ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Braves at Phillies
What a freaking nightmare. The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first; by the end of the inning it was tied. They went up 3-2, then lost that lead. John Thomson (who still has a 2.16 ERA) picked an awful time to have his first bad game of the season. He went six, allowing five of the runs, four earned, and gave up two homers.
Macay McBride made his season debut and got the first two men in the eighth, then walked David Bell of all people. Then Bobby brought in Moylan, who allowed two straight hits to stick McBride with a run. Nice work, Peter, and your ERA doesn’t take a hit at all!
Renteria had two hits and scored two of the runs, the other by Chipper. Andruw, as you might expect, drove in two, the other by LaRoche. But while the 2-6 guys had six hits between them, the other starters were shut out (McCann had two walks, one intentional) and Langerhans struck out with the bases loaded and the game tied in the sixth.
Now onto the Mets. The pitching matchups look good but the Braves just aren’t playing well now, and Marcus in particular can’t go 0-5 again.
I don’t think Davies will win three-in-a-row against the Mets, but I really hope I’m wrong. But I think (though it’s hard to think anything with the way this team is playing now) we will win at least two out of three. No Glavine and Pedro, the Braves better work that to their advantage.
I’m going to try to not think about this and just hope and pray to God that we win tomorrow. If we don’t it will be my personal time to panic.
When does Hudson pitch? Saturday?
Yes, with Sosa on Sunday.
Brad, unless GOD intervenes, we still have Sosa on Sunday.
Who does Chuck James have to blackmail to get a freaking shot to start?
Yeah, but I think we see Zambrano on sunday too. Geez, that game’s going to take forever.
So it will be 9-8…except that we are not hitting enough and will now make Zambrano look like Glavine. Just obnoxious.
Does the rookie replacing Bannister pitch on Saturday or Sunday?
Mac, when Langerhans struck out with the bases loaded, we were down 4-3, not tied.
I’m depressed.
You know, if Frenchy keeps going 1 for 4, he’ll eventually top out at .250 on batting average.
I’m trying to stay positive but it’s tough right now. Heck, we lost two sheep today and I feel worse about how my Braves are doing.
eventually, the whole team will have a .250 batting avarage. heck, that’d be an improvement for laroche/giles/langerhans/francoeur.
course mccann will still hit .320 and bat 8th.
You lost two sheep? Like, literally?
We better take Sweep the mets or take 2 from the mets.If the mets take 2 from us we need to start thinking of makeing so big trade
Maybe I should just start watching the Braves every year in June. Seems like the team always requires two months on top of the spring training to get ready.
If they don’t wake up until June, kc, we’ll be in a real mess. Mets are too good this year.
Rob,Yes, literally. Sometimes life is tough on the ol’ homestead.I really wanted/needed the team to do well tonight. Oh well. Boo f’n hoo. We’ll get ’em tomorrow. GO BRAVES!
I empathize with everyone on this forum. I think our pitching is horrible this year, Sosa and Ramirez have underachieved, Remlinger is horrible , and Reitsma still needs to prove he is our ace closer. We will be fine on offense but our defense needs much improvement. Lets hope we can get things together before the Mets break away from us and were left with chasing the wildcard. (But hey a wild-card might just be what the doctor orderedto get the Braves this get over the hump this season)
Concerned Braves fan
Well, urlhix, I’m sorry to hear that. When I was 10, my dog got hit by a car. I tell people I didn’t cry, but I really did…
Ramirez only pitched three innings in one before going on the DL so it’s not really fair to say he’s underachieved. You’re mixing up our future woe with our present misery.
And for the record, I do not share the crushing sense of hopelessness being espoused by some on this board. The last two games have been disheartening, sure, but I reckon they still have time to salvage the season–what is today, May 5th? Last year at this time, we still had Mondesi on the roster, for crying out loud.
Thanks Rob.
I’m with you basil. Like I said, I’m trying to remain positive about our prospects. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played and I certainly don’t think that the Mets are going to win 95 games, when it is all said and done. We still have 9 long home stands left and, with a little bit of tweaking, we will be in this thing at the end. GO BRAVES!
Nick Green was just DFA’d by the Devil Rays. I say, release Jorge Sosa and pick up Green just to be ironic.
ermoore,
From the previous thread, I caught your interest in the Drive-By Truckers, and I wanna help you out.
(Sorry, was out to dinner with my gal so I watched the Philly debacle in a Mexican Restaurant in Roslyn, LI, while 50 other people were losing their cookies to a Johnny Damon GSHR vs. the Deadly D-Rays on one TV & 10 more to Glavine shutting down Pitt on another. The food & conversation were way better than the games.)
Anyway…my recommendation would be “Southern Rock Opera.” We don’t talk politics here, but the record is full of it, especially of the Alabama variety. It’s a spectacular record & if you grew up down there (for me, just across the river in Columbus, Ga.), it means a lot. It’s the record that thinking Southerners always wanted to hear after a lifetime of Lester Maddox or George Wallace. If you’re gonna download a tune from that album, it would be “Let There Be Rock.”
However, I very highly recommend “The Dirty South” and “Decoration Day” as well. If you are a song downloader, stop what you’re doing this very second and download these tunes: “Outfit” on “Decoration Day” and “Goddamn Lonely Love” from “The Dirty South.”
“Outfit” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life and that includes anything by Bob Dylan or the Starland Vocal Band. Get it. Now. I’m serious.
Sweeptime at Shea. I’ll be there Friday & Sunday.
Thursdays are the one day of the week where I invest my time in my favorite TV shows rather than baseball, so I missed the game. Sounds like I didn’t miss too much.
Not really enjoying JS’s book much so far. It has its moments, but I’m not a big fan of the style and the Moneyball chapter was just awful. It actually kind of lowered my opinion of him a little. He caricatured and ridiculed the philosophy in a way that really betrayed a lack of understanding of what it’s about and I honestly expected better. I’m sure we’ve already discussed this previously, probably when Mac pointed out himself being quoted (caught it right away!), but I just wanted to give my impression. There are some great stories in there, though.
Those were two painful games.
But really, we just not getting the rub of the green right now..
more news : the Braves Organization was 0-5 yesterday! Andrus had a hitting streak stopped..
Matt Harrison had a complete game loss.
Travis Smith seems like the most likely candidate to see some bullpen duty, and Brad Baker has actually strung a couple of decent outings in a row
I’d just like to echo jenny’s comments about the JS book. Borrow it, if possible, because you’ll learn very little about the Braves. John’s book is the MLB company line right to the core. He makes clear that he views agents as evil vampires and the way he portrayed the contract with Andruw should’ve been produced as a Disney cartoon.
He’s not lucky, he’s smart. I have no trouble believing that. But I was hoping for more than just the company line.
It is time for a line up change. Our new lineup should look like this
Renteria
Giles
Chipper
Andruw
McCann
Francoure
LaRoche
Langerhans
In know that gives us two lefties back to back. Here is another thought
Renteria
McCann
Chipper
Andruw
LaRoche
Giles
Francoeur
Langerhans
Giles (needs to get on base)
Renteria (playing very solid)
Jones (time to be a leader and speak up)
Jones (see above)
LaRoche (drop in order or get traded)
Frenchy (stop swinging at bad pitches)
McCann (move to LaRoche’s spot)
Langerhans (start using the whole field, quit trying to pull everything)
bench (needs to be upgraded, still dont know about Diaz?)
SP (looked great over the last two weeks or so)
RP (just horrible????????? if our starters can’t pitch complete games, no lead is safe)
I believe the Braves are 4-6 in the opening game of their series this year. We have to win this game tonight, especially w/ Huddy on the mound on Sat. We need momentum
LaRoche’s OPS is about 200 points higher than Francoeur’s OPS, 50 points higher than Betemit’s, and roughly equal to Langerhans’. Sure, you hope for a 900 OPS from your first baseman, but he’s hardly our biggest problem.
Better get used to this. THIS IS THE YEAR, MY FRIENDS. Last year should have been, but the Braves overachieved and the Mets underachieved. Won’t happen again, and the Mets got even better and the Braves even worse.
Love the Cinco De Mayo prognostications from Mets fans. Typical spring optimism, soon to be replaced by dog-day summer grumblings and early fall depression.
I will laugh when the first team to break the Braves division streak will be…the Phillies. Bet the Mets didn’t see that one coming!!
I also think that the Phillies may well have the better horses for the full season. At least the Mets and Phillies will start to play each other soon.
This may well be the year the streak ends, but Braves fans have to recognize that with a team that has many young players–some of whom overachieved in 2005–slumps are probably inevitable. The question is whether they will be decisive…
Guys, it is May 5th. Chill. We have lost some close games over the last few weeks, it will come together for us soon.
our lineup shoule be
1. Francoeur
2. Renteria
3. Chipper
4. Andruw
5. Mccann
6. Langerhans
7. Giles
8. Laroche
Pick Up Nick Green
Trade Wilson Betemit for closer or starter if sosa will be appointed closer
put sosa in bullpen
trade horam
bench:
B. Jordan
S. Thorman
T. Pratt(why?? can anyone answer that? didnt we have enuf catchers in the minors?)
N. green
Peter Orr(sounds like a virus)
I Really think they should at least give Bryan Pena a shot at back-up. i really dont think he is starter material but i think he could do better than pratt.
I think Chipper might say something to the team after last nights loss. When everyone was leaving the dugout the camera was left on Chipper. He had a very disgusted look on his face and hopefully he might pull a Jim Leyland and jump all over these guys. Someone in that dugout needs to take charge!
Pean couldn’t throw out LaRoche’s grandmother if she died in between first and second.
our lineup shoule be
1. Francoeur
2. Renteria
3. Chipper
4. Andruw
5. Mccann
6. Langerhans
7. Giles
8. Laroche
What? Are you serious? Francoeur hitting lead-off is probably the worst thing that could be done to this line-up. To fix the line-up, I’d move McCann to 5th, like you have, move Langerhans to 7th, LaRoche 6th, and Francoeur 8th. Of course line-up construction doesn’t matter all that much, but the way it is right now just irks me.
I’m not panicking about the team yet, mainly because it is early in the year still, but also because we’ve lost a lot of 1-run games. Those things tend to even out. (See last year when Washington was leading the division because of their good record in 1-run games, by the end of the year that evened out.)
Now it is my intention to study for my Federal Income Tax Law class for the next 5 days. Good luck everyone.
I’m with Smitty here. You guys are distressing me here. Each of the last two years, everyone abandoned ship at around this time and look what happened. Even when reminded of what happened the year before, last year everyone was still like, “Nope, we’re done. This is worse.” First of all, nothing is as bad as how we were playing two years ago at this time. Not even this. We have not yet had 18 strikeouts tossed our way the game before we had a perfect game thrown against us. We also haven’t gotten whitewashed by the freaking Kansas City Royals yet. That’s right…I said the KANSAS CITY ROYALS!!! We got our asses kicked in that series and still somehow managed to win the division. Now this team is definitely better than that team. Granted this division is better than that one, but if that team, which really wasn’t very good, could win the division, don’t you think it’s a little early to be bailing out on this one?
Look, if the Mets win 100 games, we’re not likely gonna catch them anyway, but there is still the wild card. The Reds will turn into a pumpkin before long. One of these days they’ll remember that their pitching sucks, and the Astros aren’t nearly as good as they’re playing right now.
So come on people…get a grip. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be criticizing things you see as a problem, but what I’m seeing here goes far beyond that. I’m seeing people giving up on this team in the first week of May. That’s the kind of stupidity I expect from the imbeciles over at ESPN. Fans of a team are not supposed to give up on it a month into the season.
We just need some event to take place to light a fire under these guys. A line up change, Chipper moving positions, a fight, a 6 run 9th inning rally, Pedro and Glavine to go on the DL, Delgatto to turn in to the nice Pedro Sorano, you know anyone of those would help us out a ton.
Wild Card? No chance. NL East will only have one team in the playoffs.
I think Kyle S has the right idea about LaRoche. He can sometimes be painful to watch, but it seems that most people on here have a tough time seeing nthat he hasn’t been anything close to the drain on the lineup that Giles and Francoeur have been. He’s far from the Braves’ biggest problem right now.
As for lineup construction, I’m with LatNam. I like your changes, and I agree that it doesn’t really matter that much. As a general rule, though, you don’t want your worst hitter leading off. Oh, and good luck with that Federal Tax class. As someone who is graduating in a week or so with an accounting degree, I feel your pain.
Some days I think reading the Obituaries would be more positive than reading this blog.
Bobby will make moves, the problem is that he usually waits until the last possible minute to do it. The only move to make with our line-up is to move LaRoche to Siberia or at least down to the 7th spot. Giles is not a 200 hitter so can we please stop putting him in the 7th spot. This will be a tough season, but that can make our eventual rise to the top even more exciting.
Ububba, thanks. ‘preciate that. I went out during lunch and bought Southern Rock Opera and am listening to it now. So far, it’s pretty cool. Really, I was lucky to get out of the store without buying a couple of their other albums, I don’t know, but the titles of their songs just seemed really cool. Anyways, thanks for the advice.
Wild Card? No chance. NL East will only have one team in the playoffs.
I’m not so sure about that. Especially if the Reds don’t completely collpase. It’s going to be hard for a team to take the WC from the Central if they’re all beating each other up (think the NL East in 2005). Sure they have the Pirates, but if the Reds and Cubs keep things respectable, it’l be hard on the Astros or the Brewers to get the WC.
I actually think the WC will come from the East or the West.
ermoore,
My pleasure. Enjoy.
I am graduating college on Sunday, I can’t wait!
We have been in so many close games, that we will eventually start winning them.
It’s hard to see where the spark can come from. The one prospect they have who could do that is Salty, but he plays the same position as McCann, who certainly doesn’t need to leave the lineup. The only other player I can see providing such a spark is KJ, but from all reports he’s not getting any better and really they need to consider the surgery now.
Here is what the spark will be.
Sosa goes inside on Beltran, and Carlos stares him down. Later in the game Andruw gets hit. Ray comes in and drills Beltran, who goes to the mound. Andruws next at bat he his a 500ft shot of Wagner to win the game. After the game MLB suspends Beltran and Ray for 5 games. Braves win 10 in a row.
A Braves sweep would be a helluva spark.
Smitty,
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation.
On another note, Francoeur looks lost at the plate right now.
Thanks
Five days is way to long for FedTax, assuming you get to take the code and regs in with you. Then its issue spotting only. Have a good tabbed Code/Reg book with you and you are golden. I sucked in Law School (3.0 avg) but aced FedTax. I also did a lot of drugs. 🙁
JH
Guys we don’t need a “fire lit under us!” That’s always the excuse though when a team is losing regardless of whether it’s true or not.
But when 12 of your 16 losses have been by 2 runs or less(9 L’s by 1 run), it’s not like we’re not competing.
And can we stop questioning Chipper and Andruw’s leadership! Isn’t Smoltz a team leader too? Why didn’t you mention him, you didn’t get an autograph from the Jones boys?
This team is playing their hearts out, but just is maybe 1 or 2 more big hits with RISP per game from winning these games.
Or maybe it’s just FINALLY the year! Let’s face it, there have been several years where we’ve OVERACHIEVED to keep the streak going. It can’t last forever.
— Bravesfan1
How can you have LaRoach ahead of anyone in any lineup? I’d put Thompson ahead of LaRoach anyday.
Do you realize that EVERY single time LaRoach drives in any runs he makes some error that costs us 1 or more runs? You coulnd’t pay enough to keep him on my team.
Buster Olney jsut said:
This is a make or break weekend for the Braves
Francoeur isn’t in a sophmore slump, he will jsut swing at anything.
Only make or break if we sweep or get swept. And we can’t make even if we sweep(we’d still be 4 GB). 10 out though and that could be tough!
— Bravesfan1
I’m in full agreement with most people on this site about LaRoche. I agree that Giles and Franceour are drains on the lineup now, but their “upside” is much higher than LaRoche. Giles will probably hit near .300 and Frenchy will probably end up at about .260 with pretty decent power numbers. On the other hand, a 3rd year 1st baseman with a .250 ba and 20 hrs isn’t that hard to come by and I think it’s the most we can expect from Adam. I just don’t see LaRoche as a top-tier ballplayer – ever.
If we are going to improve significantly, I think it will have to come from the guys that are on the current roster. We don’t have any minor league guys who can make an immediate impact and I don’t think we can trade for anyone decent without depleting our farm system or hurting our current lineup. Unless JS finds a team wanting to dump a high-priced player before his contract expires, we’re basically stuck with what we have.