ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Cubs at Braves
Do the Cubs care? By all appearances, not a whole lot. Not to take anything away from a brilliant performance from Horacio Ramirez, but after the Braves took a 6-0 lead in the fifth the Cubs mailed it in against a pitcher whose ERA entering the game was over five.
Not that it is anymore, after a complete-game, three-hit shutout that was, I’d guess, the best performance of Ramirez’s career. His control was sharp, unlike most of his performances this year. He threw 100 pitches, 69 of which were strikes, and walked only one while striking out four. He even got one more groundout than flyout.
Julio started against the righthanded power pitcher Prior, and was one of the heroes of the game. The Braves took an early lead in the second when Julio walked, went to third on Estrada’s double, and scored on a Langerhans sac fly. They blew it open in the fifth. Betemit led off with a hustle double, then went to third on Ramirez’s bunt. Furcal hit a long double to score him. After Johnson struck out, Marcus walked, Andruw singled him home, and Julio capped it with a three-run homer for the final score. All the Braves’ position players had at least one hit, led by Estrada with three.
Smoltz versus Jerome Williams in the night game. You’d like that matchup, but then the Cubs had to like the early matchup. The Natspos and Mets are tied in the ninth, waiting for the inevitable walkoff solo homer by Matt Cepicky or someone like that. Digression… Did you know that the Natspos have scored the fewest runs in the league? And that in their continued efforts to imitate the Braves everyone in the division is bringing in washed-up ex-middle infielders? The Natspos had Baerga play first base today and have had Wil Cordero for awhile, while the Mets had Marlon Anderson there and Jose Offerman on the bench. The Marlins’ backup first baseman is Damion Easley, and the Phillies’ is Tomas Perez. Julio’s ten years older than the oldest of these guys… And is the best player.
Call me picky, but I didn’t think this game was much fun. It’s not really a ballgame if the other team just quits halfway through, and the last 4 innings or so just flew by. While a better game would mean we might lose, it would be more fun to watch. The Cubs fans are about to commit mass suicide right now, and can you really blame them? Their manager makes inexplicably obtuse decisions, they’re averaging less than a run a game for over a week now, and even their supposed ace pitchers are getting beat. What a test of fan loyalty.
I still think Julio needs a smaller bat, if only because every time he loses his grip it nearly takes someone’s head off, but the guy is a fossilized miracle. I hope he keeps this up, especially if LaRoche’s shoulder irritation (is this a side effect of that separation he had last year or Derrek Lee voodoo?) persists for any length of time.
Nats have runners on 1st and 2nd in the bottom of the 9th with only one out. One is Matt Cepicky.
It is good to see the braves putting together a streak at last. Sweeping the O’s and if we can win the 4th against the cubbies tonight we should be able to reel the natspos in about 10 games after the break ….. awesome into extra innings at RFK now
You know, trying to be a nice guy gets me nowhere sometime.
I have NEVER been one to rub anything in someone’s face and went out of my way to go up to the die hard Cubs fans in the office and the first thing I said was the Cubs will turn it around in the 2nd half.
I could have said your team sucks, they don’t try half the time, Dusty Baker is an overrated hack & even Red Sox fans now make fun of you, but no…I make a supportive statement about how Mark Prior is one of the best pitchers in Baseball and this is a blip on the radar screen for this team.
the respponse? Rude apathy.
Anyway, Mac is right…the Nats are ANNOYING. GO METS!
I thought the Natspos were going to win there. I am calling for Livan Hernadez to come on to hit in the 18th inning and hit a two out solo-shot off of Beltrans head Canseco style.
It will be in the fifteenth, the Nats will be out of players when Livan hits, there will be two out, and the Mets will have taken a one-run lead in the top of the inning on a solo homer by Piazza. Looper will be in the game and have Livan 0-2.
Nice guys finish last, Alex! I don’t like to be obnoxious to anybody except Yankee fans, but Cubs fans are whiny (not that they don’t have a reason, but they do go overboard). Never be nice again.
😉
…and a mighty gust of wind will help carry it out!
Oh, wait, I know… The ball will seemingly bounce off the top of the wall and into play, Robinson will come out and argue, the umpires will confer and give Livan a homer, and then replays will show that not only was it not a homer a fan interfered with it or it would have been caught.
Thanks Jenny!
I can’t even talk smack to Yankees fans for fear of another 1996 or 2000 World Series again. I am a HUGE believe in KARMA.
I also happy to be lucky enough that my 2 favorite PRO sports teams are both A)good every single year (the Braves of course and the San Antonio Spurs) and B) both teams have reputations for being class acts and I want to try to follow that example and never “rub something in someone’s face” though in fairness, Pistons fans (except John Smoltz) generally deserve it!
Maybe if we give the natspos kolb and jordan they’ll start losing …. or perhaps kolb will save 50 consecutive 1 run games and jordon will bat .350
Yes, Frank Robinson can be annoying and he screwed the Braves out of a win, BUT, he’s been right on two things this year:
1. Mike Scoscia is a cheater who condones his CALIFORNIA ANAHEIM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ORANGE COUNTY ANGELS to cheat
2. All ESPN ever really cares about is the Red Sox vs. the Yankees.
ESPN thinks their ratings go up whenever they show something involving these two teams, and they’re probably right. I liked it last year because I kind of do like the Red Sox, but now that it’s bumping out the Braves game in my viewing area and I can’t stand the Yankees and the Red Sox have been obnoxious since winning the WS, I wish they’d give us something else. I didn’t even see the brawl game last July.
I know what it’s like to be attacked as a fan, though, I like the Patriots and NOBODY likes the Patriots. They’re like the Yankees of the NFL. What can I say?
Talk smack to Yankees fans anyway. They’ve eaten it since 2000.
Beltran double, intentional walk to Floyd, and Piazza coming up (1 out). C’mon Muts!
Mets have runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the 11th. Come on, guys, let’s get some runs here.
Wonder if Chipper is rooting for them?
You guys have converted me. I have dropped mlb.com for CBS Sportsline for worktime game following.
It’s pretty tight.
Two on, one out. M-E-T-S METS METS METS
Come on Piazza ….. put it into the upper deck
Wow, the Nats walked Floyed to get to Piazza
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mets take the Lead in the 11th, despite some wretched base running. My God…who is their 3rd base coach? 3-2 Mets right now….
Now hold it. Everyone around MY office here in Northern Virginia GROANED…I was the only one clapping.
TOO FUNNY.
Worst baserunning ever!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted this in another thread, but thought this is where all the action is…
http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/redsox/hc-paytontrade0607update,0,6854144.story?coll=hc-small-headlines-breaking
Perhaps this is the missing link for you conspiracy buffs – Payton DFA’d. I wouldn’t mind him for free/real cheap.
I’m from MI, and while Pistons fans are quite annoying, they are NOTHING compared to Michigan State and GB Packer fans.
UH OH…Frank Robinson is arguing about SOMETHING.
I have a feeling the umpires out of respect for Frank are about to change the score to 3-2 Nats.
Lou Piniella would be PROUD.
The MLB.com thing seems to work better for me on the Mac than the CBS page did, although I haven’t tried it for a while. Maybe I should, for instance, the MLB com has said “run-scoring play” for Piazza for a few minutes now, but I have no clue what happened.
Don’t get too excited. Watch the Pos have back to back homers
Hey jenny, I’m not a Patriots fan but people have to respect them. They are a class organization and don’t have to pay 5 billion dollars to try and win games.
Wow, a 6-2-9-2-6 double play. That’s pathetic.
Frank is still arguing. I am reliving that damned Brian Jordan HR game all over again since I was THERE in person. I HATE Frank. Just shut the hell up already…he looks like Richard Williams right now (the Williams sisters dad…)
Again, though, his snarky comments at ESPN were dead on.
Back from commercial and he’s still arguing.
THROW THE SENILE OLD COOT OUT ALREADY, UMPIRES, WILL YOU PLEASE???
I’m watching the game on mlb.com – only $80 for the season … and you get every game …. hey ho what the hell is going on. The natspos are arguaing about something. come on throw him out
Defensive sub for Piazza. Mets want to end this now.
Wait… The Natspos lost a one-run game? What kind of sick joke is this?
What are they arguing about?
Looper blooper is pitching ….could be worse …. could be kolb
I didn’t see Jenny bash the Patriots…missed that. I have to say, Jenny, I agree with Josh. The Patriots are a 1st class organization from Bob Kraft to Tom Brady.
Oh, I see, ESPN.com jumped the gun.
M. Piazza unknown into double play shortstop to catcher to catcher to shortstop, C. Beltran scored, C. Floyd out at home, M. Piazza out at second.
Yeah, that’s real clear. Thanks, Gamechannel!
Mac, I am not sure because my sound has just broken …. i’ve got picture but no sound. I’ll bet microsoft are to blame … 2out though – this is in the bag
Here comes the homer
Frank Robinson must have stayed out there arguing about the idea that the Nats could lose 2 games in a row. He doesn’t ACCEPT it. Screw you Frank.
If you weren’t SENILE AND SUFFERING FROM ERIC GREGG’S DISEASE, any SANE person saw the Mets run scored LEGIT. I mean, the guy touched home plate and Schneider dropped the ball.
….
METS WIN; METS WIN!!!!!
Looper just walked Byrd with 2 outs – Cordero in to hit, not Livan.
I have it as “M Piazza singled to right, C Beltran scored, C Floyd tagged out at home, M Piazza out at second.”
…shoooooooooooooooooooo!
This is what the MLB Gameday thing had for that run-scoring double play:
Mike Piazza singles on a fly ball to right fielder Jose Guillen. Carlos Beltran scores. Double play, shortstop Jamey Carroll to catcher Brian Schneider to right fielder Jose Guillen to catcher Brian Schneider to shortstop Jamey Carroll. Cliff Floyd out at home. Mike Piazza out at 2nd.
GREAT PLAY ….. All we need now is a braves win tonight
Screw you, NATS. You lost a 1 run game….BWAHAHA HA HAHHA HAH.
Ok…I am feeling like rubbing it in because I have grow oh so tired of everyone loving the Nats.
Did you see that that moron Jerry Crasnick on ESPN has decalred them AMERICA’S TEAM after just 3 months? And they just came from CANADA?
I emailed him a nasty note over that one.
When do we play these guys again?
2.5 games back …. we’ll be in the lead before the break at this rate
3 back, I think. 2 1/2 back with a win tonight.
WE get Washington the 26-28 in Atlanta. That should be about the time they start falling apart. Have you noticed of late we have been playing teams that are falling apart, just staying with the trends.
How good is our line-up going to be when Chipper comes back (he took BP w/out the boot yesterday)He will have someone behind him that can hit and teams will have to pitch to him.
Crasnik must have meant North America’s Team.
He’d probably run out and tell the world that Toronto is officially Canada’s Team. GoodStuff!!!
No Patriots bashing here, Alex, I’m a huge fan. I occasionally root for the Redskins because they’re the home team, but Dan Snyder is such an idiot and the team is so bad that I can’t sustain it for more than 3 hours. Thanks for the complimenting of the Pats, though!
I was standing in a Taco Bell next to a Nats fan yesterday (everybody here wears the gear) who was rehashing their one win against the Mets to some kid trying to get hot sauce and I wanted to smack him. The SportsTalk 980 guys were talking about them yesterday and seemed split: some think the Nats can sustain it and some don’t, largely for the reasons we’ve all had: lack of dominant pitching and small offense. All of them said the road games against the Braves and Marlins at the end of July would be the real test. They tried comparing the team to the 1969 Mets but it didn’t work. But they did point out that to play for 3rd place now, they would have to play pretty bad baseball. To make .500 they need what, 30 wins? I think in the end it’ll be the Braves and the Nats in the playoffs, one with the wild card and the other with the division (hopefully us). Then we’ll see what we’re both made of. Yes, the Nats are totally unproven in the playoffs, but if you look at our record over the past years, we kind of are, too. 1 WS in 14 years? Come on.
Sure one in 14, but we still have one! Think Cub fans would trade spots with us? Yep. Red Sox before last year? Yep. How about the White Sox, Indians, ExNatspos, Brewers, Dodgers, Giants, Phillies, Reds, Cards, Mariners, Rangers, Astros, Padres, Royals, Twins, and a few others? Yep.
We are going to run away with this thing soon.
Rarely, though, do you have that many shots in a row and only hit one. I’m not complaining (though I was only 7 the last time we won, I’d like one I can remember!) but this is the Braves. Should we be raising our standards?
1 IN 14 is clearly not a good percentage, however the problem is once you get to the postseason it can become a crapshoot.
I for one think it is a much larger feat to be winning this division 14 times in a row than it was to win that one world series.
According to rotoworld, According to Peter Gammons, Jay Payton is going to Oakland for a reliever. Not to Atlanta… which really wouldn’t have made an awful lot of sense, all things considered, but was certainly an interesting possibility (to me at least) for a while earlier today.
Of course it is. What this team has done is amazing. But I’m spoiled and I want it all!
I know how you feel Jenny. I was 9 when the Braves won their Series. All I can remember is waking my mom up with two outs in the ninth and then watching Grissom make that catch. I guess it would have been nice to know who Wohlers was or something like that.