ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Nationals
Note for any aspiring umpires out there: If you reverse a call, you better be really sure that the call was wrong. Brian Jordan hit a fly ball in the seventh inning that passed between the foul pole and the wall (because this park is no more a major league facility than it is Notre Dame Cathedral) and it was called — properly — a home run. But Robinson bitched about it and the umpires reversed the call. Jordan then made an out. The Braves lost by one run. You do the math.
The Braves were held to 4 3 hits by the combination of Tomo Ohka, Gary Majewski, and Chad Cordero. All those guys have been pitching well, but still. They got a run via some bad defense in the third, but Kelly Johnson grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning. He grounded into another one in the first. He still looks good out there — he’s working the count and hitting the ball hard. He drew another walk today and the hits will come if he doesn’t grow impatient. Andruw hit a homer with two out in the ninth. It’s probably his fault that there was nobody on.
Kyle Davies proved he’s human, giving up his first run in the fourth and fading when Bobby tried to get another inning out of him and being lucky to get charged with only one run in the sixth. He threw 106 pitches, which shows his real problem, that he can’t seem to work efficiently. He allowed seven hits, including four doubles, struck out four and walked three.
Foster bailed him out in the sixth with some neat pitching. Colon came in in the seventh and allowed a run. I’m pretty sure Bobby wouldn’t have used him if the game had been tied, as it should have been. (And I keep harping, I know.) Actually, I don’t know why Colon is still in the majors, and his ERA is now 7.63. Gryboski hit a guy but that was all in the eighth.
In addition to the bad walls, the stadium was torn up for a soccer game this weekend. Soccer. You have got to be kidding me… The Marlins lost to the Pirates, but you can’t count on that happening again and the division race is growing tight so you have to worry about everyone. Tomorrow, Mike Hampton will start, if he is able to come off the DL, against John Patterson, if he is able to come off the DL.
Were you watching the game on ESPN? I was watching on TBS, and Don and Pete were saying it hit the black part of the pole, and that looked right.
I switched to ESPN for their take, and they said it hit “the gap between the pole and the wall”, then proceeded to chastise the Nats for not having them flush.
Both agreed that it was a home run and a botched call, but your language sounds more like the ESPN people. TBS showed a shot of the wall and pole from behind, and it looked like the foul pole extended, but was black.
If there is a black-painted part, is that part still considered the foul pole?
Either way, it was a home run. I was just surprised that the two crews saw it differently.
I watched the game on MASN, since TBS gets blacked out for Nats games, and not only could you hear a CLUNK sound during the replay as the ball hit the metal, there was freakin’ white mark on the pole! I was so angry I nearly threw something through the screen. So not only was the umpiring crew blind, but also deaf. To be fair, it was a tough call, but how could they just reverse it like that? There was no conclusive evidence! Those umps really blew it, probably because of Robinson’s bitching. I can’t stand the guy. I feel bad, since this city worked so hard to get a team, but I really don’t like the Nats.
Of course, we had plenty of chances to score other times. Our only run was on an error (by Vinny Castilla-oh the irony!) I was actually praying no one scored in the top of the ninth so the blown call wouldn’t matter. I said, “Andruw, please don’t hit a home run!” Exactly 15 seconds later, boom! Maybe I should try this more often.
I think Davies was left in too long. He looked great and then got in big trouble. I thought he should never have even started the 6th inning.
I’ll be at tomorrow’s game. Two pitchers off the DL, may be a slugfest. Hopefully we’ll win so I can obnoxiously shove it to the obnoxious Nats fans in my Braves jersey.
Baseball needs instant replay.
What baseball, along with all sports, needs is an official who watches the game from the booth and can radio down when somebody makes an egregious error.
Yeah, that was a tough one. I do very much like the fact that they’re willing to get together and get the call right. I think this is the first time that I’ve seen an incorrect reversal. Overall, I think it has been great. Yet another thing we probably have Sandy Alderson to thank for. But it sure did stink for the good guys today.
The blown call killed the Braves’ momentum, but, even so, you still need more than three (or four) hits to win. The middle of the line-up wasn’t hitting a lick.
I went to a friend’s house to watch the game on TBS, and I was impressed with the way Furcal seems so much more composed at short than he did last year. He’s thinking things through, not rushing like he did before. And I think that he and Giles make a great double-play team up the middle. Overall, I’d say the Braves’ defense has improved considerably from last year. That and their ability to score runs with two outs give me hope that they’ll defend their division title successfully.
I was watching the TBS broadcast but switched to ESPN just to make sure that the TBS people and I weren’t just imagining that it was an egregious miscall. We weren’t, and it was.
This team is very exciting right now. I enjoy watching them even more now that some of the detritus is gone. I know they lost today, but as I said before the season, I’d rather lose with players I can cheer for, knowing they will be good in the future, than win with players I hate.
Terrible call by the umps.
Brian Jordan is playing like he has a fire under him. I think the mondesi move might be good for him.
I wish someone would explain to me why Johnson is hitting third. Having him up there instead of Chipper in the bases loaded, one out situation in the third was the difference in the game.
He had some shiny minor league numbers, but he’s not the second coming of J.D. Drew. Hit him seventh where he belongs.
You are right, Johnson does look good. The plate patience is especially heartening. I hope that one falls for him soon.
Jordan does seem to have gotten the wake up call. There was a story in the ATL papers quoting Jordan to the effect of (and I paraphrase) “I told Bobby I’d have it together by the end of the year.” To which the writer added, snarkily, that Jordan might want to edit that time line a bit.
Jordan still plays pretty good defense out there, at least. Mondesi’s D was as bad as his bat.
The other person who really needs to get his crap together is Adam Laroche. If Andy Marte plays much better in Richmond, I could *easily* see him getting called up and Chipper bouncing over to 1B.
Although I do think our offense was a problem today, I think that blown call was the difference. Stuff like that has a crushing psychological effect on guys, and we saw that this afternoon. We didn’t capitalize with the bases loaded, yes, but we had a rookie at the plate during the rally and that WAS a home run in the 7th and we should have been tied at that point. Sometimes there are pitchers duels and you only get a few hits. It happens like that, and one bomb is the difference. And when you take away the home run, after 5 MINUTES of arguing, which is inexcusable, plus it was so obviously the wrong call, the team just goes flat. It’s human nature. And the infuriating thing is, nothing can be done to fix it in the aftermath.
The comment about Jordan in the AJC was great. Ole BJ should be looking over his shoulder at Bill McCarthy and Andy Marte. I agree with Sam about LaRoche. There are alternatives down at Richmond waiting to take his position if he doesn’t get it together.
I thought that Davies looked pretty good for not having his best stuff. But putting a man on base every inning is a tough way to play the game.
I wish someone would explain to me why Johnson is hitting third. Having him up there instead of Chipper in the bases loaded, one out situation in the third was the difference in the game.
What does that have to do with hitting third? Is Chipper any less likely to be up in a sitution like that hitting 4th than he is hitting third? Are you arguing that Cox should be able to forsee a bases loaded one out situation for his 3 hole hitter? Let’s try and be rational here.
I kinda like having KJ batting in front of CJ – at least in the short term. I don’t really think much of the larger concept of “protection” but for a guy right out of the minors, I think the little psychological boost helps.
If I were in charge, this is the lineup I’d trot out there:
1 Giles (second best OBA on team)
2 Johnson (low pressure)
3 CJones (only good hitter bats where he wants)
4 AJones (its his fault!)
5 LaRoche (best of rest)
6 Langerhans (promising, but not producing)
7 Estrada (slow singles hitter misplaced in middle)
8 Furcal (needs to regroup now)
Yikes. Looking at that roster makes me think we are lucky to be in the top half of runs scored. Hopefully getting KJ into the lineup instead of Mondesi and limiting Jordan’s role will give it some oomph, but this is not a world class offense.
if we had jesse garcia this wouldnt be a problem…..
I’d switch Langerhans and Estrada. No way can a guy hitting way below the Mendoza line bat 6th. And having 2 switch-hitters in a row is unnecessary. And I don’t think Marcus is a good leadoff hitter. He strikes out 25% of the time. If he’d drag out the count so guys could get a look at the pitches at least, this would be okay, but he’s notoriously impatient.
Id switch Johnson and Estrada. Estrada would be a great 2nd hitter I think.