ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Brewers at Braves – 04/26/2003
At this rate, Bobby’s going to have to cut Marcus Giles to stop him. Marcus lined a homer to right field to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh. If we’ve moved beyond “Free Marcus Giles” it may be time to launch the All-Star campaign.
It was a pitcher’s duel for the most part, with nobody but Rafael Furcal with more than one hit. Five Braves pitchers combined to hold Milwaukee to only five hits, with Ray King picking up the win in relief against his old team. John Smoltz got the save, if in nerve-racking fashion, giving up two two-out hits before getting a groundout to end it.
Horacio Ramirez started and seemed to have good stuff, but maybe better stuff than he knew what to do with. He allowed only three of those hits, but four walks and two runs. (To be fair, the second of those scored on a passed ball after Ramirez was out of the game.) He also threw a wild pitch (helping the first run score) and hit a batter (who later scored the second run). The Braves’ starters as a whole seem to be really wild, even more than I’d feared coming in.
I made fun of the Dodgers this offseason for getting all the Braves’ leftovers, but at least they got some good players. The Brewers have Wes Helms and Eddie Perez playing regularly… The series ends with an afternoon game tomorrow, Russ Ortiz facing Glendon Rusch.
As valuable as Marcus has been I still fear Bobby doesn’t regard him seriously enough. Bobby’s post-game remarks were laudatory but still gave the impression that he’s not sold on the 2B question. I hope I’m just reading too much between the lines — Marcus can be the best 2B in the NL barring Kent and Alomar.
Ahem?
OK, Mr Vidro, but why are the old men superior at this point?