ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Marlins at Braves
Well, that wasn’t very pleasant. Not unexpected, though. Dontrelle Willis dominated, allowing just two hits and a walk through his first seven innings, by which time it was 7-0 and he could safely let the Braves put it in play.
Jorge Sosa was pretty good, just not a match for Willis, or for Miguel Cabrera, who hit a solo homer in the first and a two-run homer in the sixth. (Interestingly, Sosa more or less handled Delgado, who had killed him in the past.) Sosa’s final line was a minimal quality start, six innings, three runs, two strikeouts, two walks, four hits, 84 pitches, 59 strikes. He deserved better.
But the Braves mounted only five hits off of Willis and only one out of the infield before the eighth. Furcal had a pair of hits, Johnson had one in the ninth to keep his hit streak going, Jordan had an infield single, and Marte a two-out triple in the eighth. Andruw drew a walk. I thought they might be able to work Willis to get something going but it seemed like after the fourth or so they got impatient.
Adam Bernero, meanwhile, needs his own adjective. Perhaps “Berneroid”. He only needed 21 pitches to allow four runs on five hits, which is pretty impressive, especially without allowing a homer. He’s completely different from Kolb, except in quality; he’s very hittable but throws strikes. Vasquez went an inning and a third allowing two hits but no runs in what likely will be his last outing for the Braves for awhile, as I expect he’s going down. I’d prefer they cut Kolb, who allowed a run on two hits as the mopup man in the ninth.
Not a bad series; I never thought we had much chance in this game. Is it my imagination, or do the Braves get blown out by the Marlins a lot? Anyway, three with the Orioles, which I think is the last of the loathsome interleague series. Words I never thought I’d type: the Braves will face Orioles ace Bruce Chen in the opener. Kyle Davies will man the mound for the Braves in the battle of Prospect Past and Prospect Present. Allegedly, Roman Colon will start for the Braves Saturday. I’m hoping that’s some sort of trick.
UPDATE: DFA Asshole Now. Killing Other Logical Behavior.
There once was a pitcher named Dan
In Milwaulkee I was the Man,
Then I went to the Braves,
Couldn’t convert any saves,
Maybe I should just stick my right hand in a fan.
There once was a pitcher named Kolb
Who was about as dim as a 15 watt bulb
I loved the fast food,
But my pitching was no good,
Maybe I should just stick my right hand in a fan.
Good punchline.
I believe they activated Neikro for Saturday’s game along with Steve Bedrosion and Gaylord Perry.
Phil or Joe? (he asks, as if either would be less preferable to Colon).
Not sonnet nor haiku nor limerick. I think this works best if you sing it as a sea chanty. Or something…
THE STARTING PITCHER BLUES
(or, WHAT?S THE BIG D.L. HERE?)
At first we had Smoltzie and Hudson and Mike,
Thompson, Horacio?what?s not to like?
But now we use rookies to plug up the dike?
    Our starting staff?s falling apart!
Now when you look at the staff of the Bravies,
You find you have Greisinger, Sosa, and Davies?
Should we call out the armies and Coast Guards and navies
    To find us some vets who can start?
Get Niekro; get Cloninger, Reed, and Lemaster,
Or Upshaw or Camp! We must fend off disaster!
Or we could ask a popular Afroed broadcaster
    To return to the mound once again?
But I wonder?these injuries?could they be phony?
Did the pitchers get fed up with all the baloney
?Bout Leo?s great magic?and say, ?Hey, Mazzone,
    No pitchers! Now can you still win??
(I enjoy Braves Journal very much, by the way. Thanks, Mac.)
Cramped up left arm (Hampton)
Oblique pulled (Hudson)
Ligament torn (Thompson)
Old man can’t pitch everyday (Smoltz)
Noooooooooooooo!
How was that?
HELP!
Ya know we need a pitcher
HELP!
But not just any pitcher
HELP!
oh noooo not Colon
HEEEEELP!
Can someone PLEASE explain to me how Vazquez gets sent down and both Kolbb and Bernero keep their Major League jobs?
ERIC FREAKING GREGG.
Hasn’t happened yet, I’m just anticipating.
When I was younger,
so much younger than today.
The Braves didn’t need pitching help,
in any kind of way.
But now those days are gone,
and we are not so well secure.
We need pitching help like never before.
Help us if you can wer’e feeling down,
I do believe Kolb is a clown.
Heellllllllp.
i dont mean to beat a dead horse, but are there any updates on any of our dl’ed? it just seems kind of weird to me that we are not hearing anything on chip, hudson,or thompson’s progression. it seems they have fallen into the black hole that is the dl.is it because it’s all bad news that they keep it from us? just wondering. i have heard that thompson and chip have no chance of returning until after all star break, but hudson should be back soon, right?
I was sure that Skip said Hampton threw before the game yesterday. But mlb.com quoted him yesterday as saying he wasn’t getting any better and couldn’t do anything other than “hang out”. Maybe he misspoke or I heard wrong.
I don’t think there’s much to report on either Larry or Thomson. Both of them are probably at least a couple of weeks away from even being reevaluated.
Seems like we should be hearing something on Hudson soon. Maybe he was the one who had a throwing session yesterday instead of Hampton?
I heard Skip say that about Hampton throwing before the game too. Skip said he had no problems yesterday so I guess the next step is to see how it feels today. Definitely a lot more positive than the MLB.com article although I’m still not overly optimistic.
Jun 23 Hudson’s strained left oblique is still providing some discomfort and he hasn’t yet attempted to throw a bullpen session, the team’s official web site reports. He’s not likely to return when eligible to come off the DL on June 29 as a result.
Jun 23 Earlier this month, Dr. James Andrews prescribed two weeks of rest for Hampton’s forearm discomfort, but the time has passed, and the lefthander is still battling pain in the arm. Hampton, who has been on the disabled list since the beginning of the month, has yet to resume throwing, and the Braves do not know when he will be able to return to the mound.