ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Braves at Marlins
Worst. Ground Crew. Ever. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the eighth because the field was unplayable and would remain that way, largely because the Marlins ground crew had no idea what they were doing and couldn’t deploy the tarp properly. Luckily, the Braves were winning. I expect that if they’d been losing and it was a close game there would have been a protest.
The big blow of the game came in the top of the inning. With one out, Furcal at second, Giles at first, and Andruw at the plate, the Braves pulled a double steal. Even with two strikes on him, the Marlins walked Andruw, then brought in a lefty to face LaRoche. Bobby pulled the trigger, bringing in Julio, and Julio hit a grand slam, which put the Braves up 7-1.
Furcal did have a good game, doubling to start that rally and also tripling to lead off the game and scoring the game’s first run on a very short sac fly by Marcus. He also made a really good defensive play to end the seventh. He keeps playing like that, I’ll lay off him. All the Braves’ position players had at least one hit, Giles and Estrada joining Furcal with two. Andruw was intentionally walked twice, which is fine with me; LaRoche can’t possibly be bad enough to make up for all the extra baserunners.
Horacio had another strong game. He pitched out of a couple of jams, one caused by his defense (a misthrow that let a runner get to third with nobody out) and one caused, I think, by the rain (he loaded the bases with two walks in fifth). He did only strike out two, which is worrisome, but he seems to have better control than he did earlier this year. Brower was on the mound when the heavens opened in the bottom of the eighth, having already given up a homer to Cabrera but getting Delgado.
The rest of the division was idle. The Braves and poor Jorge Sosa get Dontrelle Willis again tomorrow. Turner South again.
I can’t decide what is more pathetic: the fact that they couldn’t get a tarp down or that Pete and Don predicted they wouldn’t. It’s clear those guys had no idea what they were doing, each person tugging individually in opposite directions as if he could make it move on his own.
ESPN’s recap has “Brian Giles” with an RBI tonight. What’s the over/under on when they make that correction.
Why do MLB managers (Randolph, McKeon among others) persist on bringing out the lefty against LaRoche when we have Julio on the bench? Do they not think about Julio and see only an oppurtunity to jam a tall hitter? We’re always looking for an oppurtunity for Julio to pinch-hit, especially against a lefty. I cite Randolph and McKeon because when they did this, the result was runs for our club.
Do the runs in the eighth “officially” count since they didn’t actually finish the inning? I thought the answer would be no, but every source seems to be saying they do. I would hate for Julio to lose his slam.
Maybe I need to find a rulebook.
Strong game for Furcal. First of many to come.
They do, because we were already ahead at the start of the 8th. I think.
Furcal actually didn’t look that bad tonight. He’ll probably follow it up with a 2 for 21 though.
Andruw drawing walks is messing with my mind
My new idea for a trade is to send Johnny Estrada and either Boyer or Vasquez to Houston for Brad Lidge. Lidge is only making a half million so the Braves wouldn’t have to fight with the Fuerher (Time Warner) over adding salary, Houston gets a upgrade over Brad Ausmus who is getting pretty old, and a nominally decent pitching prospect. The Braves then have a 8th/9th inning punch of Reitsma and Lidge that rivals anyone in baseball. The hit of losing Estrada is hard, but as has recently been pointed out by many publications, the Braves farm system is loaded with catchers and McCann has looked comfortable offensivly and defensivly with Smoltz. The offense might take a hit, but Lidge has postseason experience and is about as good as it gets.
Comments?
Andruw was intentionally walked, but since he’s usually someone that other teams intentionally walk people to get to, that is mind-blowing.
I think the Astros would want substantially more than Estrada and Blaine Boyer for Lidge. They’re under no pressure to get rid of him at all. I agree that McCann would probably do well as a replacement, though 🙂
That trade wouldn’t make much sense for the Astros. Estrada is ok but he’s about to get expensive and is approaching the age where many catcher fall off a cliff. They would ask for McCann, we could counter with Pena plus an arm. You never know, depends what they are thinking over there.
I hear Lidge’s name an awful lot — is there some evidence that Houston is looking to trade him? If so, why? I know they’re going nowhere this season, but Lidge is the last guy they should want to trade. He’s young, still cheap ($500K this season), and he’s one of the best relievers in the NL.
The Astros are in trouble because they’ve hung on to aging, expensive veterans for too long, and because most of their youngsters (which, to be kind, I’ll define as “anyone under 30”) haven’t developed beyond averageness. Obviously they need to rebuild, but why start by getting rid of one of the few guys (along with Oswalt, Berkman, and Burke) who’s likely to still be a quality major leaguer once they turn it around?
I wouldn’t think Lidge was available either. His name is probably coming up because he’s on a losing team and people want him. I would be surprised if there were any “white flag” trades coming out of Houston unless they get blown away on a deal for Roger Clemens and get a promise that he’ll be back next year(doubtful). Word is they wouldn’t even trade Brandon Backe for Randy Winn. Winn’s no superstar, but they sure could use him. And Backe probably isn’t even average (Bill Bavasi is an idiot, by the way).
Speaking of Seattle… it seems like Estrada could probably bring someone like Eddie Guardado, but he’s old and expensive.
I still think he’s more valuable in an offseason trade, but who knows for sure. Some team, like Houston or Seattle, that thinks they’re rebuilding in place (or whatever you want to call it) could come up with a good deal. But I think it would have to be something pretty darn exciting for JS to give up a quality regular during the season.
Not directly related, but still very interesting. From the Miami Herald (hit bugmenot.com for login):
“The Baltimore Orioles confirmed Monday that the Marlins contacted them last week about a trade that would send right-hander A.J. Burnett to Baltimore in a six-player deal that would bring reliever Jorge Julio to Florida.
A team source, who confirmed the discussions on the agreement that his name not be used, said the proposed deal had the Marlins sending Double A outfielder Eric Reed and outfielder Juan Encarnacion to Baltimore with Burnett for a starting pitcher — either Daniel Cabrera or Hayden Penn — and an outfielder, most likely Larry Bigbie. But, the source added, the talks have been on hold, and the Orioles also are pursuing other options.”
They must really hate this guy. I’ve read that he won’t listen to anything that even remotely resembles coaching, and I’m sure that drives Trader Jack absolutely nuts. But still, do you trade your ace if you have good reason to beleive you’re the best team in the division? I guess I might if it allowed me to dump a stiff like Encarnacion 😉
Based on what I’ve read (sorry no sources at my finger tips right now) Houston does not want to rebuild slowly. IF they decide to throw in the towel this year, they want players that will be ready next year. Most figure the only players that will bring that sort of return is Lidge and Clemens. And they don’t want to trade Clemens because they figure the fans will bail on them for the rest of the year.
Berkman is good, but he was injured for most of the beginning of the year. As far as Oswalt is concerned, that could just be contract size. No idea what it is though, so I’m just guessing there.
If the Marlins pull off that trade, the race is over and we will bring home another pennate. How big is tonight’s game for the Marlins? If they win it is good for them, if we win, against the D-Train and Sosa pitching, ouch!
Sorry to post so quick again, but I just read the article creynolds posted, I think the Marlins season comes down to the next three games. If we take two of them I think they pull the strings and make the trade. That makes tonights game huge for them, if we could pull this out, it could pull the plug on the Fish. Comments?
Nobody’s season will be determined by three games before the all star break, especially in the NL East.
If they are talking about trading their second best pitcher and their starting right fielder, I think they are waiting to see if they are still in the race. If we take 3-4 from them, I think they will fold or they will fire trader Jack. IF the Natspos start to fall this week and we can move into the lead and the Phillies pass the Fish, I think Florida is done.
Well, they seem to be pretty desperate for a reliever and a left-handed batter. So while this trade would appear to me to make them worse, I think they actually see it as an improvement for this year… at least in some areas. But you have a good point, at least indirectly. Anything that makes them think they need to make this trade (and a few days of us beating on their bullpen and/or shutting down their offense might do it) looks good to me.
Sounds like Baltimore is in the driver’s seat on this one, though.
Why would Baltimore make this deal? If Burnett is indeed uncoachable, why do the O’s want them? And Bigbie is much better than Encarnacion. There’s no improvement for them.
The Marlins would get Jorge Julio who lookd kolb-ish last weekend.
Baltimore needs pitching, and it would be hard to turn down a guy like Burnett… especially if you thought it may be the specific coaches and not the general idea of coaching that was the problem (Ray Miller’s history entitles him to some ego, I suppose, so that doesn’t seem far-fetched). I think it would be a good deal for them if they could get a hitter to replace Bigbie and make the deal with Cabrera instead of Penn.
I’m surprised the Mets aren’t in the mix. Just give Peterson 15 minutes with…oh, even I don’t find this funny anymore.