New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – September 02, 2010 – ESPN.
Well, you can’t win them all, even against the Mets. Tim Hudson allowed four runs, three of them “earned”, in seven innings. In the first, the Braves defense was plenty sloppy, though the two runs scored were “earned”. I’ll shut up about that now. Anyway, after getting the first two, he allowed a double to Carlos Beltran, but Melky was in center and misplayed it into a triple. (I dunno. He didn’t really “misplay” it. He played it as well as he can, it’s just that he’s slow. Any real centerfielder cuts the ball off.) Then Omar Infante threw the relay throw into the dugout to score Beltran. Hudson allowed two straight singles, then walked the bases loaded before getting a little dribbler that Martin Prado couldn’t handle, turned infield single to make it 2-0.
The Braves couldn’t catch up. In the second, Brian McCann hit a homer against Johan Santana to make it 2-1, but they mustered only three hits and a walk against Santana in five innings before he left with a pulled muscle. They hit some balls hard, had some bad luck, but I didn’t think they looked good. Then David Wright hit a solo homer in the sixth to make it 3-1, and more sloppy defense led to an “unearned” run in the seventh to make it 4-1.
The Braves did get the tying runs on in the eighth, with two out. Melky led off with a single, but the next two batters didn’t do anything, then Heyward walked. They moved up on a passed ball, and then Prado hit a chopper off the plate for a single to make it 4-2. Derrek Lee lined out to end the inning. Since McCann singled leading off the ninth, you have to wonder what would have happened if he’d kept the inning going. Anyway, Ankiel ran for McCann, and he didn’t go anywhere as the next three batters went down meekly.
Rocks get one back, 12-8.
12-10
And two more on a Fowler single. 12-10.
Its going to be frustrating if the Phillies can win do what we couldn’t in Denver….
Rockies put up 3 more to close the gap to 2 runs. At least the Phils are burning up their bullpen.
I smell a Brad Lidge appearance.
12-10…it really is ARENA style baseball
You just can’t get ahead of yourself in these things. 5-2 on the homestand is really about the best you can hope for. The bad guys went 6-1 (assuming they win) on a tough road trip – and only picked up one game. Keep this up, and it will be academic in any event.
Coors Field sucks. And I don’t drink, but I hear Coors beer does too.
I have decided that Melky is a dog; I just don’t know if he gets the doghouse. Woof.
@9 I like Melky’s defense in leftfield, but he doesn’t hit enough to be a leftfielder.
according to fangraphs, he’s awful in LF and CF. Diaz is far better defensively according to the stats
@11 I figure that would be accurate. That me rephrase, I like his arm strength.
Tulo with an RBI groundout, 12-11.
Coors beer sucks, but Colorado has some quite good breweries: Oskar Blues, Great Divide, and Avery are all pretty terrific.
who was the last team to have 20 hits and lose?
helton walk. runners 1st and 2nd 1 out.
cmon Barmes…let us be happy we didnt trade for you once again
who was the last team to have 20 hits and lose?
It’s happened 111 times since 1920; last time was when the Rangers lost to the Red Sox 19-17 in 2008.
Ah, shit. Ballgame. 12-11, Phillies, lead’s down to 2.0.
balls…
ok, a little more common than I thought
It sucks because if you had said “Santana is only going to last 5” then you’d think we’d have a better showing.
Well, it was one of those games where we dropped the ball all over the field, too.
3 out of 4 against the Mets is nothing to get too upset about–but we will continue to rue our series in Denver….
I honestly don’t mind the Phillies beating up the Rockies and the Padres. We will take care the Phillies ourselves.
C’mon Pitt..
Edit: Dammit. It’s like watching Marlins vs Nationals. Which one sucks less? In this case it looks like Utah, which I didn’t pick. >:o
And Kiffin goes for two after his first TD as HC at USC.
And fails. USC is in for a long ride. That is unless some other team offers him a job.
#26–Yeah, Kiffin at USC–the beginning of a long soap opera….
Wow.. this is already shaping up to be a good NCAA football season.
Utah is up 24-21 with seconds left in the 4th, but Pitt is within kicking distance and sets up for the FG. They kick it and make it but Utah calls time out to ice the kicker. They kick it again and miss, but Utah called another time out. Pitt kicks a third time, makes it, and the game goes to OT.
I forget how much I like college football during the spring and summer.
The Phillies are 6-1 now on their trip to SD, LA and Colorado. Not too shabby. I hate to admit it, but they’ll make it to the playoffs, where they will be unstoppable with Hamels, Oswalt and Halladay.
@29 Yes, they will make the playoff, but they are not unstoppable. I am hoping that we will play the Padres and they will play the Reds.
My Gamecocks looked pretty good last night.
Beer snobs.
I, on the other hand, am the Will Rogers of beer.
Trying to remain calm as the PhillieBeast seems to be awakening and we lose with Timmy on the mound. Trying to remain calm …
Yes, Weldon, that was a complete undressing.
The rest of us in the SEC East are not going to be happy if Garcia has finally removed his head from his butt.
We go to Rain Death Stadium, and the just-swept Brewers visit Philly.
Let’s see what you’re made of, Braves.
Three of four from the Mets is really good. Don’t for get that
Marlins are playing for pride, makes them a dangerous team, just saying…..
I really hate how all these teams are collapsing against the Phils. I wish we were playing them this weekend so we could put them in their place.
I’m going to be attending the skin-melting Sunday day-game in Florida. Right behind the right field foul pole, same section I was in for Brooks’ grand slam last time.
I hate that ball park.
Good teams make other teams collapse, and the Phillies are a good team now. They’re back to full strength and playing well.
I look forward to playing and beating them at full strength in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter if we’re the pennant winner or the WC.
@38 – Would you sit there b/c you want to? I was under the impression you could just sit wherever you wanted to at that godforsaken place.
Minor says his arm felt “tired” in the third inning of his last game. The Braves are no longer able to skip his spot in the rotation (Because he is too good).
Anybody else got a bad feeling about Minor’s arm?
@39
Home field would be nice in the playoffs
33—I fully expect him to look like the Garcia we all know and love against UGA. If he doesn’t, I’ll believe in USCe as a contender this year.
Last week the Phils weren’t such a good team when they played Houston.
BTW, what the hell’s wrong with Heyward last night? He’s being a drag on the offense again. Ok, now cue the four hits tonight. 🙂
Garcia is a headcase.
Agreed, home field would be very nice (esp. the way the Braves play at Turner this year), but I honestly believe that we can beat the Phils any day.
The Houston trip was bad for the Phils, but they were just getting eveyone back from the DL. They look pretty sharp over the last two+ series.
Kimbrel looked good last night in AAA. He was locating the heater pretty well and getting a lot of called strikes, especially with what I can only imagine was his slider (hitting 85-87 on the gun). No one was swinging at it, but both of his Ks were on called-strike sliders.
#41 – Ringer, not at all. When you get use to a certain throwing program like pitching every 5 days and then it becomes altered, you arm will feel tired. He had 8 or 9 days between starts, its hard to keep your arm fresh for that period of time.
Why are so many so sure that if the Braves don’t win the division, they will get the wild card? Is there a statistical basis for this? That would ease my mind . . .
It’s not certain, but they have a 4.5 game lead (I believe) over the Giants and 7 or 8 over the Cardinals/Rockies. Various statistical probability analyses given them a 95% or so probability of making the playoffs. So even if the Phillies catch them, they are pretty comfortably in the lead for the wild card. For example, let’s say they go 14-14 the rest of they way but the Phillies get hot and pass them. The Braves would still have 92 wins; the Giants would have to go 18-10 to tie, the Cardinals and Rockies would have to go 23-8. Even if the Braves play less than .500, it seems that the only team that could realistically catch them would be the Giants.
I think this team has to win the division. Home field advantage is very important for this team, and I think the road struggles are in their head.
And the Giants may win the division if the padres continue their free fall, so we may have a larger WC lead than it seems.
@51,
That’s likely true in terms of going far in the playoffs but the question involved making the playoffs in the first place. I think the Phillies would have a better chance of winning as a WC than the Braves would.
@53 My concern is shifting from making to playoffs to what is going to give us the best chance to succeed once we get there.
@41 – Dead arm is a common occurence. It doesn’t really presage arm injury per se. Minor is a young pitcher with good mechanics. He could get hurt, but I wouldn’t cite a “tired arm” after his first full professional season as a cause for concern.
The most compelling race in baseball is the race between whichever team loses the NL East and whichever team loses the NL West for the Wild Card.
After that, you’re looking at the White Sox’ long shot.
StL really fell apart in a hurry, didn’t they?
@57 – That’s what happens when your manager and superstar create a distraction in the clubhouse…
If there is karmic justice in the universe, I like to think of it as the Universe saying “**** you” to Glenn Beck supporters.
Let’s be careful here.
@59
I think you’re looking for Thomason Tracts there, chief.
@58, as much as it would suit me for that to be the case, I suspect the disappearance of Rasmus from the lineup generally, and their offense scoring 3 or less runs in 10 of the last 17 games specifically, is more likely the culprit.
I like to think of it as karmic justice for Tony La Russa’s hateable face.
63—Something we can all agree on.
The no-politics rule really isn’t that difficult to follow, and yet…
I don’t like the daily playoff odds reports. A high number creates a false sense of security, and if the team fails the natural tendency is to remember the day when the probability was highest, and then say that was the chance they blew. “92%” sounds so much more deterministic than “3 game lead with 20 to play”.
@64, well, 59 is pushing it, but 58 is non-partisan, and acceptable, IMHO, to mention the potential correlation.
65—I totally agree. The odds seem pretty meaningless to me. They’re extremely volatile, which seems to be at odds with the — well, with *my* — notion of objective odds, in the first place.
66—I agree with you, other than that I think “pushing it” is a little light.
Ugh…
2 Games up with the next two games looking particularly brutal. Road games with Kenshin tonight and Josh Johnson tomorrow…
Now is definitely the time for the team to show some more mettle.
@65, I agree the odds are silly, but posts like #50 are pretty good ways to think about your chances. Basically, if the Braves do anything over 500, it will require a hot streak from two teams (Phils and one of the WC contenders), not 1, to knock them out.
You can remove 59 if necessary. I just thought he was universally reviled.
No, you didn’t. You acknowledged his supporters in 59.
If the Braves get back from this road trip still in first place and/or with a significant lead over the Giants/Padres, I will feel a lot better. I guess it’s time to start rooting against the Giants or for the Padres to continue falling apart. The best thing would be for the Braves to win.
@71
Well I’m not going to say any more about it except that I shouldn’t have said it in the first place. I apologize, but there’s nothing I can do about it at this point.
A “non-political gathering” trips the no-politics wire. We can have it both ways.
Anyway, it’s downright heartwarming to see the St. Louis Cardinals fail.
A “non-political gathering” trips the no-politics wire. We can have it both ways.
Well played sir.
I have a good feeling about tonight.
Id feel better if we had some competent RHRP in our pen. Farnsworth and Moylan have been awful. When is Kimbrel coming back?
good news is Andrew Miller sucks and usually doesnt find the strike zone.
I find it hard to believe that praying for one’s country is a Cosmically Fuckyouable offense, but that’s just me.
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Latest word seems to be that UNC will be without FIFTEEN of their two-deep against LSU. Not even Les Miles can screw this up.
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I don’t think I’ve ever said this before: Hats off to A-Rod!
@78, A: strawman, and B: please just stop.
Changing the subject…look at these videos I found on Youtube! Sweet.
1992 NLCS Game 7 Comeback.
1995 Last Out.
Justice’s Homer.
Ok, let me get this straight. We are on the cusp of getting to the playoffs, but we’re talking about Glenn Beck instead? Stop the madness.
You’re right. We should be talking about trading Tommy Hanson.
Changing the subject: I found some cool videos on Youtube of the 1992 Game 7 Comeback and the 1995 World Series on Youtube. I linked to them, but the comment got sent to moderation. Should be easy to find anyway.
Come on, hank. THIS IS NOT A HARD RULE TO FOLLOW!!!
So, how about those Atlanta Braves? What a team!
I agree with Spike. I’m not going to get political but I think the comment in 78 is absurd. But that’s just me.
As for A-Rod, this seems to be a bit of ingratitude considering what Boras did for him. And do you think A-Rod is doing this because he got a sudden fit of conscience that Boras got him too much money? Boras does what the players want him to do–get more money.
People act as if Boras is the reason for high salaries for players–as if somehow that’s bad. It’s the market, not Boras. And, frankly, while he is extremely annoying and often disingenuous, he is no more dishonest than the owners who constantly plead poverty in order to get taxpayer-financed stadiums. Why is Boras everyone’s bete-noire?
I wish I could SIGH in, like, 96-point font.
Marc, I think you’re ignoring the fact that Boras sucks.
Also, Nyjer Morgan got eight games. I’d say that’s just about reasonable.
A-Rod dropped Boras because need a contract proposal guy anymore, he needs a contracts management guy. Two different skill sets. I am sure it was relatively amicable. As far as gratitude goes, that came in the form of a contract commission that is still fully due, regardless of their ongoing relationship. Arod has made $264,416,252 so far, and has another 174M on the books coming to him. 10 percent of that is a hell of a lot of gratitude.
@86, I don’t like the idea of total games for several offenses – the number of games for each offense would be much more honest, and allow Morgan a better shot at due process.
“On the Marlins side, pitcher Chris Volstad was suspended for six games, pitcher Alex Sanabia got five, first baseman Gaby Sanchez three, and manager Edwin Rodriguez will serve one game.
Unless appealed, most suspensions are scheduled to begin Friday night.”
No appeals, please. I’d just as soon that Gaby sits.
You are right Spike, but the comment made it seem as if A-Rod droppd Boras due to some moral qualms about how Boras operates. He didn’t have those qualms when he negotiated the contract. (And I realize that’s not why he dropped him.)
People act as if Boras puts a gun to players’ heads to make him their agent, Luca Brasi style.
@38 jjschiller
Lightning strikes in the same place all the time!
Go Braves!
They will appeal; they won’t let Gaby sit out against the Braves. 🙁
Thread time.
Now that a new thread has been created, I wish to make a clarification:
I failed to state that I was referring to ALBERT PUJOLS when I said I doubted he would be cosmically punished. I was not making any reference to Glenn Beck one way or the other, but I didn’t make that clear.
Sorry for the trouble.