ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Dodgers at Braves
That was no fun at all. I don’t much blame the Braves’ players, who were playing their fourth straight midday game in 90+ degree weather. But John Thomson hadn’t been in the sun that much and he still did his best Jae Kuk Ryu imitation, getting chased with one out in the second after allowing seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks. The Braves committed three throwing errors (Chipper, Renteria, and Francoeur) in the first inning.
Cormier came in and pitched well enough to give the team a chance to get back into it, cutting it to 8-5 after the fifth. But Bobby had double-switched Andruw out of the game (for no reason other than he thought it a lost cause, I guess) and the cleanup spot kept coming up with runners on base. Betemit drove in Renteria pinch-hitting in the fifth, but Orr struck out with two out in the seventh and that basically ended the game. Completely wrapping it up was Chad Paronto’s Reitsma imitation, capped by a three run homer, in the top of the ninth.
I guess there were a couple of bright spots. Another good outing by McBride, 1-2-3-with a strikeout of Lofton in the eighth. (The Dodgers had ex-Braves in the 1, 2, and 4 spots — Furcal, Lofton, Drew — and a former G-Tech player, Nomar, in the 3 hole.) And they turned four double plays, but considering the Dodgers had over 20 baserunners that’s only to be expected. Renteria had three more hits.
Okay, guys, go home. Rest. Drink plenty of fluids — not those fluids. You have two more games in this series, and you need the rest. And hopefully the Powers That Be will realize that the Sunday Tomato Jerseys are not to be worn on Mondays.
The Andruw switch still makes me scratch my head. That’s 2 games in a row with the opposing team scoring 12. Is it our fielding, pitching, or both combined that’s hurting? We’ve made some mistakes out in the field these past two games….but then again, the pitchers haven’t been lights out either.
Forgive my ignorance, but what happened with Andruw?
I’m assuming it was just to give him some rest, right?
After the first inning, we were never gonna win that game. It’s not even worth re-living. Chalk it up to one of the 60 games you’re just bound to lose & move on…
Let’s go, Sosa.
Nobody’s said anything, and it was in mid-inning at the time of the Thomson switch, so probably just to get him some rest. His back has been a problem, they had a flight followed by a day game, and as I said it was their fourth midday game in a row.
Any trade rumors? Ideas?
I’m not sure we need to trade for a closer, maybe just a reliable arm.
Yeah, I was pretty sure the Braves will lose this one. I don’t quite understand the purpose of forcing them to play an afternoon game after a long road trip. Well, I know…for attendence purpose…not that I see any improvement to the bullpen with a better attendence…
What concerns me is that…the Braves have almost one-third of the season played, and Chipper and Edgar are both on pace of having a 30-error season…that is not good…
That was quite possibly the worst game I’ve ever attended. I’m sure some of the late 70’s and mid 80’s games were just as bad, but at least I wasn’t expecting anything then.
And we had great seats too. But it was insanely hot, and the Braves just looked terrible. Thomson didn’t even pitch badly in the first, but everything kept falling in – or, more accurately, finding a hole to scoot through. In the second, he completely lost it, though, and couldn’t seem to throw a strike at all.
Heat and fatigue definitely played a role. If it wasn’t for Reitsma’s all too familiar display of choking last night, we wouldn’t have needed the extra innings. I say he gets the L for today in addition to his umpteenth blown save yesterday.
Renteria and Chipper may not be having good seasons defensively thus far, but they’re both producing offensively. After watching Chipper slide five feet on San Francisco’s terrible infield, I think the “bad field conditions” excuse is much more viable when it comes to our early errors.
Renteria…I am not down on him or anything. I am very glad he is hitting as well as he has been for the Braves, but I didn’t realize the Braves traded Marte for another Jeff Blauser…well, a better version of Jeff Blauser.
http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/0530notes.html
ok, I didn’t know Wil Startup has been promoted to Richmond…there is a chance that there will be four lefties in the Atlanta bullpen by the end of the year.
Good to know Andruw was only getting a rest today. Either his back is still hurting him or he is tired, but Andruw’s swing has been looking pretty long recently. He is missing those inside strikes which he murdered last season.
I think I’m going to start a Mike Gonzalez rumor. Or a Damaso Marte rumor. Or a Mike MacDougal rumor if he gets healthy.
Mac, are you sure the Pirates are willing to trade Mike Gonzalez? I have my doubt…Marte is more likely…
Yea, they sent Startup and Prado to Richmond from Mississippi yesterday
Did they demote Little Johnny?
Umm… I’m not sure… the only transactions involving MS were…
INF Martin Prado to Richmond
LHP Will Startup to Richmond
INF Mike Rozema to Mississippi from Myrtle Beach
Probably they took the places of Pena and Horacio.
Does anyone think that bringing up Startup this season will be a little too early? Imo, I think he needs to continue developing in the minors….but good Lord we need a ‘decent’ reliever. No doubt, he’s ripping up the minors, and I’d like to see him be brought up to Atlanta, but I just think another year developing and ‘tweeking’ his overall mechanics and performance can’t hurt. Anyone agree?
I was at the game today too, and as demoralizing as it was, when we scored four in the fifth and had them on the ropes, the game still seemed within reach. Despite Thomson’s stinker, the three errors in the first, and the anemic offense to that point, we started absolutely clicking offensively that inning.
Of course, LaRoche swung at the first pitch and grounded into a double play to end the inning, and we never scratched again, but at least for that fraction of a moment we fans were able to hold our heads up high and say, “Hey, we could win this.” That’s all you ever ask for as a spectator–although, as a fan, I’m disappointed as hell we took the loss. Time for us to get a night game and a temperature that won’t make Andruw sweat off Marcus’ weight.
I can’t imagine sitting in the sun watching today’s game, much less playing in it after standing in the sun in Chicago for three days. It was hotter than blazes here, about an hour south of Atlanta.
ububba, I think you are right on the money. It was one of those games where we were “just bound to lose”. Bobby did the right thing resting AJ and playing Pratt.
n8dawg53–I basically agree: I do not want to see Startup suffer the same fate of Devine and be rushed to Atlanta. That said, each pitcher’s trajectory is different, so maybe he is ready.
With a little luck, between Devine, Startup and Schreiber, there is a pretty fair chance that we can see some help in the bullpen from the farm.
Miranda–Thanks–as always–for the updates.
The farm system is busy: Nelson Payano (he will be replaced by the unlucky Asher Demme) got the call up to Myrtle Beach.
The Rome paper carried that story and the injury to Lyman:
http://209.41.184.21/partners/680/public/news722456.html
At least it is not an arm problem.
n8dawg53, I agree with your comment on Startup absolutely. However, we could have said the same thing about Frenchy, McCann, Boyer, McBride, and all those kids. I wish those kids had a little more time to develop (except for McCann), but the situation in Atlanta does not allow such luxury.
When our GM only added Remlinger, Cormier, and Oscar to the already talent-short bullpen during the offseason and was smart enough to trust Reitsma as the closer , the Braves are bound to keep trying out people (like Ray, Moylan, Paronto) until they can fill out the bullpen with enough decent arms. So, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Startup will end up sitting in the Atlanta bullpen at some point this season.
I am so proud to be a Braves fan today. It’s true!
This game reminded me that these are real men going to work to do their job. Despite leaving a big pile of manure on the field in the first (maybe to fertilize the Killer Tomato jerseys), despite the quick turnaround from the travel and the several days of heat, they threatened to get back in the game. Another Alex R.-a true Braves fan- eloquently pointed this out and showed us he got his money’s worth despite a loss. No one posting here on the site is overreacting to the loss, either.
Andruw rested; it’s a long year. This site has more people talking about the farm than I’ve seen in a long time. Personally, I’m hoping for the emergence of the story of Ken Ray as a closer.
Thanks for this forum, Mac! It’s good to be a Braves fan today.
As far as trade rumors go, I would like to start a Danys Baez one right now. The Braves were more than mildly interested in him the last two winters, but the Rays wanted too much. The Dodgers are getting Gagne back this week, he appears to be healthy and they have auditioned Saito (2 saves) for the role when Gagne inevitably hurts himself again.
Or how about Todd Coffey? God help me, I am getting warm fuzzies for Roberto Two-Ton Hernandez…..
Startup gave up 4 hits and a walk in 1.2 innings for his AAA debut. He also struck out 2. Phil Stockman got the save on 10 pitches, striking out 2. My guess is that we’ll see Stockman in ATL much sooner than Startup, but then he’s 5 years older than Startup.
I was drving back form Savannah and listened to Chip and Skip on the radio. When they work together, Chip lays off the “Chiago is the the greatest place ever!” talk and isn’t too bad. Skip was bust one liners all over the place.
Mac, I dissagree about Reitsma not being involved. I think we let him start.
My barber told me that Rietsma is Swahili for “double in the gap”
I think we are trying to trade KJ, Chuck James, or Thomson. Why else would we be converting James to a starter’s role? Someting is brewing. I am going to go get my hair cut to find out more.
Well, James has really always been a starter. He was “converted” this year just because our pen is so bad. And I think that’s where his furure is. He’s certainly more valuable that way.
I certainly hope that we see Stockman before Startup. Right now he has the numbers and Startup should not be rushed. I agree with KC the Braves do not have the luxury of waiting for players to develop at their best paces. Therefore, we might see the hot hand (especially if current relievers go cold) come to the bullpen.
Therefore, this may yet prove to be the year that the Braves brought out a small army of relievers: it would not surprise me to see Stockman, Startup, Schreiber, and even Ascanio all debut. In addition, we might also see the Bs: Barry, Bush and Basner (I realize that this last one is a stretch at this point, but the Braves obviously believe he has a strong arm).
The good news is that we do have some arms in the pipeline….
I think it’s time we start admitting to ourselves that Andy Marte sucked and his only possible use was for trade bait. Getting Edgar Renteria for him is a pretty ridiculous steal when you think about it. I get baffled sometimes by how people wish we didn’t trade young players who clearly sucked for established veterans who are clearly helping us. The amount of people who continually wish we hadn’t traded Charles Thomas for Tim Hudson, for instance, is hilarious. A team entirely consisting of young players will be terrible. You need some veterans, and you need to occasionally trade young players for veterans. The trick is to not do so in a boneheaded fashion (the Mets trading Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, for instance?). Stealing a good established player for a young player who sucks is not boneheaded fashion.
Also, I wasn’t at my computer when Reitsma blew it the other day, which is probably good, as I would likely have smashed the monitor with a 2×4. As it was, I broke a remote by throwing it across the room. I’m not sure there is any pitcher in the history of the game up until this point that I would have been absolutely sure would’ve blown that situation, but when Reitsma came in, I knew the lead was as good as gone. If Bobby needed to do that to justify tying Reitsma up in a back room and slicing his head off, fine, at least we won. But I had better not see Reitsma ever enter the game in a close situation for the Atlanta Braves again. Ever. I would officially now be more comfortable with any other member of our bullpen than I would with Reitsma. Hell, I might be more comfortable if we re-signed Tom Martin and made him our closer than I would with Reitsma.