ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Padres at Braves
A lot of good news, but some bad news too.
The good news first: John Smoltz was back in style. The Braves not only got the first win by one of their starting pitchers this year, they got the first complete-game shutout in the entire NL this year. He only needed 103 pitches, 74 of them strikes. Smoltz struck out four and allowed but four hits and two walks.
The offensive hero was LaRoche, who homered in the second to give the Braves the lead and had an infield single that moved Andruw (who had been hit by a pitch and stole second) to third, where Francoeur singled him in. The Braves only had four hits on the day but made the most of them.
The other hit was by Renteria, keeping his streak going, which leads to the bad news; he apparently pulled something on a swing and immediately left the game. L’il Tony Pena, who is to hitting what his father is to managing, is apparently the shortstop for now until either Renteria gets better or Chipper comes off the DL so Betemit can move to short.
Braves back to .500. Thomson faces Woody Williams tomorrow.
L’il Tony Pena, who is to hitting what his father is to managing, is apparently the shortstop for now until either Renteria gets better or Chipper comes off the DL so Betemit can move to short.
My eyes!
From the AP recap: Renteria “suffered a strained rib cage and is day to day.”
Was that a complete game??
As complete as can be. Great game from our team leader! I hear that Betemit is going to SS and Pete Orr will play 3B. I like that better than throwing away AB’s to someone who can’t hit worth a lick.
What you say is a bit surprising, Michael. Last year it seemed when Orr entered along with Marcus, they usually moved Marcus to 3b and let Orr play second. Regardless, playing Orr seems a better bet than Tony Pena, Jr. at this point.
It’s confirmed that Boyer will be out of the year. Wish him all the best.
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/041406/3789677.shtml
No, Jeff M., Marcus only played 6 innings at 3rd last year while Orr played 45 accoring to Baseball reference. I would imagine that will continue. Marcus has played about 70 innings at third in his career, but all but the aforementioned six last year were in 2002.
My eyes!
Zee goggles do nozzing!
wow…just got back and checked the box score…feels good to play up to our potential…i hope we can keep the momentum
Another thing to celebrate, this is the Braves first two-game win streak this season!
Does Smoltzie’s performance now make McDowell a genius?
Yes, for a day McDowell is a genius and LaRoche is the man.
Well we didn’t score our token 4+ runs. FIRE TP!
Happy Easter
Throwing this thought out there,
is LaRoche going to be the left handed version of Tony Batista? LHB = Left Handed Batista!!
though his defence has been real good this year to date. good range, and has dug out lot of balls in the dirt. wonder if he is going to be benched when we run into a lefty starter..there hasnt been a Jordan sighting in a while.
and Tanto, you assured me TP Jr wasnt going to be on the team, and I should not waste my hate on him!! but lookie 🙁
small sample size and all, but our bullpen has been pretty good.
Villareal : 6 games, 7 ip , 1.29 ERA , 2/1 k/bb
Remlinger : 8 g , 4.1 ip , 2.08 , 2/1
Ray : 5 g, 5 ip , 0 , 5/2
James : 4 g, 8.2 ip, 3.12 , 4/4
Cormier : 7 g, 7.2 ip, 1.17 , 3/4
Moylan : 1 g, 1 ip , 0 , 1/0
Reitsma : 5 g, 5.2 ip , 6.35 , 2/1
real good numbers for now, the zona boys have been worked a lot, and the K rates are saying that the whole bullpen is going to pieces sometime midsummer.
Interestingly, Boyer and Devine combined for 1.2 ip for 10 ER
L’il Tony Pena, who is to hitting what his father is to managing, is apparently the shortstop for now until either Renteria gets better or Chipper comes off the DL so Betemit can move to short.
*dies*
Small sample size, but these are Adam LaRoche’s numbers so far:
11/42, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 16 K, 262/340/595
Lotsa strikouts, high OPS.
I doubt he’ll keep up that HR rate, though. That’s what’s inflating the slugging.
Evidence that Peter Gammons pulls things out of his ass:
What does he mean, “again near the bottom of the league?” Has he been in a coma for the past, oh, 15 years? The Braves starting pitching has always been GOOD, which is why this year is such a startling aberration. I thought that was the point he was getting at, but apparently we can argue contradictory points simultaneously now and not have it matter.
Also, re: K/BB ratios, I have three words for you, Peter: small sample size. We have seen 11 games out of a 162 game season. Smoltz is already looking a lot better. Get back to me in May or June.
Glad to see tonights game was another good one! Looks like it was a great one… hate I missed it! I just got back from Mississippi?s game again. I decided to go back up since I don?t get Turner South and couldn?t watch the Braves. McBride pitched an inning of relief tonight? looked very good! According to my tallies he threw like 14 pitches (4balls 10strikes)..had 2Ks and the other out was a soft fly to left. He looked good though as did all of the pitching throughout the game yet again tonight. ?I met McBride after the game also? very nice guy!
I hate to hear about Edgar… never good… he was on a role… hopefully he’ll be back really soon!
According to Bobby in the pregame show, two more outings and McBride is back in the bigs.
Yea… I read where he had said that so I was hoping he would pitch again tonight… I ask him after the game if he knew when he might go up next week, and he said he wasn’t sure but thinks it might be Tuesday!
That’s a great scoop Miranda! Straight from the horses mouth.
Bobby also did say that he wanted McBride to do a multi-inning stint before he called him up.
frankly we need people in the bullpen who can punch guys out, and right now, only Ken Ray has decent strike out numbers. McBride will be a welcome addition, if he has got his looginess out of his system
What kind of crop duster do they fly from Pearl, MS to NYC anyway?
I don’t trust McBride at all. Why do so many see him as trustworthy? To me he is about the same as John Foster, who I guess will be back soon too.
That was the first game in Braves style this year. Low score, great pitching.
My heroes of the week are Andruw and Langerhans though. Wonder why nobody mentioned the UNBELIEVABLE defense Andruw played tonight. And Langerhans is the best defensive leftfielder I can remember wearing a Braves uniform. Including Francoer and his great arm, we might have the best defensive outfield in the league.
I don’t understand the issue with the Gammons quote. The Braves were last in the NL in Ks last year, and so far they are again, hence the “again”. It’s a trend that runs counter to the mystique of Braves pitching, and it’s obvious to me that it does reflect a staff-wide loss of “stuff”. While 11 games might be a small sample size for stats like W-L, I think it’s a fairly good sample size for K/9 — everyone’s pitched a few times, and we have a sense of what kind of staff this is. We don’t have a single guy who can blow away hitters with fastballs, like Peavy did to Langerhans last night.
urlhix: haha… I’m not sure, but the MS B will be in Jackson, TN… they start their set there tomorrow.
The Willis trade will take care of the having no strikeout pitcher problem.