:24 pmno hope, btw I hate ND
September 26th, 2009 at 10:24 pmIs there enough Keystone Light to drown Jon K’s sorrows?
September 26th, 2009 at 10:25 pmMarlins = End of Braves’ season.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:26 pmI’ve gotta’ say Mac that your Top 10 looks pretty good, with the exception of LSU. I don’t think they’ve proven much so far – especially today.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pmKeystone Light.
Always Smooth.
Even when you’re Nittany Lions aren’t.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:36 pmLSU doesn’t look very good — but they’ve won. I can’t move them way down after a loss after three teams in the top ten lost to unranked teams.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pmI having a really hard time keeping hope dead. Really tough. If this were AA, I would be calling my sponser from outside the liquor store.
This is going to be really awesome or really crushing.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pmif theyve lost to an unranked team, they have no business in the top 10 through 4 games. Rankings should adjust more than they do on a week to week basis.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:43 pmYou can make an argument for Oregon as a top ten team — they lost to Boise at Boise, and they’re a top five team now.
CSG, nobody in my top ten this week lost to an unranked team. Three teams in last week’s did this week.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:45 pm#45 – I’ll just say having Ohio State in the Top 10 ahead of USC – you know when USC beat them in their house – is a curious decision.
Rankings at this point of the season are pretty tough. Not a lot of data points. I thought Cal was good this year until about 1:30 this afternoon.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:51 pmStill no hope here. Enjoying the moment, though.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:56 pmI’m with Robert @53. Although I’m still of the opinion that we won’t catch the Rockies even if we win out.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:04 pmIf we are 1 game out going into the Washington series, there’s hope. Until then I’ll hear none of it.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:40 pm@53-
Love the analogy or metaphor or whatever that would be called, and I will go you one better. I’m like Denis Leary in Rescue Me, sitting in a bar, already bought the drink, and I’m going to sit there and stare at it and dare myself not to imbibe… Of course it didn’t work for him and I don’t suspect it is going to work for me either.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:43 pmAnd then you start drinking and get your entire recovering alcoholic family drinking too.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:44 pmThe Cards still have something to play for tomorrow too.
The cards and phillies are seprated by 1/2 game. If the cards let the phillies catch them, they have to play don’t get home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
I’m hopin’, dammit!
September 26th, 2009 at 11:46 pm@ 61-
Yeah boy! It’s all downhill from here.
September 27th, 2009 at 12:05 am@58 I am still keeping hope dead, but this team is making me very very proud of being a Braves fan. It’s like seeing your child not giving up, and you would be proud of him or her regardless of the final result.
September 27th, 2009 at 12:27 amDouble that, kc.
September 27th, 2009 at 1:31 amIf they can just go 5-3 over the last eight, or even 4-4 they will have gotten all that I could have hoped for out of the season.
September 27th, 2009 at 1:49 amTCU should be in your top 10, Mac. They’re actually better than Boise.
September 27th, 2009 at 2:08 amI also agree with Robert–USC should be ahead of OSU. And while LSU has looked pretty bad, that tough win at Washington is looking a helluva lot better since the Huskies took care of the Trojans last week.
I’m still not declaring “hope” until the Braves crack the 2-games back marker. I still don’t think they can lose again this year…
September 27th, 2009 at 5:14 amI am officially jumping on the hope train. How can you not have hope 2 games back in the loss column with 8 to go? The Braves should could easily go something like 6-2 the rest of the way. The difficulty is having teams like the Cardinals, Brewers, and Dodgers play the Rockies seriously enough to hold them to a 3-4 record. I’ll give Bobby his due credit for this late surge. This team looked dead during the 5 game losing streak and it looked like the players were starting to quit on Bobby. But he somehow got it turned around. (No doubt the pitching staff had a lot to do with it.)
September 27th, 2009 at 5:49 amI wouldn’t worry about the Brewers since they seem to be handling the Phillies quite nicely.
The Dodgers might be more of a problem, but the Cubs reserves beat up on the Mets at this stage last year to blow the division for them.
September 27th, 2009 at 6:45 amEven before the Rockies game was over last night, “Pythagorus” had Braves with 4 extra wins and Rockies with 1 less, thus putting us ahead in WC.
Oh, the joy of having Bobby Cox as a manager.
September 27th, 2009 at 7:36 am@53 & 60
Goooooood… let the the hope flow through you..
September 27th, 2009 at 9:23 am