ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Braves at Marlins
Suddenly, offense? Well, this was the Marlins, after all. The Braves were shut down through four innings, then broke out in a big way. Jordan, starting for Langerhans in left, hit a three-run homer in the fifth, then the Braves put five up in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
John Thomson pitched only five innings, eighty pitches, in lousy weather for part of the time, and finally got a win. He allowed one unearned run (in a deluge when McCann threw a ball away trying to get a runner).
LaRoche had a big game, going 3-4, driving in two, and scoring three. Renteria had two hits, so did Chipper. And Francoeur finally drew a walk! A big day, but it was only the Marlins, who are very very bad.
Chad Paronto (in for Horacio who was briefly in for Chuck James, and I would have kept track had I been in my right mind the last couple of days) pitched, and he is sure to be very annoyingly bad. I will try to write him up soon.
Sorry, when the laptop is out with my wife at her company’s annual dinner, I can’t watch MLB Extra innings and be on my desktop.
I would have enjoyed commenting tonight. Two double scoring games in a row no matter who we are facing but it doesn’t hurt that it was Jose Lima and then Brian Moehler.
Tomorrow’s game is easily the toughest of the series because Josh Johnson appears to be competent and Kyle Davies has been inconsistent. If we can get tomorrow’s, I would love it.
I actually don’t want the Phillies to sweep. Take 2 of 3 against the Mets, Phils. The Braves are going to be in 3rd place before the weekend anyway, so I don’t suddenly want the Phillies to get hot.
Based on tomorrow’s Mets/Phillies pitching match-up, the Mets should win that going away.
Ok, what’s gotten into Brian Jordan? I am not complaining and we know it can’t last (can it?) but I will take it from wherever we can get it.
Amd LaRoche player of the game? Why did it take Bobby 3 weeks to switch the order?
I agree since both in my opinion are equally dangerous. A long, hard-fought and draining series between Mets and Phillies would be nice.
From the AP:
“Girardi decided to flip LHP Dontrelle Willis and RHP Sergio Mitre in their upcoming starts. Willis is now scheduled to face Atlanta on Thursday, with Mitre pushed back to Friday at Pittsburgh.”
What is this? OMG THAT IS SO UNFAIR!
Since the Fox decision to use their announcers on the Turner South broadcasts, I actively look for elements of their production that reveal their inferiority to TBS.
Here’s tonight’s — after Francoeur gets ball four for his first BB of the season, he trots to first. A prime opportunity to add a little color to the broadcast, as he and Hubbard are sure to share a laugh, right? Not on Fox, which cuts to the mound just before Francoeur gets to first, then shows a replay of ball four. Then an outfield shot of Francoeur and Hubbard from the rear looking into the dugout, then the game continues. Good grief, how hard is it to keep a tight shot on Francoeur and Hubbard, then show a dugout reaction? It’s a small thing, sure, but why can’t they get something so simple correct?
Great, now we have to face Willis. What a complete load. But he hasn’t been great this year.
Maybe it’s that number seven spot. LaRoche is hot there and McCann isn’t quite as good at number five. Hmm…
Went to the Yanks/Red Sox game tonight, so I missed the Braves game, but I noticed in the AP recap that Langerhans didn’t start because he had flu-like symptoms. His replacement Jordan hits a 3-run HR.
Frenchy with the walk, LaRoche with some big hits and Edgar continues his streak. Marcus 0 for 3, but 2 walks. OK, maybe our luck is turning a little.
It’s the Marlins, yeah, but we’re not in a position to be picky about our wins. We should beat them and, moreover, we have to beat them with regularity now.
The game in the Bronx was a blowout & it got ugly in the stands early. By my count, my section (Tier 11) had 4 brawls (lotsa drunk, emboldened Red Sox fans, as usual). After the game got out of hand, NYPD were heading to the top of our section, regularly putting billyclub noogies on the youthful offenders. By the 7th inning, I half-expected to see Red Sox fans led out the portal in chains.
A-Rod had a game to forget. With 2 big errors and a GIDP at the plate, he didn’t win over any new fans. The Yanks dropped the ball all over the field & the Big Unit got strafed.
OK, now it’s 2 in a row for ATL. No quarter for the Marlins…
Who thought you’d be seeing this headline:
“LaRoche, Jordan power Braves past Marlins”
Thanks sansho1 for your recount of Fox South’s inability to sense a good human side to the game. I listen to most Braves games on the computer and I hate to imagine how bland they would be without the rich commentary, which we have benefited from over the years.
Your post reminds me that it is nothing to take for granted.
Not that it really matters, because we should still give up all hope and call it a season, but we are only 1gb of the Mets in the Pythagorean standings now. (And we’re 2 up on the Phitin’ Phils.)
I never set much by pythagorean standings. You will find that teams with good bullpens, esp with good depth, invariably outperform their Pythags
I am a bit concerned about chipper’s performance though. He is really pressing
You will find that teams with good bullpens, esp with good depth, invariably outperform their Pythags
umm, I meant to say, not too much depth. As in top heavy bullpens ( poster child : yankees )
Ububba;
If you can, tell us about Williams’ ejection.
Mac:
Too little praise has come for your fine JS article. I don’t want you to think we are taking you for granted. It was awesome. You hit the nail on the head. The chapter puts a taint on the entire book.
It’s always hard to say how much of a book is “ghosted.” Prior to reading this book, I’d liked to have met JS. Now I’d pass. Or at least I wouldn’t “Rush.”
I just wanted to comment, and say that I think that Renteria’s might be the most important piece of the lineup outside of the Jones’.
I think today is a big game for us. We need to beat up on Johnson tonight, since they are throwing Willis out there for the final game. Lets wrap up this series tonight and look for the sweep tomorrow.
Willis has been awful, but we seem to be able to make all the pitchers who face us look great!
Not to expose myself as the ignorant fool I am, but can someone explain the pythagorean standings? How they’re calculated and what not. Not necessarily something long, but just the basis of it. Thanks.
The gist of pythagorean standings is that a team’s record can be estimated by the number of runs they score and allow. The “pythagorean” name comes from the pythagorean formula, which is one way to estimate the record.
The basic formula is
RunsScored^2
—
RunsScored^2 + RunsAllowed^2
23 runs in the last two games.
What happened to Jeff Torborg? I almost cried when I saw Ron Gant on TV. I would take the Fox anouncers more seriously if they didn’t wear suits for every game.
Ron Gant had this line last night, at which point I switched it to mute.
“Francouer should definitely look to be aggresive as opposed to worrying about taking a walk. He can get an RBI every time he swings the bat, so he should focus on staying aggresive, and not worry about drawing 60-70 walks”
Kevin,
Bernie’s ejection was really quick, very late in the game when 70-percent of the crowd had left & barely noticed by people.
Bernie had been squawking about called strikes all night with Reliford, but nothing animated. That punchout earned him the hat trick (K #3).
He said something to Reliford, flipped his bat in front of the plate and, while walking away, flicked his helmet behind him, but in Reliford’s direction. I think he got tossed before the helmet actually hit the ground.
I’ve been to tons of Yankee games & have never seen him get ejected or even argue much. I thought it was kind of weird, but it was just that kind of game. The frustration just snowballed all night.
Re: Mac’s Review.
I didn’t read the JS book, so I didn’t feel qualified to comment. However, I’m curious about what angle the Slate editor requested for the review.
I agree with Gant there. Francouer should go up there being aggressive, it is his game. He has been more selective as of late, but his game isn’t to draw walks. I think that is why he went into a slump in the first poart of the season. Everyone was telling him diffrent things and to take pitches. He has played in every game and has struckout less than Giles and LaRoche, who haven’t played in every game. Frechy will be a streaky hitter for a few years, but after he has a better understanding of what he can and can’t hit, he is going to be a monster.
Yesterday, the Marlins’ clubhouse doctor gave Langy some medicine for “flu-like symptoms”…the doctor is the head doctor for the hospital district my mom manages…guy didn’t even think to get me a signed ball…
Now that we get to play the Marlins and Natspos, we get to feel what it is like to be the Mets.
Re: Yankees, I find it incredibly rich of Joe Torre to lambast Red Sox fans for booing a guy who went to the “Dark Side” when his own fans go to games and start booing their own players in the 3rd inning! But I’m sure he’s conveniently ignoring this.
I think I know when Frenchy walked. It was when all the lights suddenly went out in our concert hall for no reason. That must have been ball 4. But I still have this nagging feeling that his “selectivity” is deciding beforehand whether or not to swing and hoping he gets lucky.
Torre’s just sticking up for his players, that’s all.
Confession: I like the Yanks alright; I can’t stand the Red Sox.
A big day, but it was only the Marlins, who are very very bad.
Perhaps, but you have to beef up your win totals against those kinds of teams — take a look at the Mets. They’ve played exactly four games against teams with records over .500, and everyone’s oohing and aahing over what a great team they are.
Yeah, Tanto, and they’ve played nine games against us, so do the math.
I’m with Kevin on the review of Built to Win. You hit the nail on the head, Mac. JS completely missed the point of Moneyball, and the whole book really made me question whether or not he’s had anything to do with the success of the Braves, at least beyond hiring competent people below him. I’m not sure I’d want to meet him, either.
Re:Gant comment
Its wrong on so many levels I don’t know where to begin. Being aggresive is not a synonym for hacking away, or approaching the pa / game without a plan.
And Francouer has either shown no plan or an inability to stick to a plan. He claims that he has to work the count to get better pitches to hit, yet most times he manages to get ahead in the count, he swings at some total rubbish. As Jenny mentioned in her comment earlier, he well might be guess hitter, and guessing really relly really early. Thats what you are supposed to teach young hitters, identify pitches, make plans to tackle the pitcher.. not go swing away and hope to “get a RBI”. Your primary consideration has to be to not to make an out.
The bad thing is that after Francoeur walked, his next AB (I think it was his next one) he pushed the count to 3-0, and then hacked away (looking bad) after taking a strike. It’s not about the actual walks, it’s about being selective. He’s been hitting the ball awfully wimpy this year with an Iso-Power of .179. He can’t be an All-Star with that, even if he brings his AVG up. His lack of walks are a sign that he’s having trouble recognizing what he can do with the pitches he’s getting. He’s good enough to play in the big leagues as a pure mistake hitter, but he won’t be more than adequate until he learns to be selective. I don’t mind free swingers as long as they hit for average, but he’s not showing signs of being able to do that.
I think he is Frenchy is getting better all the time. He is going to look bad at times, but when he starts recognizing pitches better he is going to be fine. He is only, what 21? Just chill, he is going to be a very good ball player. He has had some big hit for us this year. His approach is not that of the Money Ball way of winning and he will piss off the stat nerds, but he is going to be fine.