I hate this game sometimes. The Braves led 6-2 with two out in the eighth, then Chris Reitsma allowed two runners to reach. At this stage, I wander off from the TV because I see a meeting on the mound and figure, “Bobby’s going to put Smoltz in now.” But NOOOOOOOOOOOO. He leaves Reitsma in. One cheap Philadelphia home run later, and it’s 6-5. With one out in the ninth and Smoltz in, another cheap Philadelphia homer (I really hate this park) and the game’s tied. Alfonseca lost the game in the tenth.
Rafael Furcal hit a pair of three-run homers to account for the Braves’ runs. The first of the two was (on replay) clearly foul, but it was an impossible call for the umpire and looked fair from that angle. The second was a cheap Philadelphia homer, but probably better hit than either of the Phillies’ shots. Johnny Estrada had a three-hit night, and he and Marrero scored in front of Furcal both times, but the rest of the lineup had only three hits and two walks combined.
John Thomson pitched well, though often behind the batters. He left with two out in the seventh and a four run lead. And he gets a no decision. He can’t win.
The Mets beat the Marlins, so the Braves are three games out of first and one out of second. Tomorrow, Hampton versus Paul Abbott. I’ve given up predicting whether games are going to be hitters or pitchers duels, but if ever you’d expect runs, it’s tomorrow on Fox. Oh, God, McCarver will probably be there. First John Kruk, now Tim McCarver.
Kruk isn’t horrible in the studio, but he is awful at doing games.
As far as Reitsma goes, I figured Bobby would pull him for sure after the second hit, but instead he left him in and it bit them in the behind. He seems totally gassed right now, and I can’t understand why Bobby insists on running his few reliable relievers into the ground. Cruz just seems right for the 8th inning type work, but he remains in the doghouse.
Mac-
I’m not a first time poster anymore, so why do my comments keep getting held up?
You have to have signed in to TypeKey to post automatically; otherwise, I have to approve the comment. I may change that policy when MT-Blacklist for this version of the software is released (soon), but otherwise there’s just too much garbage posted in the archive for me to keep deleting.
Ok, I understand.
ok, I’m on board now. Thanks Mac
Please tell me what Juan Cruz has done wrong! Did he shoot the Pope? Does he turn invisible at awkward moments?
I’m hoping the team can trade for some live arms to help with this 4 team pennant race, but will Bobby use them? You’d have to say he’ll have to use them, but how do you explain his use of Cruz?
I’d like to hear someone tell us how Bobby handled the staff during the ’93 race. I’m baffled.
The 1993 staff was easy to handle; hell, Bobby only had to use _13_ pitchers all year, and two of those got 23+ and 1+ innings. So that left him with 11 everyday pitchers, and the only, only real challenging decision he had to make with that bullpen all year was the decision to switch from using Stanton as closer (who pitched very well the first few months) to using McMichael as the closer. Other than that, the pitching staff managed itself, bullpen included.
I had a bad feeling about this game in the late innings. Told my wife I didn’t like how it was going, then Reitsma gave up the homer. Then I told her I expected Smoltz to not be able to hold the lead. Don’t know why, just did. When I saw us in the 10th with the go-ahead run in scoring position with Andruw at bat and Alfonseca in the pen, I knew it was over. Alf has a nice ERA
Cheap homers? Lieberthal’s was, but Utley’s went out to the deepest part of right-center field, which is over 390 ft away. Contrary to what many people believe, CBP hasn’t played as such an extreme hitters park so far.
Well, live by the cheap home run, die by the cheap home run.
It’s the second-best hitter’s park in the league, and hence the best at a reasonable altitude. Leaving aside the foul/fair homer, there have been three homers now in 1 1/2 games that wouldn’t have been homers anywhere else but Coors Field.
Mac, where did you get your ballpark data from? According to ESPN, CBP currently ranks 12th in the Majors with a 1.023 aggregate Park Factor. It does increase home run output quite a bit (1.206 PF), but still only ranks 8th in the Majors in that category, and actually BEHIND Turner Field at 1.266.
Wow, I didn’t know ESPN had such detailed ballpark data.
I used a quick-and-dirty method, which probably is distorted by the Phillies’ own offense and pitching. I’ll take your word for it.