Braves 4, Nationals 0
Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals – Box Score – July 21, 2012 – ESPN.
The excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged, must end in disappointment. If it be asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation raised as is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectations raised, not by the common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and the general rules of action to be broken.
— Samuel Johnson, Letter to Baretti, June 10, 1761Remember to not have any hope
— Mac Thomason, game thread, Sept. 13, 2009
The Braves have two straight wins against the Washington Nationals, Ben Sheets is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings as a Brave, Chipper Jones hit a fist-pumpingly awesome pinch homer in the 9th and has 4 RBI in two days against the best team in the league, and the Braves are within 1.5 games of the division lead. If we don’t start pumping the brake on the hope car, it could become a runaway train.
Why we should maybe be slightly cautious:
Sheets got lucky today. He stranded multiple runners on base three different times, getting out of first-and-second with a strikeout in the 1st inning, first-and-third with a double play in the 3rd inning, and first-and-second in the 6th inning.
The Braves offense was awfully iffy today. While Sheets was walking on the edge of a knife, it was 1-0 for about two hours, from Brian McCann’s solo shot in the second inning through the bottom of the 7th. The Braves made it 2-0 in the top of the 8th in inimitable fashion, somehow scoring just one run despite a single, three walks, three stolen bases, and a wild pitch. A day after his best game in a month, Uggla got a golden sombrero, striking out four times in four plate appearances.
On the other hand:
The Braves recorded three double plays on the day, with Janish in the middle of two of them; say what you want about him, but I think he’s a better ballplayer than Jack Wilson and Tyler Pastornicky. I’d rather have Andrelton Simmons come back at 100% than force him to come back early and struggle the rest of the year like Heyward or Prado did last year.
Brian McCann had a homer and two walks in three plate appearances today. On July 7, McCann was batting .231, and Dave O’Brien wrote a piece headlined “McCann feels turnaround coming after session with his brother.” Since then, he’s hitting .344/.417/.844, with 5 homers and 9 RBI in his last 8 games.
Ben Sheets may give up a run at some point, but still. Randall Delgado, Mike Minor, and Jair Jurrjens have ERAs of 4.52, 5.69, and 6.20, respectively. It won’t take much for him to exceed their levels of suck. Sheets’s two scoreless starts equals the number of scoreless starts that those three knuckleheads have achieved between them.
Bourn, Prado, and Heyward were 4-12 with three walks and three stolen bases today. With a top of the lineup like that, we’ll wind up scoring a few runs by accident.
I still think Medlen should be in the rotation, but he pitched two more scoreless innings. He’s got a 0.73 ERA with four holds in 8 appearances this month. He’s really good. Hopefully, with Venters off the DL, we’ll be able to add the old Everyday Jonny into our mix, too. Durbin had a scoreless inning as well. He obviously melted down the other night, but Durbin has not been charged with a run in 29 of his last 33 appearances, as his ERA has shrunk from 8.25 to 3.58.
Since the Puerto Rico/Montreal Expos moved to Washington, following the 2004 season, the Braves have been 68-69 against them. Before last night, they were 66-69. In a couple of hours, they will have an opportunity to climb to an even .500, and if they were to win, tomorrow they would have an opportunity both to gain a winning record against the franchise and to take the division lead.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Chipper Jones has an even 1600 RBI. Last night, as you know, Chipper Jones pushed past George Brett to become the all-time leader in RBI by a third baseman. He gained the all-time lead in runs scored by a third baseman by passing Brett on July 1. (If he gets 28 more walks the rest of the year, which is unlikely but possible, he’ll pass Mike Schmidt for third on the all-time list for walks by a 3B, behind Eddie Yost and the great Darrell Evans.)
He may not retain his place on those leaderboards for long, of course. Some time, probably next year, Alex Rodriguez will have played more third base than shortstop; he’s currently just 77 starts and 633 2/3 defensive innings behind. And that will push Chipper to number two in RBI and runs by a third baseman. But, hell, there’s no great shame in that. George Brett will still be number three.
Wins in 2012:
Sheets: 2
July 21st, 2012 at 4:54 pmCliff Lee: 1
See if you can find the quote.
July 21st, 2012 at 4:57 pm“We hooked up out in the hall and he gave it to me,” Thome said. “It was good.”
Is that it? Haha
July 21st, 2012 at 5:01 pm“I got to my room that night and I saw they had a guy on a harness trying to get it.”
July 21st, 2012 at 5:05 pmIf we don’t start pumping the brake on the hope car, it could become a runaway train.
The brakes, I’m sure, are fine.
Watching Sheets pitch is reminiscent of watching Javier Vazquez.
And hey, hasn’t @DadBoner been on a roll the last couple of days!
July 21st, 2012 at 5:08 pm@3: winner! lol. And, Alex, I hadn’t thought of that one, but that could work too.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:08 pmI was going to go with: “We hooked up out in the hall and he gave it to me,” Thome said. “It was good.”
July 21st, 2012 at 5:10 pmToo late…
July 21st, 2012 at 5:10 pm“Lucky” seems a little harsh for Sheets. He did have some luck, but his FIP on the game was 2.57. Still pitched damn well.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:27 pmWas at the game today. Chipper’s pinch HR was awesome, complete no-doubter. All the Braves fans gave him a standing O when he came out on deck, and went crazy on the HR.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:27 pmAstros Acquire Hamburger Off Waivers
July 21st, 2012 at 5:33 pmYou guys, huge power move by Ben Sheets today. Bold flavors.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:40 pmBaserunning errors might have cost us: Janish getting thrown out at third and Heyward failing to advance to third when Prado got caught in the rundown.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:47 pmWashington is in 1st place, playing their closest rival. Watching the game today, my impression is that not many in DC cares.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:51 pm“Washington is in 1st place, playing their closest rival. Watching the game today, my impression is that not many in DC cares.”
If the Nationals stay in first place, they might actually sell out a game. #NATITUDE
July 21st, 2012 at 6:00 pm@13
Well, it was part of a DH. They had a good crowd last night.
DOB says we called the Sox about Lester.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:03 pm12: I don’t know that Janish’s attempt to advance on the hit was an “error.” Yeah, the play didn’t end up being close, but Bernadina hasn’t got much of an arm. He’s a guy you want to force to make a play. It won’t work out every time, it didn’t work out this time, but I wouldn’t extrapolate from the result to say the process was flawed.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:05 pmI love it when your base stealing lead off hitter starts the game with a single and yet Fredi allows Prado to hit into yet another dp without a hit and run or straight steal
July 21st, 2012 at 6:08 pmI love RBI doubles by Chipper, myself.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:09 pm@18 yep
July 21st, 2012 at 6:11 pmBetter score some more considering our pitcher.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:15 pmWe’re gonna need two every inning.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:17 pmObviously, when I saw that the Astros acquired Hamburger, I immediately thought of this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXX4EgH5t4
July 21st, 2012 at 6:17 pmTwo runs is about three innings for Delgado.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:21 pmWhat might help Delgado though is the rainy weather and the wind blowing in from RF.
Of course, when he’s really on, there is no help.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:23 pmDelgado is amped. Fastball is sitting at 94-95.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:23 pmVery nicely done.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:26 pmWhoa! I thought Janish would need three tries to hit a ball that far.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:26 pmWould you guys be interested in Lester if he was available? I have to think anyone would benefit form getting away from my bad juju.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:27 pmTonight’s game is MLB free game!!!!
July 21st, 2012 at 6:27 pmI think Lester is a good buy low candidate. Under contract through 2014. Could probably use a change of scenery.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:29 pmTry not to choke this time, Martin.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:29 pmIf there was a “wasted leadoff doubles” category, the Braves would lead the league by a several million.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:31 pmSure, I’d take Lester of their hands. But I can’t understand why they’d trade him. They only owe him $24.6 million over the next two years and screwed-up as they are they’re easily in the hunt for the second wild car.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:31 pm*off their hands
July 21st, 2012 at 6:32 pmKid, listen to David.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:37 pmDelgado throwing gas and spotting a change. It’s like he wants to get traded.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:38 pmOr he wants Hanson or JJ’s spot.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:41 pm35- Or more positively, he knows that the rotation for the rest of the season (and even the playoffs) really only has Hudson and Hanson carved in stone, and he’d like to be there.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:42 pmWe’re stuck with Hanson. JJ, on the other hand…
July 21st, 2012 at 6:42 pmRandall Delgado has a lower ERA than Tommy Hanson.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:42 pmWhen Freddie and McCann are hitting, I feel a lot better about this team.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:46 pm38 — Yeah, if JJ keeps pitching like he did last time he’ll be back in Gwinnett.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:47 pmThought the Braves were looking for a top of the rotation starter. How does 4.80 ERA Lester alone fix anything? The Braves have a ‘Lester’ pitching for them right now.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:51 pm42- I think the idea is that Lester’s pitched better in the recent past, but even then you can say the same of Hanson, Sheets and JJ (though not quite to the same extent). He’s not worth $25 million in my book.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:56 pmNice, Randall. More runs, please.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:57 pmWell, that looked high but i’ll take it.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:58 pmThanks, ump!
July 21st, 2012 at 6:59 pmI’m back in Birmingham. Still in the hospital but it’s my “home” hospital.
July 21st, 2012 at 6:59 pmGlad to hear you’re that much closer to home, Mac.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:02 pmGlad you’re back and hope you’re watching!
July 21st, 2012 at 7:04 pmRemember, Jon Lester pitches in the AL East, in Fenway Park. To put it mildly, that ain’t easy.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:04 pmHope you’re doing ok Mac.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:06 pmHope you’re doing well, Mac, and I’m glad you’re back closer to home.
Come on Delgado, you can get out of this.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:10 pmDon Sutton just called him “the heavy-legged LaRoche.” It’s always nice when LaRoche’s molasses slowness works for us, not against us.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:15 pmNice, Braves. Let’s get Randall a few more runs, please.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:16 pmGreat DP!
July 21st, 2012 at 7:16 pmI haven’t seen the Dark Knight Rises yet, but man, that superman trailer is incredible.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:17 pmWelcome back to God’s country, Mac.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:17 pmPhiladelphia is still in America, Coop.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:18 pmThere is no God in Philadelphia.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:19 pmMatt Garza has been pulled in his start
July 21st, 2012 at 7:20 pmChipper’s first hit-by-pitch since 2009.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:21 pmLannan has given up five hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen, and of course we have just two runs.
In his career against us, he has a 3.25 ERA in 15 starts, with a WHIP of 1.52. I hate him so much.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:21 pmSweet home Alabama.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:23 pmI have a bad feeling about this.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:25 pmOh no.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:29 pmOh not this again! Every few days we let in a run this way, and it never gets less embarrassing.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:31 pmYou’re kidding me.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:31 pmCall the game now, umps!
July 21st, 2012 at 7:32 pmWell that could have been worse.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:32 pmOk, call the game.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:32 pmWonder what it would take to acquire Lester. I’d be interested.
Lester at 2 years for $25
or
Greinke at 5 years for $100+?
Of course, the correct answer is both. ha.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:34 pmFive innings, one tainted run: I’ll take it.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:34 pmPer MLB Network, an “apparent wrist injury” for Dempster.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:36 pm@75 Oh wow, that sucks for any number of teams.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:38 pmGarza, not Dempster. I’m an idiot.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:38 pm@11: Apparently there’s no truth to the rumor that the Astros are waiting until Tuesday to pay the Padres for the Hamburger that they bought today.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:39 pmBernadina just keeps hitting. Wish Harper didn’t hurt himself.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:42 pmMy goodness, Dan.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:44 pmThat’s a clown play, bro.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:44 pmUgh. That was one ugly play, and proof that this game should be delayed.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:44 pmUggla damn near had a double play but couldn’t get a single out. Boy, he is anything but graceful.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:44 pmEpisode.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:45 pmOk, covering my eyes. Someone let me know when it’s safe to look again.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:45 pmOk, covering my eyes. Someone let me know when it’s safe to look again.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:45 pmAnd it’s not like we’ve got good choice for dealing with it. But Martinez is gonna do what he can.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:46 pmUgh. That’s two ground balls up the middle, neither one of them fast, and a hit by pitch on a ball it looked a lot like Morse was offering at. Should be 0-1 count on Morse with two outs. It’s bases loaded.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:46 pmTake him out!
July 21st, 2012 at 7:47 pmDelgado is having trouble getting strike outs.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:47 pmAnd now they start playing like clowns
July 21st, 2012 at 7:47 pmEnd of inn…
Oh wait.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:48 pmThat changeup to Laroche was filthy. Delgado has #2 starter stuff. Easy.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:49 pmThat was strike.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:50 pmCould have been much worse.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:50 pm@94 Yes it was, shame he got squeezed.
Come on Delgado, one more.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:51 pmDelgado missing his spots, but I’ll take that second out.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:51 pmDamn, if Uggla had gotten just one out on that play.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:51 pmEspinoza sure loves to crowd the plate, keep pitching him inside.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:55 pmBeautiful. Great outcome considering the Uggla play.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:55 pmGood battling back, Randall.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:55 pmNice comeback.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:55 pmLando, you can open your eyes now. And we’re not even losing!
July 21st, 2012 at 7:56 pmOr go outside and get him out, I’m easy.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:56 pm@99 That’s what I was thinking.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:56 pmOkay, then: six innings, two tainted runs is still an acceptable outing.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:57 pmWhat isn’t acceptable is hibernation mode against LANNAN.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:58 pm@78: applause.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:58 pmLannan looks like Lance Berkman with jaundice.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:02 pmMore clown defense.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:06 pmNow that’s just not bloody fair.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:06 pmUnbelievable. What did the Nationals do to deserve all this ridiculous luck?
July 21st, 2012 at 8:07 pm@112 Did we not win yesterday after being behind 9 runs?
July 21st, 2012 at 8:08 pmDangit. I think that’s the ballgame.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:11 pmHope we have a little more magic left.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:11 pmRats
July 21st, 2012 at 8:11 pmHow many more grounders is Bernadina gonna squeeze through the infield?
July 21st, 2012 at 8:12 pmI think the only magic we have left are “Confuse Self” spells.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:12 pmWAKE UP, BATS!
July 21st, 2012 at 8:16 pmThey burned three good relievers in the afternoon game. We’ve got a good chance.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:17 pmWell apparently we can only score runs off good pitchers.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:18 pmGood point. That fastball was right in the wheelhouse. Jason is slipping back into hone of his funks.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:21 pmOh Jason. 0-2, then you look at a great pitch, take a terrible swing at a ball high and inside and then close out with one of your patented “swing through a pitch as if it was a hologram” swings.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:21 pm*2-0 I mean
July 21st, 2012 at 8:21 pmWhen John Lannan shuts down your offense, you deserve to lose.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:26 pmOf course, Lannan shut down our offense with regularity when he was regularly pitching in Washington (8-5, 3.5 ERA coming into today against the Braves).
July 21st, 2012 at 8:27 pmBourn can still win it for us.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:28 pmIt’s so rare lately that we get a good start from our rotation, so I’d hate to see it wasted.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:30 pmA replica of the last inning.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:36 pmAnd the three before it. None of which we wanted or needed.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:38 pmThis is what you call a “team-loss.”
July 21st, 2012 at 8:39 pmDid Freddy just forget that Varvaro was still here? Not that he’s especially memorable, but better him than a second inning of Martinez (or in game one, a first inning of Durbin; I don’t trust the guy, even if he did pitch well today).
July 21st, 2012 at 8:40 pmGots to stay inside on Espinosa. There’s a reason he throws that knee up during the windup.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:41 pmVarvaro sucks.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:42 pmVarvaro isn’t better than anything, ever.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:42 pmThis season is over.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:43 pmWhen Janish can’t field, his best position is “spectator.”
July 21st, 2012 at 8:47 pmThere was absolutely no doubt that the wild pitch would cost us a run.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:47 pmOh well. Get ‘em tomorrow.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:47 pmAnything less than three-of-four, this series is a failure. A split is just breaking even.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:48 pm“Anything less than three-of-four, this series is a failure. A split is just breaking even.”
Oh that note: Jurrjens is pitching tomorrow.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:53 pmThis would have been a great game to win. Lots of pressure tomorrow to pull it out. If we don’t win the series it’s a massively blown opportunity.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:57 pmHinske is done.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:59 pmSo much dead weight on our bench.
July 21st, 2012 at 8:59 pmHinske has hit 1 home run this season.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:00 pmTomorrow.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:02 pm141- Thanks, Dan, I was thinking I might get some sleep tonight.
Well, today accomplished nothing at great length. Which describes 90% of my workdays, too.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:02 pmChipper, Bourn and Prado were the only defenders not to eat shit in that game
Chipper and Freeman were the only players not to eat shit at the plate.
Chipper is the only player not to eat any shit.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:03 pmZach Greinke please.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:12 pmIf John Lannan could face the Braves every five days, his ass probably wouldn’t be stuck in AAA.
July 21st, 2012 at 9:44 pmIf the Nationals were playing the Braves every five days, Strasburg would be the guy stranded in Syracuse.
July 21st, 2012 at 10:14 pmIf John Lannan could face the Braves every five days, we’d be in last place and he’d be a Hall of Farmer.
July 21st, 2012 at 10:24 pmJust watched the condensed game. I was convinced the Braves were going to crush them the way they got on Lannan early. Serious case of Hibernation Mode in the mid-innings it looked like.
I’d question the decision to leave Lisp in as long as Gonzalez did, but I’m not sure who you go to. Venters? Ugg. Tough call.
Gotta see if we can get ‘em tomorrow.
July 22nd, 2012 at 1:15 amRecapped.
July 22nd, 2012 at 1:26 am