It’s possible to beat a real major league team with a lineup of scrubs. But it’s not easy, and you better get a good pitching performance. Hampton allowed three runs in the first and that pretty much did it for their chances. It was actually about an average outing for him this year, 6 1/3 IP, six runs. He’s really not pitching well at all. Base12 allowed an inherited runner to score. Juan Cruz got in early trouble in the eighth, but got a triple play to get out of it.
Yeah, they turned a triple play. So what? The defense was still lousy, committing three errors, one by Hessman, one by Garcia, and one by DeRosa. None of whom is really a major league caliber regular, but there they were.
Andruw, the lone estabilished major leaguer in the lineup, was 0-3 but did walk and score a run. As befit a lineup of players who resembled the R-Braves, the Mayor, Damon Hollins, led the team with two hits. Julio Franco, a single beacon of professionalism in this mess, pinch-hit and homered.
The Braves fall to a game below .500. At least the Phillies are losing. The Astros now come to town for three. Hopefully Chipper, at least, will be in the lineup tomorrow night. Furcal apparently can hit but not throw, I guess because he can’t grip the ball. I don’t know when Marcus will be ready and Drew, of course, is made from spun candy and could break if anyone breathes wrong.
For those of you keeping score at home, the Braves have lost six series this season and have won only three.
It looks like Time-Warner’s plan is working.
For those of you keeping score at home, Mike Hessmann sucks.
A note to Bobby Cox:
Please, never allow Furcal to attempt to steal third base ever again. Do you want this kid to get healthy? It was bad enough that it may have cost the Braves a run in the game, but the long run consequences are worse. If you want to do this with Wise or Garcia that is slightly better…but then why would either of them ever be on second?
What was that about the head-first slide? Separated shoulder, jammed finger…Take a hint Furcal.
Bad news is, the Braves lost with AAA players on the field. Good news is, so did Phil and Florida with their “best players” on the field against a St. Louis team with no pitching and a LA team that was suppose to have no offense. Remember my comment about D(railed)Train Willis? His ball vs. strikes count continues to go up. 40% of his pitches were balls and he walked 2 more in 5 innings. His ERA went up another full run. He’ll be hanging out with Brien Taylor before the season is over.
The Braves will win the division because they play most of their games against hapless teams such as the Ex-pros, Phail-lies and Marlins. The longer Phil hangs on to Bowa, the better our chances get.
ESPN.com said that the triple play drew a mock cheer from the Turner Field crowd. I didn’t see the game, but is this true? I usually think of a mock cheer being appropriate after a struggling pitcher (Mike Hampton if you will) gets a strikeout after a bunch of guys have gotten hits, not after a baseball rarity like a triple play.
What the heck is a mock cheer?
I was at the game. Everybody cheered like it was a home run or something. Huge play. They needed about ten of those to help Hampton, though. He was getting hit hard.
Silly me. I thought that if I wanted to see the Richmond Braves play then I would just drive on down to Cooper Stadium on dime a dog night and watch them play the Clippers. Instead TBS brings them right to my living room. This is God’s revenge for my snide remarks to my friends who are Reds fans about AAA baseball in Cincy.
I wonder if anyone told Drew that the season is actually 162 games long. Not 100.
List of players that have been more valuable to the Braves in 2004 than J.D. Drew:
Yes, he’s injured but that’s part of the package and we knew that coming in. You’ll notice that Furcal, Chipper, and Marcus have also missed time this year. We’re just going through a rash of injuries. Frankly, I’m thankful that we’re hanging in there as is.
Alan, IMO your list left out Marcus Giles and Johnny Estrada. Drew has been very good when he plays, but you have to be on the field to have value. Hopefully we’ll be at full-strength offensively in a couple of days–this can be a very good offense.
The pitching, on the other hand, worries me greatly. My list of reliable pitchers on this staff consists of Ortiz, Thomson, Smoltz, and Reitsma. This is not a great list. Everyone else is sketchy, though a few have had some success.
There has absolutely got to be something about this in “Revelations”:
Jason Tyner hit a home run for Richmond yesterday. It went over the fence.
Sam:
I am convinced that we can trust Horacio Ramirez. Hampton is scaring me, though. I sure hope he gets back to his 2nd half of 2003 form–fast. I think he will.
The Time-Warner plan. Report greater losses in one year than any corporation in history. Take control of most successful baseball franchise in history. Repeat skills evidenced in step 1.