San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – August 16, 2011 – ESPN.
So the bad news is that Randall Delgado didn’t get a no-hitter, or a win. Good news is that the Braves got a win, against one of the teams they’re in direct competition with. Oh, and we owe them a little from last year, too.
Delgado actually faced the minimum through six, having allowed one baserunner, on a walk, who was erased on a double play. The Braves led 1-0 after the third inning, when Jose Constanza laid down a terrible bunt but reached anyway when nobody was near first base, and after the inevitable bunt by Delgado Michael Bourn singled Constanza home, though he was then caught in a run-down for some reason.
I was starting to wonder how long you could go with Delgado in a 1-0 game, no-hitter or not, even if his pitch count wasn’t that high. I figured the seventh had to be his last inning. But Commando Cody Ross — of course — spoiled things with a solo homer, tying the game. Fredi went to Eric O’Flaherty immediately, and he had no trouble.
The Braves weren’t doing much offensively. Meanwhile, Jonny Venters allowed a couple of soft singles with two out in the eighth but got out of it, as did Craig Kimbrel after a single in the ninth. Arodys Vizcaino was the long man. After a leadoff walk in the tenth, he got out of it with a double play.
The Braves really should have won in the tenth. Dan Uggla singled leading off. Freddie Freeman then got a hit down the first-base line that looked like a double, but the right fielder got to it quick and Freddie was thrown out trying to get back to first. Chipper Jones was walked, and Alex Gonzalez hit into the inning-ending double play.
Vizcaino gave up a single in the eleventh, but that was it. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Brooks Conrad hit a ground-rule double down the right field line. Bourn grounded out, moving him to third. And Martin Prado came up with the RBI single, again, to end the game and get Vizcaino his first major league victory.
If this doesnt cause the death penalty for a school, what will? Geez.
http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/news?slug=cr-renegade_miami_booster_details_illicit_benefits_081611
This team does have a pretty deep bench. Conrad to the rescue again.
A sweep would be huge here.
Look at all the pitchers we threw out there tonight. Kudos to all Braves scouts and minor league staffs. We sure do know how to develop major league pitchers.
Andrew MacCutcheon!
And late-inning clutchness from Martin Prado both nights. Love to see that.
Remember, we’re about to face their stud starters.
But i’m with that askia. this is fun stuff. that’s what a baseball fan lives for – dramatic, tight games with the teams you’re battling in the standings. Fantastic, last-at-bat victories. You gotta love it.
Go braves.
I waffled on the issue at the time, but boy am I glad we didn’t do the Beltran-Minor trade. And damn is it nice to have Delgado and Vizcaino contributing.
Cody Ross had better get one in the ear tomorrow after that home run trot.
Pirates beat St. Louis 5-4 in 11 with a home run into the confluence.
@9 Vizcaino buzzed him late in the game.
I can’t even begin to say how much more confidence I had in extra innings without Proctor. I’m sure Vizcaino will come down to earth a little, but he has looked great so far.
@11
No way he was throwing at him there. Tomorrow the deed needs to be done.
The walkoff celebrations are hilarious…but Prado looked like he’d rather not get hit in the head repeatedly by the rosin bag.
So when does it become appropriate to use an 8 man rotation? I don’t see a weakness in this team at all other than relievers’ IPs heading into October
Drooling over the idea of a venters, kimbrel, medlen, o’flaherty, and vizcaino bullpen for at least 2 more years.
Milwaukee beats the Dodgers 2-1. St. Louis is now 7 back of the Brewers, who keep up with our record.
I bet Chipper wouldve bet his lifetime income that AAG wouldnt be “protecting” him in the lineup.
6 games up in the WC and only 39 games left to play. Keep winning boys!
@17 It’s time for Chipper to retire. There is no way he will get his 3000 hits. He would need to play five more years to get there with the way his health is at the moment.
it is Chipper’s decision
Anyone else hope Jurrjens’ return sends Minor to AAA instead of Delgado?
Who pitches Thursday if Minor goes down?
21: I’m not really thinking like that. Looking forward to Minor’s turn against the wretched Giants lineup. But either way, the best pitchers need to be in the rotation. We’re in the stretch run, no time for silliness.
@21 I want Lowe to be gone. I don’t care where, I just want him to be gone. I don’t care if we pay him $15M to do nothing. He is more “valuable” doing that than be on the mount.
Well, Delgado has already been optioned back to AAA for Jurrjens to come off the DL.
In other news, Carlos Marmol just lost a game in hilarious fashion. Where was that last weekend?
Thanks for the jump Randall, here’s a Fresca.
Wonder if we go to an eight man rotation beginning Sept. 1:
Hudson
Lowe
Jurrjens
Beachy
Minor
Delgado
Teheran
Hanson (for one start until his shoulder blows up)
Bowman is tired of all you people criticizing the manager.
Fredi at peace with calls he makes for Braves
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110816&content_id=23287066¬ebook_id=23288074
It worked out somehow & we got a win without using O’Ventbrel. Fine.
@28- “For me to say, ‘I don’t want to make this decision because I don’t want to answer the question at the end of the night’ and take the safe way out, I would retire.”
Man, that quote would have some real teeth to it, if either of our intrepid reporters.. you know.. asked questions.
“So, uh, Fredi.. um.. why did you let Huddy hit for himself in the 7th? Felt he would get the bunt down? Bet you probably wanted to spare your pen for tomorrow, huh? Sorry, forget I asked.”
Then again, good move by Fredi to go with EOF in my opinion.
The Fredi single down the line somewhat in the 10th was a strange play. When Fredi first hit the ball…he looked like Adam LaRoche coming out of the box. Not sure if he presumed it was a stand-up double or what…but he didn’t hustle out of the box.
Not that every outfielder throws it back behind the runner at 1B with a runner on 3B. Or hardly ever. But the OF did…and it wasn’t even a great throw to get Freddy, who dove back into the bag but never got a hold of the base (but rather the 1B’s foot).
When we didnt get Uggs home from 3B in the same inning, I expected the Giants to win. Very enjoyable to see the Braves not lose after blowing that opportunity.
Cody Ross is a tool. And he’s tortured the Braves. I don’t get how he throws his bat after making contact every time…and the big douchey looking hop tonight after the homer?? What the hell is up with that?
I’d be very satisfied with helping keep the Giants at home during the playoffs this year. Two sweeps in a season is a considerable step in that direction.
Last night for Rome…
•Sean Gilmartin 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Resilience.
I’m goin gto the game Thursday and I am sitting about 16 rows up behind 1st base.
I am going to have a discussion with Cody Ross about his Bush League move.
IIRC, the Braves’ dugout is 1st base side, so if you’re going to shout at CRoss, you’re going to have to do it when he’s at first. It will be hard for him to reach first base while striking out four times.
@36,
I’ll start in on him when he comes to bat.
The on-field celebration Cody Ross had to walk past wasn’t retribution enough? (Edit: From the team, I mean. I heartily endorse all razzing from the stands.)
A little redemption for Conrad is a good thing. Also for Prado who was injured during playoffs. Memory of a bad trade. Brett Butler has ML record of 72 infield hits in a season. George is on pace for a 100 infield hits in a 162 game season.
@38
He needs a ball in the ear.
Fredi on pulling Delgado:
“It’s a decision that I think you took him as far as we could take him.”
For those keeping track (IOW, just me), that’s first-person singular AND plural, plus second-person, with a little passive voice thrown in for extra freshness, all in the space of a single sentence. I will now spend the rest of the day trying to figure out who made the call. Fredi is now answering questions in the form of decision-tree sudokus. Well played!
1. Pulling a 21 year old rookie (who got lit up his first start) after 75 high-intensity pitches was the right decision.
2. Ross needs to be drilled for that little crow hop he pulled on the homer. That’s bush league.
3. I doubt the Braves retaliate. They aren’t known to do that frequently.
@41
Coming from someone that has trouble with written 1st,2nd, and 3rd person, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a butchering. At least not by myself. Fredi Gonzalez, you, I, and we thinks he’s not a smart man.
“75 high-intensity pitches”
He only had 1 baserunner. I do agree that Ross needs one in the ribs tonight.
@43 He speaks Spanish better than you and uses it on his job. Those that make him smarter than you?
I agreed with the decision, too, along with the foresight that allowed Fredi to have O’Flaherty ready to go right away even though Delgado had thrown only 69 (no-hit!) pitches through six.
And I don’t think Fredi is dumb — at least, not necessarily. After all, you could say it’s in his best interests to use Jedi mind-tricks to cast some potentially controversial calls as an amalgam of individual and collective decision-making, along with a suggestion that “the book” issues dictates that restricts his leeway somewhat.
But mostly, I’m just having a little fun with it.
One base runner against possibly the worst lineup in baseball at the moment.
Sam is right. It was a good move to pull him.
Sam, if Bobby was here, Ross gets hit tonight or tomorrow.
Yeah, he was lit up in his first and only other start, but that was against the Texas Rangers. Come on. If you’re worried about a guy’s mental makeup, you don’t push him out there against one of the majors’ best offenses. And physically, those six innings and 79 pitches against the Giants should have been a pretty low stress affair all in all.
Having said all that, I think it was a perfectly acceptable move to pull him.
I also think we need to drill Cody Ross. Hard.
Wait, wait, wait. The other night we were complaining about using Linebrink and not putting in someone to really nail down a win when things started getting sticky with Beachy, and now we’re unsure if Delgado should have been pulled for Eric?
@50
I’m not sure who is calling Fredi out for that. It is a little on the reaching side.
I say we let Heyward be our starting pitcher tonight and let him drill Ross.
Taking him out of the game was the right move. The only reason Delgado started the 7th was because he had a no-hitter.
Also, the testosterone being displayed on this thread is hilarious. Cody Ross threw his bat away! He skipped! He skipped! He deserves to be hit in the head with a 94 mph fastball! I’m going to assume that the Braves don’t want Minor to get a 5-7 game suspension, and that the Braves are not nearly as pissed off about this non-event as some of the hyper-masculine commenters are here. The Braves don’t normally “retaliate” because retaliation is normally stupid. Just take a deep breath and realize that Cody Ross’s bad sportsmanship is a largely irrelevant matter.
52: So if I don’t think Cody ought to be hit in the head but rather, say, the waist, does that make me merely “masculine”? :p
FWIW, I don’t think Minor ought to do it but perhaps Linebrink could be brought in to face one batter…
I agree that Ross needs a brutal accounting tonight.
Yeah, I was a little peeved when Fredi pulled Delgado, but it’s certainly not clear that it was the wrong move. I’m generally in favor of getting as much out of (non-Lowe) starters as possible, and I think a case could be made that Delgado was fit to continue last night, but not to the extent that I’d argue with anyone about it. I’ve decided to set an arbitrary personal burden of proof of +- 5% WPA on any Fredi decision that I actually want to get upset about (binding only for in-game decisions – I reserve the right, for instance, to be very annoyed whenever Heyward isn’t in the starting lineup, regardless of circumstances).
I dunno, I am good with winning at least one more of these games as retaliation. Be tough for them to come back from 6 or 7 down with 37 to go.
Fredi will prove once and for all that he hates Heyward by somehow having him PH for Cody Ross, only to get drilled in the shoulder. :p
I’ve decided to set an arbitrary personal burden of proof of +- 5% WPA on any Fredi decision that I actually want to get upset about (binding only for in-game decisions – I reserve the right, for instance, to be very annoyed whenever Heyward isn’t in the starting lineup, regardless of circumstances)
See, that’s kinda funny.
Personally, I kinda hope they find his wife and kids and hit them, too. But like, with bean bags or something. They’re women and children for christ’s sake.
@53 – If Cheryl can be the designate pitcher to left handed opposing pitchers, then Linebrink really needs an equally niche role such as jackass headhunter.
Braves.com doesn’t take into account the SBs Bourn had in Houston, but he’s still tied for the team lead with 6.
I dunno, I am good with winning at least one more of these games as retaliation. Be tough for them to come back from 6 or 7 down with 37 to go.
The D-backs beat the Phillies last night. On 7.5 back! Stop rooting for second place.
It’s been said before, but English is Fredi’s second language. Also, he’s not writing a freaking essay. People looking for grammatical errors in his postgame comments are starting to piss me off. At best, it’s barking up the wrong tree. At worst, it’s prejudicial. If you’re going to bitch about him, go back to bitching about his calls.
Here’s to hoping that JJ is up for it tonight. I want to demolish the Giants.
I know this is pretty much the opposite of a relationship advice forum, but I know some posters here have experience with this particular scenario:
My girlfriend of almost 2.5 years just started law school at UM. We moved to Miami in May and this is the first time we’ve lived together. We have a really good relationship and I love her. I know that 1L is going to be a huge investment of time and it’s going to be stressful beyond belief and I obviously can’t help her study aside from holding the occasional flash card. I also know that she’ll have close to no free time and I can’t expect her to spend every second of the little she has with me.
I know I have to keep myself equally busy (looking into bartending school, classes, second/third jobs, anything), give her her space when she needs it, and pick up the slack around the house. I’m happy to do the household chores and even cook every night if that makes her life easier. Does anyone have any other advice or experiences to share with me?
Oh, and her birthday is coming up in about a month. Any ideas for a suitable and practical gift for a 1L student?
@61 – Jordan Schafer had 15 SBs in Atlanta this year.
Does anyone have any other advice or experiences to share with me?
Miami has awesome and discreet escort services.
@67, How do you think we met?
RobBroad4th,
My girl’s headed to med school, so I have some idea of what you’re going through. Contact me backchannel at monketah [at] gmail dot com.
Good luck!
#41
sansho1,
You are not alone.
@65 – A Macbook Air
@67 – Funny as hell.
“He needs a ball in the ear.”
This is another of baseball’s old, unwritten rules that makes no sense. Cody Ross hits a home run, flips his bat and skips out of the batter’s box; and it’s wrong, “shows the pitcher up” and deserves a “ball in the ear”?
But that massive celebration after the walk-off single…that totally didn’t show the Giants up at all, right?
@72,
Yep.
Rob,
Give her space. A good gift would be a weekend getaway that you could do after the semester. It would be good for her to get away
Nick, you’re mistaking my intention. I really think Fredi talks strategy that way on purpose, not because he’s capable only of pidgin English. He’s being politically savvy.
Hamels has shoulder inflammation and will miss at least one start. AND Polanco has a sports hernia and is going on the DL.
It would be silly to get into a bean ball war with a team playing themselves out of play offs. It might wake them up.
@75 Things happen when a team gets old.
I don’t care about how Fredi’s quotes look in the paper. He’s speaking, not writing. He doesn’t get the chance to edit himself. He might make more grammatical errors than I do, but I think if you followed most people around all day, transcribing their verbal communication to written words, you could make them sound like a moron.
If I had to guess, I’d say he’s trying to speak in a passive voice, for whatever reason, and then he tends to slip out of it. Whatevs.
The Ross thing reminds me of last week’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry takes a bite of some Pink Berry ice cream intended for Jeff’s dying dog. Jeff then insists on taking a bite, too, because that’s only fair. Larry accuses Jeff of taking a bigger bite than he did, and takes a second bite to “even it up”. Jeff takes the ice cream away and takes yet another bite. The scene ends with Bob Horner clubbing a shirtless Ed Whitson over the head with the cast on his broken wrist. Either that or an empty ice cream cup, I forget which.
Rob, my wife and I got married her first year of Law school. We lived in New Orleans and it was 2005…yep, Katrina year. She started a month late due to Katrina, in Houston (the law school was moved there for a semester), and as if the hurricane wasn’t stressful enough, covering a year’s worth of school in a new city and with a month already elapsed,you can probably imagine the stress…
A few pieces of advice…
1. Plan times together, but be flexible. Even if it’s only once a week, try to set aside an hour of just relaxation. Making her a bath works wonders.
2. Cook foods low in fat. Nothing worse than trying to study when ya can’t hold your eyes open.
3. Take up exercising together. She’s going to need some stress relief and you will too. Jogging, biking, or hiking together are good ideas.
4. Walk away. There will be times when she’s angry for no reason. Either learn to take it or learn to walk away. I’d walk away.
5. Softball, tennis, the bar to watch a game, basketball, do whatever it takes to get out of the house when she’s studying, but be on her beckon call when she needs you. Drop everything, swallow some pride, and get home.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
@66,
Rob,
As a UM law grad (although I went nights for two years), please don’t let your girlfriend get so immersed in school that she forgets there is a life outside. Law school is tought but it’s not nuclear physics. The legal profession and law schools have created this myth that law is so difficult and requires so much dedication that you have to devote your whole life to studying it. This, of course, raises the status of lawyers–look how hard we had to work to become lawyers.
I met people in law school whose entire identity became being a law student. It’s not necessary. She needs to study hard but there is no reason for her to ignore you. Your relationship is far more important than making law review.
All of these are good pieces of advice, but I strongly suggest whores. A solid, strong, long lasting relationship is built on whores. Whores, and lies.
All is forgiven, Sam. That is just simply hilarious.
All of this Miami stuff sure sounds familiar to these old ears.
I know – Shapiro is this generation’s Sam Gilbert.
Guess we’ll canonize Randy Shannon one of these days, too.
Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions, guys (very cool that you went to UM too, Marc). We’re both ending our summer of gluttony and binge drinking, so we’ve been cooking very healthy meals lately and we’ve even had a few gym dates–the facility at our complex is actually decent and available 24 hours.
The funny thing is she came home from her first day of class yesterday around 6:00 in a great mood, we had a nice dinner, went to the gym, watched an hour of TV, and ran errands together. I started thinking that we could make this work, but she underestimated how much work she had that night and went to bed frustrated and frazzled. I’m guessing the tone for today will be a little different. 🙂
I do contract work at home, which could make things interesting in the future, but thankfully we have a separate office space so we can close the door on each other when need be. That said, I desparately need a second job and a reason to get out of the house that doesn’t involve hitting a pub (trying to lose a few lbs). My best friend and his wife live out here (thank God) but I really need to start meeting people.
For now I’m packing her lunch, cooking dinner, and trying to keep the apartment clean. I feel like I’ve surrendered the pants in the relationship, but I’m hoping it’ll be worth it. 😉
And whores are good and fine, but it might be cheaper to buy one of those flashlights that aren’t really flashlights…
@85 When she’s bringing in the money you won’t feel so bad about sharing the pants.
Shelby Miller suspended for season pursuant to “alcohol related incidents”
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/article_23043774-c846-11e0-aa1e-001a4bcf6878.html
TLR sure does get his philosophy across to ’em young.
lifting those beer cans is tough on biceps
Then maybe he should drink light beer?
@85,
Rob,
One piece of advice to your girl friend from an old law student. When I was at UM, the professors to a man (or woman) all said don’t buy commercial outlines, it won’t help you because they only give you “black-letter law.” I eventually learned that was bullshit, commercial outlines helped a lot and the profs just were saying this so people wouldn’t tune out their lectures. Stuff like this is probably on-line these days, but I would encourage her to use any resources she can.
@90, Great advice, thanks! What kind of work do you do now and where?
No sir, I don’t like it.
Might be time to go fucking get him, Fredi.