ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Marlins – 09/14/2003
Whew. The Braves opened up a 3-0 lead in the first on Gary Sheffield’s homer, then went to sleep for seven innings. Then they woke up to score five runs in the ninth off of Braden Looper. Go figure.
The key hit in the ninth was a two-out two-run single with the bases loaded by Robert Fick, who was inexplicably hitting cleanup. The Braves had already tied the game at four when Sheffield walked to load the bases, but with two out the Marlins could have gotten out of it. But Fick’s single, backed up by Andruw’s two-run triple, broke the Marlins’ backs. With Javy and Chipper taking days off (and Marcus Giles still on the shelf), the pressure was on Fick and Andruw, but until the ninth they hadn’t done much, particularly Andruw who was 0-4 with three strikeouts in the first eight innings. (Putouts galore, though.)
Shane Reynolds managed to not get blown out, which is all we can expect, I guess. Spotted a 3-0 lead he let the Marlins score one in the third, two in the fourth, then one in the sixth. But the bullpen picked him up this time, getting three shutout innings even though Boom-Boom Hernandez threw 2/3 of an inning. Will Cunnane pitched the eighth for the win and Ray King and Jaret Wright finished it.
The Magic Number is four. The Phillies’ desperate efforts to blow a 10-0 lead came up short and they crawl to 1 1/2 back of the Marlins. The Braves travel to Montreal (great, what is that from Miami, a five hour flight, then through customs?) for a three-game series starting tomorrow. The Marlins and Phillies play three starting Tuesday. By Thursday one of those teams should have been eliminated from the division “race”. The Marlins visit Atlanta starting Friday.
My predictions, after considering the rest of the schedules and using all the numbers and intangibles. I live in Chicago – I hate to say it – neither team is going anywhere
AL East: Yanks
AL Central: Twins
AL West: A’s
AL Wildcard: Red Sox
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Astros
NL West: Giants
NL Wildcard: Marlinz
Anyone agree/disagree?
I don’t think the Marlins are any sort of sure thing. Of their 13 remaining games, six are against Philly, and four in Atlanta.
I could see Philly catching up or (better yet) they split their six, potentially allowing the Cubs to climb back into the mix against Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.
Idon’t see the Marlins winning the the wild card. Too many young players that have never done before. Although, they’re the only team that plays the game right. They play w/ intensity and are in to every pitch. Unlike the Braves who probablt won’t when 100 games this year. I’m rooting for Minn. because I don’t want Atl. to have to match up w/ Chicago in the WS. (If Atl makes it.)
Mac wrote:
>The Braves opened up a 3-0 leae in the first on >Gary Sheffield’s homer, then went to sleep for >seven innings.
After Beckett’s first inning, he turned on his power pitching, allowed no runs, walked 1 and struck out 11. The Braves hitters didn’t fall asleep. They were facing a power pitcher at the top of his game.
>The key hit in the ninth inning was a two-out >two-run single with the bases loaded by Robert >Fick, who was inexplicably hitting cleanup.
Inexplicable? Chipper wasn’t playing and Cox shook things up a bit. So what? More importantly, Fick came through.
>Shane Reynolds managed to not get blown out, >which is all we can expect, I guess. But the >bullpen picked him up this time, getting three >shutout innings even though Boom-Boom Hernandez >threw 2/3 of an inning.
I truly don’t understand these snide remarks. Yes, not all Braves players perform as well as we would like, all the time. Reynolds and Hernandez are part of the roster trying to win a division. Why beat up on these guys whenever they don’t produce the way we’d like them to? They are part of our team, are they not?
Wasn’t yesterday’s victory timely and much-needed? Wasn’t that a great win? Give the hitters and the relievers some credit. The team was starting to press and the win certainly helped enormously.
They’re not snide remarks. So what if they’re on the roster? There are atleast six people who would do better than them, and just because Cox has a hard-on for those two guys, doesn’t mean they deserve to be praised for having ERAs close to 5 and 6, respectively. All Shane Reynolds does is walk a tight rope through five innings or gets blown out early. That is all we can expect from Reynolds, just to get through the fourth inning. Also, why was Fick, who’s hitting his weight in August and September, hitting clean-up over Andruw Jones and even Vinny Castilla? I think they’re both having a little better years. If he’s shaking things up a bit, why not put Andruw there, who hasn’t hit clean-up all year? If these snide remarks are too detrimental to your perceptive of the Braves, I’m sure there’s a web server that will host your site…
When I recently started reading this site and offering comments, I thought it was great that Mac Thomason expended great effort in giving game reports every day. I still commend him for doing so.
However, if ignorant and juvenile drivel as represented by Rob Cope’s last insulting post is representative of the conversation on this site, then I gladly accept his suggestion to find another venue for commenting on the Braves.
You see, I was under the impression that this was a bit more sophisticated than a rant about how stupid Cox and Schuerholz are. This is the kind of crap one hears on sports talk show all the time.
I know that there are others who read this site who are not as childishly angry as Cope, and my comments are not directed at you.