ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Pirates at Braves
Miserable Braves Loss Type 2.2(d): “Braves Continually Rally But Pitchers Immediately Give Runs Back.â€
The game was 0-0 entering the second. Hudson allowed a leadoff homer to Bay. Tie game turned into one-run Pirate lead.
It was 1-0 entering the fourth. Hudson allowed a double to Bay to score a run. One-run game turned into two-run game.
Chipper hit a homer to cut it to 2-1. Hudson in the next half inning allowed a run-scoring triple to Chris “.213/.271/.282” Duffy. One-run game turned into two-run game.
LaRoche hit a homer to cut it to 3-2. Hudson in the next half-inning allowed two singles and a sac fly. One-run game turned into two-run game.
The Braves actually rallied for two runs in the sixth, during which Francoeur actually walked to load the bases, then LaRoche tied it with a walk of his own. Paronto came in and allowed a solo homer to Freddy Sanchez. Tie game turned into one-run Pirate lead.
This is extremely frustrating, especially since once it gets to the ninth the Braves had no more chance of scoring off of Mike Gonzales than they had of discovering cold fusion and struck out in order.
The Braves were held to six hits. Only one man fully represents the frustration I feel and must be in the Doghouse:
1st comment!
Sweet..
2nd comment!!
Even sweeter!
We’re gonna have top 8 pick in next years draft the way we’re going. By my count, only the O’s, D-Rays, Royals, Natspos, Cubs and Pirates have more losses.
A team losing two out of three at home against the Pirates has no right to be in the playoff. Yes, this is as frustrating as I have been in a long time.
BTW Mac, where has Alex been? He is missing all the “fun”?
hudson’s contract might look as bad in a few years as hampton’s does now. it’s hard for me to believe that some of us are actually looking forward to hampton’s return.. sheesh, our rotation is lousy.
i know i’m using anecdotal evidence, but doesn’t it seem like our bullpen is only lousy when we want them to not be? ugh. it seems like they’re fine at maintaining a 3-0 deficit, but tie the game? poof, 3 more runs cross the plate.
shoot, i can’t wait for this season to be over. at least we have a stud 900 OPS first baseman now 😉
I kinda just went into mode around the 7th inning and just stared at the TV. I think my mind shut down because I am so tired. I heard, but did not comprehend what was going on.
I hate school.
OK, little confused. Who’s the dude in the doghouse?
That’s Torborg, and in the doghouse he’ll always remain.
A $10M+ fourth starter in Huddy…if Davies and James do not turn into something special, the Braves will have to live with a mediocre starting rotation for the next three years.
There’s one thing that keeps Torborg in a sunny part of my heart, and that’s the fact that he begat Dale Torborg, better known as “The Demon.” The run-in between The Demon, who was a Marlins bench coach who moonlighted as a pro wrestler and stood 6’6″ 240, and Antonio Alfonseca, who stands 6’6″ 260 and has TWELVE FINGERS FOR GOD’S SAKE, which ended in Alfonseca locking himself in the clubhouse and refusing to come out, is the single funniest thing I have ever heard in my life.
So, Torborg may be a horrible manager and an equally horrible announcer, but at least he contributed to my merriment. The same cannot be said for the Braves bullpen, which is more porous and easily defeated than the Maginot line.
The Torborg problem is easy to solve–mute the tv and listen to Skip and the gang on the radio. You get both the visuals and the decent announcers. Chip Carey’s days on the radio do present a dilemma–Chip or Torborg.
If only the pitching problems were so easy to solve. The optimist in me isn’t foolish enough to think there’s still a chance at the playoffs, but I am hoping (against my better judgment) that JS might be able to peddle a Hudson or Giles for some good young talent. Unrealistic no doubt, but less so than thinking this lame club can make the playoffs.
Look, I try to be as optimistic as a Braves fan can be this season, but if anyone still thinks we have ANY shot at the wild card after watching us lose 2 of 3 at home to the legendary Pirates, you are a complete moron. That’s really all there is to it.
By the way, just how many one-run games have we been involved in this year? I know our record in such games is terrible, but it seems like we have had about 75 of them.
Frank, I was not calling you a moron there. I typed that before I read your comment. It wasn’t directed at you.
Ok, I counted 31 total 1 run games.
we are 5-26 in 1 run games.( I could be wrong)
I just scanned through our schedule and did the math quickly. But I think that is just about right.
5-26. That is weak. As ububba says, via Parcells, you are what your record says you are. We suck.
This is the number of losses by month.
8- April
5- May
8- June
1- July
4- August
For all the one-run lost, I have nothing to say but to say…thanks JS!!!
Is there any chance we can dump Hudosn on the offseason, maybe Big George will take him because he was good once. I dont care if we get anything back either, send us some New York Knishes or something.
FYI
Salty has been playing quite a bit in the USA Olympic Qualifiers.
The tournament starts saturday for keeps.
here is the link to USA Baseball, they have box scores and summaries for each game.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/usa_baseball/index.jsp
I can’t believe the Phillies are now over .500 and right in the wild card chase after trading Abreu, Lidle, and Bell while the Braves continue to suck after getting Wickmania. Make room for the entire organization in the doghouse next to Torborg.
They have at least double figures 1 run wins — heck they took all three of the Cubs series in May by one run. The record is more like 15-26. Still pathetic, don’t get me wrong…
not sure about 1 run games but we are 29-35 in “close” games according to Hardball Times.
Ha ha ha, check out what CBS sportsline has to say about the Braves schedule. This is humorously depressing:
“ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves still have hopes of making it back to the playoffs, but the schedule doesn’t look very favorable the rest of the way.
Twenty-two of the last 36 games are at home.”
The Braves are 15-27 in one run games.
I recognize that denial is strong part of life. The reality for this season has been that the Braves have been out of the playoffs for weeks.
Not only do the Braves perform badly in one run games, but they cannot even get close to .500 at home.
The best that can be reasonably hoped for now is ‘next year’. JS should not trade any more players for prospects and young players should be given a chance to play and develop. The future, after all, can still be very bright.
I’ll be more optimistic about the near future if the Braves can dump Hudson this offseason.
The Torborg problem is easy to solve–mute the tv and listen to Skip and the gang on the radio. You get both the visuals and the decent announcers. Chip Carey’s days on the radio do present a dilemma–Chip or Torborg.
I’ve done that, but it is annoying. The flagship station (96.1 in Atlanta) has no delay, but FSN does. The sound is about 2-3 seconds before the picture. It works pretty well if I’m in the middle of another task — last night I was doing some paperwork, heard Skip describe LaRoche’s homer, and then looked up to see the pitch being thrown. But I can’t focus on the game with both TV and radio on.
Honestly though, instead of wanting to play the younger ones, is it a bad idea to trade up? Get a little more experience in our lineup. What about this: Aybar, Frenchy, and one of our bullpen pitchers for a Solid Corneroutfielder?
Agreed–there is no room for Hudson and a reabed Hampton. Making these changes may be easier said than done. It would be nice if Hudson could help with a strong finish.
Sorry–I meant a rehabed Hampton.
concurred – I am pessimistic towards having Hampton next season as well
Mike Hampton is an albatross. One of the worst deals that Schuerholz has ever made. He will make approximately $17m next year and we no longer will have the assistance of the Marlins & Rockies in paying that salary. He hasn’t had 200 innings pitched since 2001. He’ll be 34 next season and have missed most of the last two seasons. He hasn’t had an ERA under 3.75 in a reasonably full season in *seven* seasons. He could be good next year, but his chances are only slightly better than Rick Camp’s.
The Hudson deal was a reasonable gamble that hasn’t paid off; the Hampton deal was a very risky one that had huge downside visible the day it was made.
IIRC, the Braves out-played their pythagorean record by a large margin last year. I think that’s been reversed this year. Guess that’s just the way the ball bounces some times. :-/
Yea not having hampton pitch during 2 of the 3 years he was cheap is a pretty rough blow but I won’t blame J.S. for Hampton getting injured.
I’m depressed, but at least the SEC kicks off next week. I just turned down tickets to this Sat. game.
Nice writeup on LaRoche on the free half of BPro today…
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5453&PHPSESSID=b6abc6ef9e9dabff80a092f2e4e19c78
Yeah, you’re right, its time for some football. We don’t deserve to be in the postseason. The postseason is supposed to be a showdown of the most dominant teams in the majors. Clearly the braves don’t belong in that category. Maybe between now and the end of the season we’ll at least have something fun to watch. Cox could put LaRoche on the mound or he could put Diaz at SS or something just to have fun. It will be amusing and we at least then will have a good excuse to suck.
please no, please dont let it be…
Jordan, who could provide depth at first base and each of the outfield positions, entered this season thinking it would be his last. But given the amount of time he’s missed because of the injury, he hasn’t completely committed to retiring at the end of this season.
“I want to contribute, do my best and hopefully finish on a good note, if that is the finish,” said Jordan, who has hit .214 in just 84 at-bats this season. “I’m going to keep myself in shape and if I feel that I can do it, I’ll give it a shot.”
Maybe he could give it a shot next season…for the Mets
was anyone pissed watching the AB’s we had in the 8th and 9th yesterday.
Schuerholz either needs to commit to retiring Jordan or be committed. Surely, he’s paid some attention to two lousy seasons from Jordan: there is no set of numbers that an make Jordan’s production look halfway adequate, especially since LaRoche has kicked the platoon label.
Stephen, the cupboard is nearly bare for player propsects, other than Blanco, until at least 2008. Salty needs at least one more year in MIssissippi, Brayan Pena looks like a backup, and the rest of the Richmond and Mississippi lineups are scary bad. Pitching isn’t much better- why do you think Cormier, Shiell, and Barry have all been starting in Richmond? They’re not blocking prospects. Any near-ready prospects will have to come via trade.
Jordan hasn’t hurt the Braves the last two years at all, he hasn’t played enough.
he’s taken up a roster spot for part of the season. That hurts enough
Well, Smitty, I guess in a way you are right. Last season Brian hurt himself and because of that Bravesnation was introduced to the “Baby Braves” who gave us more production than Jordan ever will.
This year He hurt himself and Laroche Plays against lefties a bit more and has a breakout year.
So I suppose you are correct, Brian Jordan being on our roster and injurying himself doesn’t hurt us but helps us.
has there been any updates on Boyer, Foster, or Hampton… I wonder if they have been cleared to begin throwing yet?
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5900788
Lee didn’t go the Boras route, he stayed w/ his other agent
Hampton has been throwing I think, but can’t pitch this season because of the insurence clasue
It is true that this has been a bad season for the farm. But between James, Davies, McCann, Francoeur, Kelly Johnson, Langerhans and LaRoche the Braves have a good collection of young players around which to build. Aybar and Thorman ought to be able to help as well.
Add Startup (real progress–despite getting roughed up in AAA) and then Harrsion, Wright, Smith and Schreiber and there are warrants for believing that some pitching help is on the way. Lerew has always been something of a rollercoster, so he may yet have value. It is premature to give up on Joey Devine, though he is not nearly ready.
With respect to position players, Brandon Jones may well prove to be quality players. Last, at Myrtle Beach Pope has slowly, but surely demonstrated growth as a player.
Naturally, many of these players will not make it in any real sense, but they do provide a basis from which to build and trade.
I agree with Brian J.’s point in that the bulk of the most interesting talent is the lower levels of the farm.
Yeah, that is pretty much the case. All of our good Richmond prospects were brought up last year. Now we’re gonna have to wait a few years.
Radio reports that Baez is on the DL after emergency surgery to remove his appendix. I’ll look for confirmation.
AJC confirms. Can’t figure out how to put a link in here. Sorry about the techno-idiocy.
It’s a comment at the bottom of the blog.
That sucks. That’s a 4-week recovery time. He could miss the rest of the year. But it’s not like it was avoidable.
here’s the link from ESPN
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2559889
Here are a list of our pitchers who have been on the DL this year.
Baez, Hampton, Foster, Devine, Boyer, James, Stockman, Davies, Thomson, Ramirez, Reitsma, and McBride
am I missing anyone
Hudson may have pitched through something
The worst part? Kali is probably our set-up man, now. *Hurls into garbage can*
probably give it to Ray, “throws up for a 2nd time”… I guess we’ll call up Stockman?
Hudson has been pitching like he was on the DL
unbelievable – Braves players have already missed a total of 920 games this season for 21 stints on the disabled list, after missing a total of 497 games last season.
Anybody see the throw back auction on the Braves site? Who the hell is Alan Butts, and why would anyone want his signed jersey?
Maybe having the word Butts on the back would be funny.
No takers on pratt, Andruw’s jersey is leading the bidding.( no shocker) I found it funny Bobby’s is going for more then chipper’s.
This Baez thing is nuts. We’ve reached the “What now” stage.
Butts is identified as the “Baseball Systems Operator” and “Position Coach Assistant”. I believe he is actually the bullpen catcher.
The worst thing about the Baez injury is that we cannot trade him while on the DL.
It’s time for JS to admit what we all know and try to get something for the rent-a-players.
The Braves’ offense sucks. Sure, the pitching has been bad, especially the bullpen, but the hitting is so wildly inconsistent. Yes, I know they rank high in total runs scored, but there are so many games where they get shut down by utterly mediocre pitching. Francoueur is nothing but a disaster for this team and Andruw is, as Andruw always is, up and down, a low average, mediocre OBP guy who hits homers in bunches and otherwise struggles. A lot of the games that the bullpen has blown should not have been close if the Braves could hit people like Shawn Chacon. In the 90s, the lousy offense was masked by dominant pitching–they could win games 3-2 and leave 12 guys on base. They can’t do that anymore. As far as I’m concerned, JS is as much to blame for the mediocre offense over the years as he is for the lack of a bullpen. The organizational philosophy seems to be to ignore walks, get guys who swing as hard as they can and hope they hit home runs. I’m tired of seeing these guys score 15 runs in one game and then score 15 in the next five and then say, we are averaging 5 runs a game.