Shows what my powers of prediction are worth. Byrd did start, went seven innings, and didn’t give up a run. He allowed only four hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out four. Smoltz relieved Alfonseca with two out, two on in the eighth and wound up with a save.
The Braves got their runs early on a pair of two-run homers, one by Marrero and one by Franco. JD Drew played center, with Andruw getting the day off after straining his knee in batting practice. I assume he’s day to day. They can’t afford to lose him for any length of time, but Drew apparently did a nice job in center.
Chipper was 1-4 with a double again and is at .208. Furcal continued to be hot and had three hits, though he was stranded twice and caught stealing the other time.
I, for one, was pleasantly surprised to see Byrd do so well. Everyone else moved up one space against the Marlins, so it’s staying crowded in the east. I’mgetting worried about Ramirez, so Byrd’souting is encouraging. What’s the eta of Giles?
I hate interleague play but there is an advantage when the Braves play an Ohio team and the Sex in the City station isn’t showing any damn baseball.
In both games Chipper has looked comfortable in the field and has made a couple of really tough plays. Maybe we should keep him there for his stellar defense since he aint hitting worth a crap. (that was sarcasm folks) He’s going to break out but I just don’t want it to be too late.
JD made a terrific running catch in center. Full speed just got the glove down. Had he missed it, it might have been an inside the park homer. Byrd looked terrific. All of his pitches were down around the knee caps and darting and moving all over the place. When he did leave them up the Braves managed to catch most of them. Bobby did a good thing tonight. At the first hint of trouble from Base12 he went straight to Smoltz to finish the game. Furcal looks like he is coming out of it and Marrero is definately (so far) an upgrade defensively for Chip and offensively for DeRo. I keep waiting for Nick Green to wake up and figure out he isn’t in Richmond anymore but he is really playing well. Once Marcus comes back it might be 1b for Chip and 3b for Nick.
We are doing alot of first pitch swinging and it seems (although I haven’t done any research to back this) like we aren’t taking very many walks. With the exception of Chip and Drew that is. As bad as Chip has been swinging the bat he still has an ok OBP and Drew’s has been phenomenal.
Mac; you just keep on predicting! Maybe you won’t reach the third step. Keep crossing those bridges and never look down!
I live in Indiana and I’m beginning to feel cheap for not buying the MLB package for my satellite. I ‘d hoped to see the Braves on tv for Father’s Day, but no luck. Poor way to market a product don’t you think?
Look for one of Bobby’s bizarro Sunday lineups today. In Drew we trust.
As I sit here listening on MLB radio, the Braves are losing another afternoon game. Mediocre starting pitching, lack of offense, and crummy relief pitching. Sound familiar? When do you go from not playing well to just not being a good team? The Braves naturally are in denial, but I think we are getting pretty close to the point where you have to conclude this isn’t a very good team. Of course, I hope I’m wrong.