ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Red Sox at Braves
Okay, that was Miserable Braves Loss Type 4.2(a), “Starting pitcher gives up 3-5 runs in the first three innings then starts pitching well, but it doesn’t matter because there’s no way that the Braves are going to score more than two runs.”
Hudson got them 1-2-3 in the first, but allowed three straight singles for a run in the second, the lost command of the strike zone in the third, walking the bases loaded (his only three walks of the game) then giving up a bases-clearing double to Varitek. Since the offense is in deep hibernation, that was pretty much it.
The Braves got a couple on with two out in the fourth (Francoeur drew a walk!) but LaRoche (in for Jordan who hurt himself in the field, unfortunately not severely) lined out. They loaded the bases in the fifth and got a sac fly from Chipper, then loaded them again on a four-pitch walk to Andruw, only to have Francoeur ground out. That was pretty much it. Fourteen of the last fifteen Braves batters made outs.
All this and the triumphant starting premiere of Lance Cormier tomorrow. I don’t do drugs, but right now I feel like injecting heroin directly into my prefrontal cortex.
I am positive we win tomorrow
Look out for that stuff, Mac, I hear somebody spiked the national supply with fentanyl. But if you want to know how to shoot it, may I suggest assembling a candle and a spoon.
See, tonight would have been fine if Hudson hadn’t taken 4 innings to get his feet under him (look for Beckett to do this tomorrow; you get him early or not at all) and if our offense hadn’t bailed out Jon Lester when he lost his command by swinging at crap anyway. But like Nolasco last night, it’s not like the kid isn’t a pretty solid pitcher anyway. And there’s no shame in getting shut down by Papelbon or Timlin. But Rudy Seanez? Yikes.
Poll: Which is the bigger problem right now?
A) Offense
B) Pitching
You have to pick one or the other. No equivocating. Just for fun.
Offense by a long shot
At least you are only considering heroin in your pre-front cortex, because I am considering taking a tire iron to my occipital lobe.
the question was, “Offense or defense” which is the problem?
The answer is:
Yes
But thank God the defense steps in to help make both the offense and defense look good.
I say Pitching. We need McCann in the lineup and batting 5th every 5 out of 6 days, though. Under no circumstance should Jeff Francoeur be batting 5th. Ever. Ever. Ever. Never.
McCann against lefties is better than Todd Pratt vs. Dan Kolb
I think McDowell should, starting tomorrow, start teaching all of our bullpen the knuckle ball. No, it won’t help us any, but at least it would make watching the rest of the season enjoyable.
Oh my gosh, no, it wouldn’t. Believe me. You’d go crazy from all the passed balls before you had time to start enjoying anything. Knuckleballs suck.
Offense is our biggest problem. We just do not score enough runs. Chipper and Andruw have got to be leaders and produce.
I think I’m overdosing on the sound of Bob Rathbun’s voice. Seriously.
The only thing that could make this season any worse is to hear, tomorrow, that JS’s son is being called up. That would just be fitting.
http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/
Ron Gant’s BS wasn’t just noticed by the people on this board..
Atleast this made my night somewhat better..
If little JS can get a fucking hit, I’ll take him at this point
If anyone wants further torture you can listen to the post game show (w/ the Lemmer) online on WGST, http://www.wgst.com. Some of the calls they take are hilarious. If you log on and there is dead silence it is because they are in a commercial break, give it a minute, they’ll be back.
Also, if you are REALLY a masochist they are replaying the game on TS for some reason right now.
Heroin…Braves…Hmmm
Heroin…Braves…Hmmm
Heroin? Alcohol!
And it’s rather legal.
Mike mine a double.
Okay, I understand James can’t be called up for whatever reason until Sunday. So where is Lerew? Why Cormier? Who thought that up?
Cormier’s stats starting:
2 games 10IP 6ER 14H 2HR 4SO, might as well not even watch tomorrow. This could get ugly quick. My prediction 2 1/3 IP 7 ER tomorrow.
I think I would pick C) Relief Pitching, as the biggest problem right now
Same here, csg. I bet the game is over after three innings.
Only 3 innings? Darn, then I won’t be able to see any of it. I was going to tune in after the US gets predictably shellacked by Italy tomorrow. Oh, well.
Our pen was good tonight
i am fed up. i will continue to watch, but it is so hard seeing pratt AND jordan go out there when we have betemit and mccann on the bench. this is beyond stubbornness from bobby, this is just stupid. we had 3 people in our lineup that came in to the game with a batting average of less than .220 (yes one was the pitcher). i am glad jordan FINALLY got hurt. maybe he goes on the dl for the freakin’ year, and we get to see this thorman i have been hearing so much about. how can you win when there is only a 20 % chance your bottom 3 hitters will get a hit. with the way its going, i wouldnt be surprised to see bobby retire after this year. at this point, i would welcome it. yes, raoul, that is what i said. shoot me.
Not only are we losing games, but people are getting hurt every game. What sort of freak accident will happen tomorrow? Hopefully some sort of injury to Cormier’s pitching arm. You know things are bad when Chuck James is the only glimmer of hope for the 2006 season.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Brian Jordan faked his injury to remove himself from the lineup because he realized Bobby wouldn’t do it on his own. That guy has so much heart.
What I mean to say is that by the third inning Cormier will have given up so many runs the game will be basically over.
Cormier vs. Beckett? It’s almost not worth my time to watch. But I will. Bigger sports miracles have happened.
The answer is pitching. If we weren’t giving up 4, 5, or even 9 runs every game, then we would be able to survive the (increasingly frequent) off nights by our offense. A few tweaks to the batting order and stopping inserting hitters that have a big fork in their back in the lineup and our offense would be plenty adequate if the pitching wasn’t requiring it to score 6 runs to have a chance to win.
Braves stats this season, courtesy of espn.com:
Total Runs Scored: 332 (4th in NL)
Total Runs Allowed: 350 (15th in NL)
Clearly pitching is a bigger problem this season than hitting.
I wish we still had Andy Marte.
If there’s no spot for Betemit to play, what in the world would we do with Marte if we had him? Batboy?
Marte would’ve been a better option on the mound today than Cormier..
Andy Marte will be a bust. Mark it down.
In hindsight (which is always 20/20), that trade looks really bad. It’s good for a team that’s contending, trading a touted prospect for a proven vet, but that no longer applies to us anymore. Whoops.