What a mismatch. Kristin Benson was in trouble from the get-go. The Braves couldn’t break through until the third, but she had to throw a bunch of pitches just to get out of the first. (Final pitch count was 95 in five innings.) The Braves didn’t draw many walks — one by Drew and one by Chipper — but worked the count and eventually busted through.
Jaret Wright sparkled both on the mound and at the plate. As a pitcher, he went seven, allowing only three hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out six. 49 of the 75 pitches he threw were strikes. As a hitter, he was 2-3 and scored two runs, including the first of the game in the third inning.
Other than Wright, the offense all came from the first five hitters in the order, who combined to go 9-16 with six runs scored and eight RBI. (The 6-8 hitters were all 0-4.) Estrada was the biggest gun, 3-4 and driving in four including three on a fifth inning homer that pretty much iced the game.
I thought Bobby might let Wright finish since he hadn’t thrown too many pitches, but Gryboski and Cruz pitched the last two innings, each allowing a single.
I don’t know if Tom Martin was on hand for the game or not — probably not — nor if he’ll replace McConnell or Tim Drew on the roster… The Phillies won (behind Kevin Millwood) today, while the Marlins lost to the Expos again tonight to fall to 5 1/2 out.
I agree — I would have left Wright in for a shot at the complete game. He could have gotten through the 8th and 9th without going much over 100 pitches, if he even needed that many.
Wright had a rough time rounding the bases in the bottom of the sixth. He scored from second on a single (a shout out, as always, to Piazza for never blocking the plate–that’s two runs this series he could have saved), and looked pretty wiped. So it was a sensible decision to pull him with an eight-run lead.
The AP story says Martin will arrive in time for the Sunday game. No word yet on who gets sent out. It would make sense to ship out Drew and keep a second lefty in the pen.
Can you believ that Hampton, Ortiz and Wright combined for a 14-0 record in July? That is nothing short of phenomenal.
On a side note, go read Jason Stark’s latest “article” (or whatever that junk is supposed to be) at ESPN.
In the Mets section he mentions “…But in the end, we bet, they’ll (Mets) wind up looking smarter than many people think — as long as Rick Peterson lives up to his reputation as Best Pitching Coach on Earth, and as long as Scott Kazmir doesn’t go on to win 12 Cy Youngs.”
Hello, Leo?
Gosh, what a great scenario.
We put away the Mets in both games after they make their big trading splash for the second half, including thrashing the big acquisition, Kris Benson. If we can sweep, it’ll be even better. Push the Mets way down where they belong.
Of course, I want the Braves to win the division, but another race I’ll be watching is between the Expos and the Mets. Come on Expos!!!!!
I think it was a good idea to pull Wright. Let’s not forget that he’s not that far removed from being fairly fragile, and we want him fresh as he can be down the stretch. I was, frankly, a little surprised he even pitched the 7th.
Byrd has pitched great today, but is running out of gas in the 6th inning. They do look as if they are well on their way to a sweep of the suddenly lifeless Mets.