ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Reds
The Braves now have a three-game winning streak, though it’s somewhat tarnished by the fact that the Reds’ pitching is really bad. And because when you hit four homers you really should have more than six runs. The Braves got all their runs via the longball.
Julio was the man tonight, hitting a solo shot in the first to open the scoring, and a two-run shot he actually pulled to break a 1-1 tie in the third. It was his first two-homer game since 1996 and makes him certainly the oldest man to hit two out in the same game.
In the fifth, Andruw hit another mammoth shot, if not as long as his upper-decker yesterday, for his 19th on the season to take over sole possession of the NL lead. He also had a single and is slowly getting his average up. Estrada hit a two-run shot in the eighth to provide breathing room. It was against Kent Mercker, so from the right side, where he rarely hits for authority. He also had a double. Marte doubled in the second to briefly get above the Mendoza line but fell back below it later. Marcus had a couple of hits, and Johnson and Sosa had one apiece.
Sosa was clearly upset when Bobby pulled him with one out in the fifth, a 4-1 lead, and one runner on. He’d thrown 75 pitches, suggesting that that he was on a hard count. He threw 74 against the Rangers. He wasn’t quite as sharp as in that game, walking three, but allowed just one run on four hits, and struck out five.
Bernero got the win after allowing three hits in an inning and two-thirds. Foster walked two but struck out two; Boyer finished his inning getting the last out on two pitches. Brower allowed a couple of hits but got out of it. Bobby, for some reason, brought in Reitsma with a five-run lead to pitch his third game in a row. I understand not having much faith in Vasquez, Kolb, or Gryboski, but to use your closer like this in a game like this against a team like this is way risky. Reitsma allowed a double to Griffey but struck out two.
Day game, TBS, tomorrow, Kyle Davies versus Luke Hudson, a rookie with a 6.55 ERA in his first two starts. I’m putting the over-under at 12 for total runs scored. I’m not even giving odds on the chances that the Braves talked to the Reds about Mercker sometime this week, home run or no.
Nats, fish, and phillies lose. Braves 3 back
What was the deal with Sosa getting taken out? I came to the TS-access point right after Bernero was in the game, and I couldn’t tell what our announcers were going on about.
The devil on my shoulder says we are playing the awful Reds, and we will go back to losing 2 out of every 3 again vs. real teams.
The angel on my shoulder says that playing this crappy team around the same time that are young hitters are also getting more consistent, is now going allow the Braves to ger hot.
It’s obviously a little of both. And though it seems rather improbable that we should stay in the race with 2 injured top 3 starters, a mediocre bullpen, and a rookie lineup, the rest of the division is mediocre enough that we will stay in it which really bodes well when we get back Hudson & Hampton and can have Sosa back in the bullpen.
Sosa walked a guy, and Bobby came out of the dugout and pulled him after 75 pitches, and Sosa looked incredulous. Not much else to it; like I said, I figure he was on a very low pitch count.
Alex, at least we are beating these awful Reds in a convincing fashion. If we lose the series to the Reds, then we should be awfully concerned. Mac, I share your concern with using Reitsma in the ninth again today, but I guess this shows how much Cox is valuing this little winning streak. I am actually more concerned about Davies. We are asking him to take up too much of a burden (twice pitching on three days rest already).
I remember last year being really annoyed with Reitsma’s inconsistencies…this game in the 9th he really proved his worth striking out members of the heart of the Reds lineup.
Sosa was pitching on three days’ rest, as Davies will be today, so look for another quick hook if he gets into trouble.
Baseball Prospectus say that the Reds have the second worst defense in the past 34 years (sorry, subscription only) in terms of park adjusted “defensive efficiency”. This stat refers to the percentage of balls put in play that become hits, excluding home runs.
According to BP, the Reds convert over 5% fewer balls in play into outs that a league average defense would in their same park. Their defensive efficiency is .6712, meaning that a hitter taken at random can expect to have about a .330 BA on any balls he puts in play.
To quote BP “While the Yankees may be getting quite a bit of grief about their defensive ineptitude of late, the real criticism should be directed towards the Reds and their assault on the title of Worst Defensive Team in Recent Memory. The ’79 A’s–a team that had no position register a positive FRAA except for pitchers–have set the bar pretty high, but it’s certainly not an unattainable goal for the new Big Red Machine.”
Not to be a wet blanket, and this in no way diminshes the homes runs at all, bu take the recent hitting surge with the appropriate grain of salt.
All Hail Julio!!
Is he right when he says he could’ve reached 3000 hits if baseball hadn’t given up on him in 1997?
I can see it possible in another reality, one where the economics allowed a player to stay with a team (probably the Rangers were his best chance) but who can say?
Happy Father’s Day, Braves. Now go out and beat those mothers!
Wife beating will only get you into trouble. Concentrate on the other baseball team, guys.