MLB – Atlanta Braves/Washington Nationals Box Score Thursday May 17, 2007 – Yahoo! Sports
Stop me if you’ve heard this before… the Braves got out to an early lead, couldn’t hold on, then went into hibernation mode in the late innings and never threatened to get back to even. The last three innings of the last two games have been utter catastrophes.
Chipper gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a long homer to center. The Nats cut it to 2-1 in the next inning but the Braves made it 3-1 when Matt Diaz, leading off for some reason, singled home Thorman. But Renteria was called out when he hit a ball near the plate, the umpire called it foul, then fair, and he never left the box, and the Braves never threatened again.
After getting off to a good start, Chuck James tired, and barely got through the fifth still leading 3-2. He started the sixth anyway, and left with one out and a runner at third. Bobby came in with Paronto, even though he pitched last night and is clearly not 100 percent healthy anyway. By the end of the inning, it was 4-3 Nationals. It would stay that way because the last ten Braves were retired in order. It’s extremely frustrating to watch the team you root for look so hopeless once they fall behind.
If they play like this the next three days, they’ll lose all three to the Red Sox — probably the best team in baseball — by double digits.
WHY GOD WHY CAN WE NOT BEAT CRAP TEAMS?
Our season could be in trouble.
4-5 against the nats. please tell me i’m counting wrong…thats like a third of our losses
oh, and not to mention, a third of the nats wins
Liberty Media will be able to sell the team for $42 dollars at this pace in 3 years.
Here you go, Mac.
…And then I switch to WGN to root agains the Mets where the Cubs have a 4 run lead in the bottom of the 9th.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before…The mets rally back and win in the bottom of the 9th, 6-5.
The Braves look like a team dragging ass in late September. They need to get some life or its going to be a long summer.
When I think my day is bad, I come here after the braves lose and it makes see that I don’t have it as bad. These last few games have sucked. No doubt about it. The true test of character will be how this team bounces back over the weekend. If we win 2 or 3 against the Sox, everyone in here will be anointing us WS champs. Here’s to hoping we’ve all forgotten about the Nats by next Monday.
I also want to add that I think the Braves have the ability to play to the level of their opponents. This of course, can be good and bad.
I’m not worried about the next two series. If anything, we’ll find out what the team is made of.
Mac
I think it is time to re-institute the categorization of the types of losses the Braves suffer that you used so perfectly last season.
I am depressed. It seems like Renteria, Chipper and Wee Willie Harris are the only guys hitting the ball lately. Yikes.
Look for those two rookies the Sox are throwing Friday and Sunday to become the two biggest prospects in Boston history.
Man, I just hope they don’t pitch Jason Bergmann against us.
Jason Bergmann is like the Chase Utley of pitchers.
For some reason, Craig Wilson was really good in MLB 07 The Show.
Oh well. I’m still not sure how I feel about Salty platooning at first. He deserves to play every day.
Did the Braves really eat Wilson’s contract to keep Salty on the roster in a platooning role?
Can’t the Braves at least not make it so obvious they had a 4:00 EDT flight to catch? The late innings the past two games have been just pathetic.
Why does Bobby Cox continue to use Paronto like he’s the hottest arm in the bullpen? Why was Woodward starting? Why did James start the sixth? Was it because he was so good in the fourth and fifth innings?
NINE games over .500 this early has never felt so depressing.
Kyle,
I think they are on the hook for it, only if he doesnt re-sign with someone else before a set amount of time…
We have a great team that I think can, & will, make the playoffs…but I don’t see how we can hang with the Mets for the Division title. Hopefully we meet them in the NLCS & Pete Orr pulls a Francisco Cabrera.
Thorman is the new Bream.
I hope the only thing Pete Orr pulls is his groin.
Every team has a bad stretch. I’m still optimistic.
And the next 6 games should be fun. Nothing to fear. If we’re any good, we’ll win.
Time for the annual ritual of remaking the back end of the bullpen. Pearanto and Villareal are useless.
Honestly, just before the end of the bottom of the eighth in today’s game, the scores at the bottom of TBS said 5-1 Cubs in the ninth and I thought to myself “the Mets probably have a better chance of coming back for a win than the Braves.” And it happens. 1.5 out in first and all the momentum.
Now the Braves play the best and the Mets play the sorry Yankees.
ububba is right, the next 6 games should be very telling about this team. I often suspect sometimes its hard to get up for “inferior” opponents…..
God, I can’t even stomach this. It hurts even worse that this embarrassment took place a grand total of 4-5 miles from my new offices here in downtown d.C.
Between ESPN treating my Spurs (particularly that rat Mike Greenberg) like they are AL-QUEDA, the Braves being embarrassed by the crappy Nats, and then ESPN posting an article today listing Georgia hoops as one of the most underachieving college programs in the country, it’s been a really cruddy sports week for me.
The Red Sox are going to crush us like ants.
By the way…what did the BIG HERO, Andruw ‘Pot Belly’ Jones do today?
I just thought of something, Smoltz and Hudson start the last two games against the Red Sox, which means that Smoltz and Hudson are not starting any of the three games against the Metrosexuals. Perfect.
I don’t fully like the idea of keeping Salty up without considerable playing time. If he plays 4 games a week, then fine. But the idea that he will only get 1 start a week at catcher and occasionally fill in at 1b worries me. I just hope this does not hinder his development.
I get the feeling like ATL felt like they had no choice because of how awful Wilson was this year.
The Andruw bashing is getting a little out of control. Yes, he’s been terrible but so have a lot of people. Do people realize that McCann’s numbers are virtually identical to Andruw’s?
Well McCann only makes 500K and Andruw makes $15 mill an is expecting 18 to 20 mil next year. He deserves to get a bashing until he stops falling on his face everytime he swings. Right now he sucks…
McCann is 22 and makes $800k per year.
Andruw is 30 and makes 13.5 mil per year.
Andruw is a veteran who is expected to live up to what he is paid. A .220 batting average is ridiculous and deserves a little bashing. That said I think he’ll be fine and finish with his customarily crappy .260 average by the end of the season.
csg = JoshQ
I’ll take a player with a BA .50 points higher and 27 fewer strikeouts anyday.
I know he has more ABs, but Andruw is Andruw. He’s a lifetime .265 hitter, and he’s always been streaky. Right before the All-Star break he’ll turn it on, and I agree, he’ll end up right around .260, probably in the mid .250s.
I really don’t care what htheye gets paid. With the game on the line, I’d rather have McCann up than Andruw right now.
True, I’ve never been real confident in Andruw in pressure situations. McCann is the better hitter, period. Andruw will get his numbers in the end along with 20 mil per. I’ll miss him if/when he leaves because I like to watch him play center, but I’m confident we’ll be fine.
Anyone think we could trade for another starter? Arroyo, Belisle or Morris? What would it take?
Alex,
As far as UGA hoops go, I didn’t read the ESPN story, but our wonderful university president made our bed when he hired Jim Harrick.
He was an outstanding X-and-O coach, one of the best actually, but he was a used-car salesman, the kind that resets the odometer & doesn’t think he’ll get caught. Instead, he takes the whole place down with him.
I was there for Dominique and the Final 4 team, and I’m a Dawgs fan through-and-through, but hate to say it: We got what we deserved when we hired that guy. He was trouble from the start & everybody knew it.
BTW, the Red Sox won’t sweep the Braves & the Mets won’t sweep the “sorry” Yankees.
Diaz is leading off because BC finally figured out that he’s our best leadoff hitter. Did I mention that he hit .329 last year? Long overdue.
I was sitting behing home plate yesterday and, man, Chipper really crushed his home run. You could hear the crack to Baltimore and it was gone as soon as he hit it. Awesome shot! Otherwise, a terrible game. I’m unimpressed with Chuckie James. He seems to get lit up the second time through the order. The bats are just pathetic, especially Andruw. They maybe hit three or four balls hard the entire game, everyone was swinging at the first pitch. Actually, the tone was set in the first when Chipper swung at a pitch low and away and it into a double play. I knew it was going to be a crappy day after that.
I don’t think it’s a matter of getting up or not getting up. As we have heard endlessly for years, Bobby Cox teams play at an even keel every day. I don’t think in baseball it really matters if you are up for a team or not–let’s face it,you can have the 1927 Yankees out there and if the other pitcher is on, they will look flat. The Braves are and have been a very erratic hitting team at best. They sort of mirror Andruw–up and down all year, hot for a while and then cold. That’s why I have trouble with talking about Andruw as a HOF’er (although maybe his glove gets him in). Offensively, he is not someone you can rely on consistently and I think that is one mark of a Hall of Fame player. (No, I don’t hate Andruw; yes, I do think the Braves will miss him a lot.)
anybody else think that andruw is going to have a good series against the red sox? i mean the red sox, yanks and mets are the only ones who will be able to afford him next year, so why not show them what they will be getting. i say he hits 4 homers and drives in 10 runs and makes highlight catch that espn will run over and over and over……