ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Phillies at Braves – 09/10/2003
Six.
The Braves rebounded once again from a big loss. (They’ve lost by ten or more runs five times this year. As the game story points out — I didn’t notice this — they’re 5-0 in the games after that. Take that, Pythagoras.) Binary offense again, all the runs scoring one at a time: 01101100. Javy hit his 39th homer (the Braves’ 216th, breaking the franchise record) and had two other hits. Chipper was 3-3 with a walk, and Marcus Giles had another double.
Horacio Ramirez was superb in seven innings of work. He gave up two solo homers, but struck out seven and didn’t walk anyone, and allowed only four other hits. He has to be ahead of Reynolds now, right? Jaret Wright was great again, striking out two in a perfect eighth, and Will Cunnane followed with the same in the ninth for his third save. The bullpen for postseason looks like Smoltz, Cunnane, Wright, Mercker, and King, with the last spot depending upon Gryboski and Holmes.
The Marlins won to take the wildcard lead. They’re one up on the Phillies, 3 1/2 (pending tonight’s game) on the Dodgers, and four up on the Cubs (or Astros, depending on how you look at it)… Maddux goes for the Braves tomorrow night, looking for his 15th win of the season.
“He has to be ahead of Reynolds now, right?”
Let’s hope Reynolds keeps giving it up by the truckload during the regular season.
Yeah – the pitching performances of yesterday made me wonder if we really should be worried. The pitching staff was rocking against the “Braves Killer” Padilla
A few things came to my mind lastnite
1) I still don’t understand this whole notion about saving runs for the next day…in the phillies case they hit 18 runs the night before so apparently many of these commentators would argue/assume that they might not score well the next few games? Do u know how dumb this whole “they should save some of those runs for the next game” sounds to me? Au Contraire, I would think that having a night like that would be a better thing as it would show that many of the players might be on a hitting streak
2) H-Ramirez was in the zone all day, but I still think he’s hit the wall the “they didn’t save anything for the next game” assumption applies. Anyways, to begin with I don’t think the Phillies offense is that great this year. Abreu can’t hit too well against the Braves for some reason, Thome tries to pull everything he sees (which is risky) and Burrell is sporadic in his offensive production. I think Hodges could be a good 4th starter. Since he has not pitched anywhere near as many innings as Horacio, I feel that his arm might be relatively fresh. Since we have such a strong lead on the NL East, I think he should maybe have 2 starts before the end of the month. After all, he is going to be a starter next year so if nothing else he’ll be better for next year.
3) Jared Wright looks like a totally different guy. Did anyone research how his ERA got so stupendously high? Was it a single freak game? Either way he was money lastnite. I am confident they could have kept him in for the 9th.
4) Cunnane was locating his pitches well. I know he’s only had 2 saves so far. But who here now is thinking that maybe Smoltz is a little overpaid for a closer. I think Cunnane is filling his hole almost as well as Worrell is filling Nen’s in SF. Maybe this is a little premature but I just thought I’d share my thoughts with you all.
Yey! Finally they didn’t skip Maddux’s game on TBS.
Forgive me if I don’t get too worked up over 4 innings of Jaret Wright. His San Diego performance wasn’t any one game — he had 17 outings (of 39 total) in which he gave up at least as many runs as innings pitched. Thats not counting a handful of 1 run in 1 point something innings or the time he gave up 2 in 3 innings. Bufugly pitching. Between 1999 and the Braves claiming him in August, Wright has an ERA of 6.88 in 280 innings.
Sorry – I know that this is not braves related. Why is nobody talking more today (on ESPN and other sites) about the growing possibilty that Pujols’ Triple Crown may materialize. He plays most of his remaining games in hitter friendly environments (houston, arizona and milwaukee) with his heated up Cards lineup while Preston Wilson (althoug has most of the remaining games in Colorado) has had back spasms and was out for a few days ago. I hope he does make the Triple Crown.
Yeah, that would be pretty cool. I would love it, however, if Javy could catch him in the homers department. That would be even better.
Did anyone catch Chris Berman and Tony Gwynn talking about Javy last night? They were talking about the postseason and Maddux’s starts. Berman put forth the theory that if Maddux gets his 15th win today to get the record, Javy would catch his next few starts so they could try to get on the same page by postseason play. Tony agreed it would be the right move, and then Berman said he guarantees it will happen.
I hope so. Knowing the team, I’m not so sure!
Mac Thomason wrote:
>The bullpen for postseason looks like Smoltz…
I hope you’re right, Mac, but circumstances are indicating that Smoltz’s injury is more serious than has been reported. His throwing sessions have not been pain-free, and he’s currently being treated by Dr. Andrews in Alabama. Smoltz is not expected to be with the team on its next road trip. Even if he *is* on the postseason roster, I’m increasingly pessimistic that he will be anywhere near 100% health.
Eddie Thomas wrote:
>Let’s hope Reynolds keeps giving it up by the >truckload during the regular season.
I guess this is supposed to be funny, but the humor eludes me. Why would any Braves fan want a player to perform poorly?
MS wrote:
>Ramirez was in the zone all day, but I still >think he’s hit the wall. I think Hodges could >be a good fourth starter…I feel that his arm >might be relatively fresh. Jared Wright looked >like a totally different guy. Who here now is >thinking that maybe Smoltz is a little overpaid >for a closer? I think Cunnane is filling his >hole almost as well as Worrell is filling >Nen’s.
I am encouraged by Ramirez’s last two starts. In contrast, Hodges has pitched poorly of late, despite a fresher arm. Mac didn’t put Hodges on his postseason roster and I wouldn’t put him on mine, either, based on recent performances. Bamadan’s post about Wright’s ERA is telling. Yes, Wright has pitched very well for the Braves, and that’s good. The problem is that he hasn’t pitched consistenly well in years. But I’m guessing that Cox is worried about Smoltz and that he’s going to keep giving the ball to Wright and Cunnane in pressure situations because they may be a very important part of the post-season bullpen. Smoltz *is* overpaid in the sense that all major league ballplayers are overpaid. However, he’s not at all overpaid when compared to other closers. I would be feeling very good about the Braves’ chances in the postseason if Smoltz were to return at or near 100% effectiveness. While I think Gagne is the best closer in the big leagues right now, I believe Smoltz is #2.
Wright really has good stuff. He’s throwing the ball hard, with movement, without great effort. My understanding is that his control has been completely off since his TJ surgery, which is normal, though his problems seem greater than most. It’s possible that he’s turned the corner. I thought Wright was a reasonable pickup for next season, but I never thought he’d be of any use this year. Maybe he will after all.
The last word I had on Smoltz was that he was expected to join the team next week and pitch on a spring training schedule the rest of the way. Yes, he’s in Birmingham, but the clinic on Southside is a rehab hospital as well as a surgical. It’s unusual to see Dr. Andrews in such a circumstance, but Smoltz has close ties with him. It’s not good news, but I’m not panicking yet.
Kirby-
I’ve been having the very same fears re: Smoltz. It has now been five and a half weeks since his playing time first dropped off, and with these reports of pain while throwing, that indicates to me very little progress in that 5 weeks. I’m not sure they know what’s going on either.
H-Ramirez was in the zone all day, but I still think he’s hit the wall
Some people speculated that Ramirez was getting hit hard because of his increased workload. His workload dropped off for a while,a nd he’s become effective again. If I’m Cox, I leave him int he #5 slot for September, get him as much rest as I can, and hope that banks up for a good October.
They were talking about the postseason and Maddux’s starts. Berman put forth the theory that if Maddux gets his 15th win today to get the record, Javy would catch his next few starts
If this team was to put a personal and ultimately meaningless ‘record’ ahead of the team’s chances in October, then I’d lose some respect for Cox.
I guess this is supposed to be funny, but the humor eludes me. Why would any Braves fan want a player to perform poorly?
Because it doesn’t appear clear that, despite an ERA nearer 6 than 5, that Cox realizes he’s a sucking postseason time bomb waiting to happen.
re: Hodges – he has an ERA over 8 since the beginning of July.
re: wright – he’s the devil you don’t know vs. the one you do. We know that Roberto will suck. That’s what he does, that’s all he does. If Wright gives a glimmer of hope that Leo has ‘fixed’ something, then so be it. IF Smoltz is back, then Cunnane is your righty setup guy, you have a resurgent Ray King and Mercker as lefties. Another effective right would help, but I’d prefer that righty be ABR – anyone but Roberto.
What’s the single-season HR record for catchers again? Javy has to be close…
41 by Todd Hundley in 1996, but Javy has one pinch homer, so they only count him with 38 so far “as a catcher”. Not far to go!