Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies – Box Score – May 06, 2011 – ESPN.
Let’s face it, the Braves’ pitching is really good right now. Derek Lowe took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, then when he lost it the bullpen came in and shut the Phillies down. A run like this is special, enjoy.
Cliff Lee had it working tonight for the Phillies as well, striking out sixteen Braves in seven innings of work. However, the Braves had nine hits — you do the math, if they got the on the ball they usually reached — including four doubles. Three of those doubles and a single came in the space of five pitches in the third inning. Alex Gonzalez started off with double #1, Chipper singled, then McCann and Uggla followed with two-baggers of their own, and just like that it was 3-0. Then Lee started striking Braves out again.
Lowe only had four strikeouts, but he was getting ground balls much of the time, and popups usually when he didn’t. He’d allowed just one baserunner on a walk through six. Unfortunately, he apparently hurt his leg running to first after singling in the top of the seventh, and allowed a single and a double to lead off the bottom of the inning.
No problem, it’s O’Flaherty Time. Eric came in to face Ryan Howard, and struck him out. Then he struck out Ben Francisco. Then it was Raul Ibanez. Easy as pie. Venters only struck out two of the three men he faced in the eighth, the piker.
The Braves got two more runs in the ninth. Heyward, who didn’t start (the Braves went with Joe Mather, I guess because playing 8-on-9 would be stupid, if not much more stupid than paying Joe Mather major league wages) singled, then stole second. Prado singled him home, and went to second on the throw home, coming in to score on a Gonzalez single. Kimbrel walked Jimmy Rollins to lead off the ninth but got past it, finishing up with a Howard strikeout to end it.
What a great game. The pitching is lights out. I can’t wait to see what Teheran’s got for tomorrow!
Mac, your writeups have had me chuckling aloud of late. You really should read my friend’s book, “God and Football”. His stabs at humor are very in sync to yours.
Mac,great recap. I missed the game in toto, but glad to see the bravos get it together.
Yay. I love beating those hateful Phillies. A sweep this weekend would be HUGE.
On the other hand, the Hawks…
How much do they pay Lee to go 3-4?
Good approach in hitting the first pitch when in the zone
So this pitching staff gets an infusion of the top pitching prospect in baseball and the top Braves pitching prospect since whom? Avery? Well that’s just unfair. Our hitters deserve a .220 BAbip just to balance out the good pitching fortune. I guess Moylan’s back helps even things out too.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, and I’m the first to admit I believe it’s 100% a coincidence because I think he’s done a great job over the past 5+years…BUT
has anyone else noticed that this ridiculous run of starting pitching coincides exactly with when Dave Wallace became “acting pitching coach” or whatever and McDowell was given his suspension?
Again, I believe it’s probably a giant coincidence and nothing more, but I suppose it’s worth pointing out, right?
Also, I watched this with a Phillies fan buddy of mine. After the 8th, he said, “Well, I guess we’re not going to see Kimbrel after all.” When I corrected him that, yes, we would indeed be seeing Kimbrel, he asked why. When I said it was because he’d already warmed up, his response was, “That’s a stupid reason.”
*sigh*
Still, great win!
Braves team ERA since McDowell suspension announced: 1.67
Roger, be sure to ask lots of questions during your sensitivity training. Don’t be afraid to repeat sections that confuse you. Might an advanced degree in sensitivity be right for you?
How long will Polanco’s big toe keep him from playing. I would advise rest until Monday
As far as coincidences, I guess it’s just my luck that the Braves have been on a winning streak since my free month of MLBtv ended…
The time elapsed from when the game was no longer a save situation to when Kimbrel trotted out of the bullpen was maybe two or three minutes. They’re not playing a video game, you know.
Bringing in Kimbrel was/is the correct call there.
Yeah, if you’ve never been around a bullpen when a pitcher is warming up (not saying you haven’t), whoever it is throws a lot of pitches before he ever goes on the field. A high pitch count outing like Kimbrel’s tonight might still be fewer than he threw while warming up, and a typical outing will feature a small percentage of the pitches he threw warming up. Once a guy is up, you might as well bring him in the game.
Hicks optioned to AAA for Teheran. He’ll have to stay there for 2 weeks, right?
10 days.
I’m amazed that they’re sending Hicks down. My guess is that they’ll bring up Diory soon. I would think Prado is their only option as an emergency backup SS. I don’t think they’ll allow that to last long.
How soon can they send Teheran down? I’ll bet they send him down right after he pitches if possible.
On another note, I definitely miss the versatility of Infante. However, his BA 0f .244 and OPS of .595 this year is not being missed.
I f’in hate Fredi Gonzalez. If he could manage his way to a loss he would have done it. First he starts Joe Mather and bats him seventh, then he uses O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel for the three billionth time. And Larry Parrish is the worst hitting coach of all time. The Braves struck out a million times tonight. I’ve never seen a team this bad.
#20 – thats about perfect
In the words of the immortal Homer Simpson, “It’s funny ’cause it’s true!”
Given Lowe’s antics on the mound for the entire Rollins/Polanco AB, why the hell does Fredi stick with him? Once the no-no is gone, I’m yanking his ass.
But, hard to complain with how this team is playing over the last two weeks.
Anyone notice Chipper’s Dan Uggla haircut/mohawk underneath the cap? Chip, ain’t you a bit old to act like Kanye West?
Mr. T wants his haircut back.
Of course, we all remember last year we were calling him “O’Failurety” at this time.
To be fair, I’ve been calling Uggla all kinds of names over the last 6 or 7 years.
Before seeing Hudson’s postgame interview about his one-hit gem yesterday, I’d totally lost track of the fact that he and David Ross were teammates back at Auburn.
They’re saying blister on the right foot for Lowe, so nothing to be concerned about there.
It’s been a LONG time since the Braves have had 5 straight starts of this quality . . . I can’t remember ever having 5 starts of this quality in a 8-10 game stretch, much less IN A ROW. Pretty good.
Oh and I’m really glad to hear that Lowe only has a blister — I was ready to strangle Freddie for not taking him out after the Evil One got the hit in the 7th.
O’Flaherty has pitched 3 days in a row now, while Venters and Kimbrel have pitched the last 2. We may have some bullpen problems tomorrow.
Entertaining and thought-provoking read about the unintended consequences of suing the BCS (by the Runyonesquely-named Ray Ratto):
http://www.cbssports.com/#!/collegefootball/story/15033328/justice-will-be-hard-to-find-when-bcs-becomes-moving-target
I gotta learn how to shorten a link name.
Boy, Howdy, this is fun!
justhank- http://tinyurl.com/
It’s as easy as can be. And free. They even let you personalize the link a little bit.
Thanks, jj! Mucho mo’ better.
http://tinyurl.com/BCSbutterflyeffect
Is Chipper the back up shortstop tonight?
An interview of Teheran by ‘El Tiempo’, the national Colombian newspaper.
http://tinyurl.com/teheraninterview
I actually think Prado is more likely to be backup SS than Chipper. (Per B-R, Prado played 15 innings at SS in 2008; Chipper hasn’t played an inning of SS since 1999.)
That is one crappy translation.
“What is your best pitch?
The line, because I place where I and many outs with her bag. This release really helps.”
For fun, I just Google translated one of Mac’s paragraphs to Spanish and then back to English.
Cliff Lee had to work tonight for the Phillies, well, striking out sixteen Braves in seven innings of work…Alex Gonzalez opened with two # 1, Chipper simple, then McCann and Uggla followed with two packers of their own, and as it was 3-0. Then Lee started Braves on strike again.
Two packers?
Oddly, if you put Fredi’s quotes through a translator and back, they make just as much sense as they originally did.
@38
I remember Chipper playing short in 2000. I swear.
Actually, Chipper did play six games at short (three starts) in 2000. He also played seven innings in one game in 2007.
I remember that game. That was a long extra inning game against the Astros (of course) when Renteria sprained his ankle and Escobar (I think) had already been used.
That was the game during which Chief Nocahoma asked for a summary of events, since he missed a couple innings due to having sex.
I remember that game for both Chipper’s and Chief’s escapades…
Game thread.
Oops, I just misread the B-R page.
Stu, your ability to remember Bravesjournal comments is nothing less than astounding.
@46
There must have been some efficient pitching and some aggressive first pitch swinging that day.