ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Braves at Devil Rays
Miserable Braves Loss Type 3.2(c), “Starter Pitches Okay But Offense Is Shut Down By Rookie Starter and No-Name Relievers”. It’s very common.
Now, Lance Cormier wasn’t actually good, mind you. 5 2/3, three runs, isn’t really that bad, but (a) it was the Devil Rays, and (b) he was really lucky, allowing eleven hits and walking four while striking out only two. Basically, he pitched well enough to lose. And to get another start, of course.
The Braves got a run in the second on a double by LaRoche, scoring Francoeur from first. In the seventh, Francoeur scored again on a double, this time from second and the double by Diaz. He had a good chance to tie it up in the eighth. With one out, Chipper singled and Andruw walked. But McCann struck out looking, and then Francoeur was robbed of an apparent RBI single up the middle. Thorman almost tied it up in the ninth but it was just short and Crawford made a leaping catch to save a double.
Kevin Barry up, Stockman to the DL. Barry didn’t pitch; Paronto and Yates pitched shutout innings after McBride got out of Cormier’s jam in the sixth. Someone will go down for Chuck James tomorrow.
..*sigh*
Look on the bright side. Eventually we’ll run out of ways to lose games. Then the Braves will win again out of sheer boredom.
If the Braves and Rays played 162 games the Braves would be a .500 team…
Boredom…hadnt thought of that but yea, we have to find some ways o actually WIN some games.
good night.
Well, you can’t win them all!
Ding ding ding! We have a loser! From the horse’s mouth:
ST. PETERSBURG — At 40 years old, Mike Remlinger knows his pitching career won’t last forever. Still, he was understandably disappointed after being designated for assignment after Saturday night’s game at Tampa Bay.
Farewell, Mike. It wasn’t meant to be.
Unbelievable!!! My dream comes true!!!
http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/0625bravesnotes.html
“The Braves announced late Saturday that Remlinger was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for James, who is to make his first major league start in Sunday’s series finale against Tampa Bay.”
You know what guys, I bet Startup will be up by the All-Star Break.
Stockman came up.. Thorman is playing everyday… Remlinger is gone.. James will start tomorrow.. We had a win yesterday…
Baby steps…
I was at the game and despite the loss, I had a wonderful time. My seats were in the 3rd deck behind home plate (section 301, a bit to the left-field side of home). It was a good enough ball game, but the kicker was that in the 8th inning, Andruw Jones hit a foul ball up our way. I’ve sat in those seats (well, comperable ones) two or three times before, and every game it seems like there are like 2-4 balls that make it up to the third deck back there. Well, there had been one earlier, and we were due for a second. Anyhow, Andruw knocked it right up towards us, but it looked like it was going to go left of us. But I was able to track it well enough, and I guess it sliced back a bit, because I was able to make the grab with my trusty Nolan Ryan glove that I’ve had since about early middle school (needless to say, it’s a bit small on me now. :-p ) I had to reach out to my left (accross my buddy and maybe another person), but I manged to snow cone it. It helped that I am tall and most of the other people around us were famlies, so it was more ducking for cover than fighting for the catch.
Anyhow, I’ve got a few balls before at batting practice and such, but this is the first one I’ve ever caught at a real game. It’s such an AWSOME feeling, especially when you pump your glove in the air and everyone cheers. 😀
So anyhow, I enjoyed this game quite a bit. 🙂 I’m going to try to go tomorrow to see Chuck James pitch. Hopefully the offense will turn things on a bit.
And on another note, it seemed pretty clear that Renteria has lost a step or two out there. It’s not that he’s muffing plays that most SS should make. It’s just that he’s not getting to the plays that a great SS would get to. Case in point, this game was decided by MI defense. Renteria let one grounder get under him early on, and he almost missed a leaping grab on Baldelli’s game-winning triple. Meanwhile, Julio Lugo makes a diving grab to rob Francoeur of a single up the middle that would have tied it (I had already cheered watching the ball come off his bat only to look up and see Lugo making the diving grab. *sigh*). Oh, and Renteria also surrendered an IF hit when, making a good play ranging to his right, he turned around and tried to throw on the run, only to three-hop it to the bag. Maybe Furcal has just spoiled me, but it seemed like he could have had an easier play if he’d just stoped and planted before throwing; the runner was definitely going slow enough….
So anyhow, it was a good game and I hope to see another tomorrow.
Err, above, when I say “… and he almost missed a leaping grab…”, what I mean is that Renteria in fact did miss the leaping attempt, although he almost did make the play.
Yay for clarity. 🙂
mraver, your observation on Renteria is exactly the reason why some of us prefer to see Tony Pena playing at shortstop instead of Renteria.
KC, Startup has been touched up (though not as bad as Devine was at the Beach) in Richmond; I just hope that he is ready when the call comes.
We don’t need to see Startup get Devined….
KC, the only problem I would have with that is that while Pena is the better defensive shortstop, Renteria is a much better hitter.
As I pointed out in the last thread, Renteria has hit as well as the Braves’ bullpen’s avergae opponent (307/392/455). That’s pretty good. Meanwhile Pena’s hitting about 264/306/341 in Richmond, or a bit worse than Marcus Giles. That’s not so good.
Pena deserves to be in the majors, but not at Renteria’s expense.
Considering the production that the Braves are getting from second and the outfield corners, they could find a place for Renteria to play without the problems his defense at short causes. Heck, he’s outhitting Chipper for that matter.
This may have already been mentioned, but Brian Jordan’s “freak injury” extending his injury sounds awfully like a gracious way of ending his season still with some dignity.
Stephen, thanks for the info on Startup. I have not followed the minor league closely at all recently. I tried to follow the minor league on a daily basis earlier this season and all the prospects ended up slumping big time. So, I gave up the daily box score checkup on all Braves minor league games.
In respect of Remlinger, I honestly can not believe Bobby’s head is clear enough to realize Remmy is not good enough. I would have thought the likes of Yates/Stockman/Paronto would be sent down before they consider releasing Remmy.
We are at that time of year when we abandon the “vets”. A month too late, as always. Oh well, it was waaaaay cool to see the throwback uni’s tonight. I wish they would wear them all the time. Go Braves.
Getting rid of Remlinger makes me feel so much better about this team. Finally JS has noticed his creation isn’t working. Todd Pratt, don’t unpack your luggage.
I wonder how much of that decision had to do with Remlinger calling out Chipper in the paper the other day. Not to say he didn’t deserve to be DFA’d on the merits, but as noted there were several candidates for demotion.
Well, add me to the Greek chorus of people happy to see Mary Remlinger hit the road. Frankly, he or Chipper both shouldn’t be pointing fingers at anyone but themselves. Same goes for the team save for Brian McCann.
Since Kevin Barry is joining the bullpen, I have decided to honor a certain ‘past’ Brave with his naming…Dave, this one’s for you:
HALLE Barry.
Let’s just hope he pitches well.
Anyway, one by one, like the Ten Little Indians story, the truly crappiest Braves are hitting the road. The fact that each Brave from Judy Reitsma to Brianna Jordan, have each gotten a “freak” injury in the process, if you ask me, shows the lack of balls this organization has in terms of player movement.
Why is it that with every crappy veteran we cut, guys who shouldn’t have been on the roster in the first place, we have to have a “fake” injury…like that somehow tricks us Braves fans into a sense of dignity? No, we are smarter then that. We know Jordan, Reitsma and Remlinger just suck and we are happy to see them go away, no matter what the excuse. The only disappointment is that these terrible players weren’t removed 2 or more months ago.
As for ‘Tank’ Pratt, don’t bet on him leaving soon, sadly. Not only is he apparently liked by his teammates (and being liked gets you far in the Bobby Cox universe…being any good isn’t such a big deal…but be nice and nice to Bobby, you’re in!), because he got that ‘game winning ground out’ on Friday, assuring the Braves ending a losing streak, even though the hit was meager and weak, bought the guy another 2 weeks, at least.
It’s like LaRoche…everytime we think he will finally be removed, he has a 2 hit night and actually stretches for 1-2 throws at first so Bobby falls in love all over again and Adam stays.
i guess everyone knows this but i am happy about remlinger being dfa’d. another step in the right direction.
Mac, why do you want to switch Renteria out of his SS position? What “problems” does he have there, other than the couple gold gloves or so he’s got? You don’t just switch him to 3B or whereever, Betemit to 2B or Chipper to 1B just because you feel like it. The guy’s been a shortstop in the big leagues for ten years, and he’s thirty-something years old. That makes absolutely no sense at all, but let’s do it anyway. Let’s just start switching guys around. Let’s trade Giles because we’ve got Betemit, or replace Francoeur/Langerhans with Edgar because it’s easy for major leaguers to do that. They’re athletes, right?? Sure!!
Although negatively and sarcasticly put, hoboken_wood does have a decent point. Now, I think it would be easier than he is describing it to be, but there’s got to be a reason players just aren’t moved around the diamond during the season, or anytime for that matter. It was a big deal when Chipper moved to left, and it was a big deal when he moved back. There’s only been a few times that a Brave has moved around the diamond, and they were usually because their positions were occupied. I’m thinking of Ryan Klesko. I’m really at a loss of big players who have changed positions even around Major League baseball.
I’ve calmed down now, Rob, but was admittedly a bit fired up while I was writing before. It’s easier for some players than it is for others because they’re more “athletic,” as opposed to simply being an “athlete.” I’m not opposed to position switches, but they don’t work for everybody. I could be wrong, but I suspect that those who suggest otherwise didn’t play too much longer after legion ball.