ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Phillies at Braves
You can’t pitch out of trouble all night. It just doesn’t work. Hudson managed to pitch through six innings worth of jams relatively unscathed, but with two out in the seventh a single got just past Thorman to score two runs, making it 5-3 and ultimately losing the game. Hudson allowed ten hits and three walks, and was over 120 pitches and probably should have been relieved.
Meanwhile, with Chipper already out, Renteria got himself ejected in the fourth, followed quickly by Bobby, arguing a pitch that was pretty clearly a ball but was called strike three. It was an extremely poorly umpired game, but when you lose by five runs it’s not like you can really blame the umpires.
The Braves got the three runs they got only because of an odd play in the sixth. With Johnson on third and Prado on second, Francoeur hit a ball to third base, and KJ held up but Prado ran. Instead of running to third base and getting at least one out with no run scoring, the third baseman threw to first. KJ broke home and scored when Howard threw the ball away, allowing Prado to follow in. The Braves’ only other run came on a second-inning sac fly, and they were outhit 13-5. Honestly, though the game was tight until Kali allowed two in the eighth and Moylan a homer in the ninth, it wasn’t that close.
And, as you probably heard, Gonzalez is out for the season and probably much of the next with a torn elbow ligament requiring Tommy John surgery. A bad day all around.
A terrible day all around indeed Mac, and I still don’t understand why Bobby refused to take Huddy out in the seventh inning.
/cries for gonzo.
Big bummer about Gonzo. Gotta feel bad for the guy. He’s obviously a gamer so here’s hoping for a successful surgery and a full recovery. See you after the break next year.
Ouch! Just now finding out about the game (which I am glad I missed) and Gonzo. The injury to Gonzo is real blow–but at least the Braves have real depth in the bullpen. Kali may have allowed the game to get away–but what about our bats? It seems like we are having trouble scoring runs….
Fire Sale Time!
Come on guys. Face it. It’s over.
No trading for a starter. No trading for a lefty releiver. It’s time to deal with the fact that we are no longer in the financial position to buy every single season. This is a chance to purge some payroll and pick up more young cheap talent. We could realistically trade Hudson, Wickman and Renteria and probably add 6-9 high quality nearly major league ready prospects, and that could put us in a position to dominate the east again for the next decade (hypothetically). A mass influx of young talent combined with the young, athletic, inexpensive core of players we have right now, plus some payroll flexibility…we could afford to lock up our young guys on the cheap, plus we might actually be able to compete for a quality free agent starter a few years down the road (don’t get me wrong, I am glad that we haven’t competed for any of the free agent pitching on the market the past several years…but I am also glad that we had the $$$ to sign Maddux back in 1993.) $80 Million isn’t a bad payroll, but it is currently bloated. We could be the Marlins, except with money. C’mon JS! What do ya say?
Marlins + money = Green Onions?
/sorry Mr. Cropper.
Steve Cropper what a crop of shit you just said.
Language, Justin.
Anyway, I was tempted to not approve that comment, but I did. I’m watching Mr. Cropper, whom I suspect (if I’m reading his IP address correctly) is actually a Mets fan.
I probably shouldn’t have let Kali and Moylan off so easily. The Phillies bullpen is a wreck and I don’t know who would close with Gordon and Myers both on the DL.
I figured he was a troll but I couldn’t resist a Booker T reference, no matter how convoluted. And somehow, “Hip Hug Her” wasn’t going to cut it.
This is why you build a bullpen with depth. We all knew that it was moderately likely that Gonzalez, Soriano, and/or Wickman might come down with a major injury. That’s why Schuerholz got all three and a decent supporting cast.
We’re still in the same shape as yesterday. We need only one more decent #3 starter to make the playoffs, or at least someone who can fake it for half a season, and another RH bat. Those are not the hardest holes to fill, and we’ve got excellent trade bait if need be.
We’ll beat the Phillies tomorrow. Go get em, Buddy!
Funny about the Mets fans, it seems like they are scared to death of the Braves.
Hudson is scarily looking like last year the last two starts, but he shouldn’t have still been in there in the 7th anyway. I think we all saw Gonzalez’s injury coming after the past few weeks. Fortunately we still have Soriano and Wickman, but Macbride needs to step up and become the LOOGY he was expected to be.
kc,
They should be.
Ron @#12.
Huddy does look like the last 2 years Hudson his last 2 starts, very hittable, he better go to the vieotape and see what he is doing wrong or it will get ugly quick.
At the risk of being labeled a Mets fan, I have some real concerns about the Braves. The offense is very mediocre (of course, the Mets haven’t hit much either)and, of course, the starting pitching is nothing to write home about. The bullpen has covered up a number of flaws and hopefully the rest of the guys can continue to pitch well, but losing Gonzalez may end up being the difference between a truly dominant bullpen and one that is still good but not great. And Chipper is starting to get injured again. The Braves are certainly an above .500 team and have a shot at the playoffs given the weakness of the NL but I don’t think they are an elite team as currently constructed. They have been basically a .500 team since the first week of the season. I’m very disappointed with Hudson but not particularly surprised that he came up flat in big games. Of course, we have the Bobby Cox take that he really pitched great but was just unlucky. How many times did we hear that last year?
The Braves aren’t dead by any means and there is certainly no need to have the team “come a Cropper” but some of the guys with big names and big salaries need to start performing better.
Marc;
Well said. “come a Cropper”
I think Marc’s concerns are valid. Lost 8 of last 12. Andruw playing poorly; Chipper hurt. 2 reliable starters then who knows what to expect. We need a starter; so does everybody else. So he won’t come cheap.
I’m more concerned that JS may live in denial late into June. He’s been bold this year by eliminating bad players, but he’s missed one:
“White Flag” Woodward. He’s batting .059 for his last ten games with 8 strikeouts. Maybe he has the pictures. We’re starting this clown!
So the Braves are carrying 12 pitchers because 3 of 5 games they don’t know if their starter will last 5 innings. Isn’t that treating the symptom?
When it’s time to pinch hit for the 2nd reliever to he’s used and it’s only the sixth inning?
Hint: That’s not a hanky you see down there.
I like to think it’s a long season and starting a 29 year old 4A pitcher and the mysterious Mr. James will come out all right. But the edginess of the posts on the last few game threads tell me I’m not alone.
Come on guys, Huddy looks no where near like he was in the last two seasons. He is throwing his splits and all his pitches at higher velocity. His control has been a little bit off in the last two games, particularly in the early innings. It’s a long season folks, even the best pitchers have their ups and downs. By the time this season ends, this year will be one of Hudson’s best seasons in his career.
I met Steve Cropper when I lived in Memphis. He is a cool dude.
kc,
Bobby would have pulled him in the 7th, but he was watching the game in the club house. Roger McDowell was the one who left him in the game. Good work Roger!
why is Bobby getting the blame for Huddy pitching into the 7th? Wasnt he thrown out of the game in the 4th or 5th? Thats Roger’s job at that point. Yates was ready and should’ve come in at that point. Huddy was at 120 pitches already, but Bobby cant be blamed for this one, can he?
#17 – thanks
Huddy is going to have outings where he doesnt have his best stuff. Last night wasnt that bad of a performance. Other than 2 hits to the pitcher and two infield hits (where did all these hits off the plate come from) he wasnt that bad. He was unlucky in the 7th, why they had KJ playing on top of 2nd base with the bases loaded I’m not sure. The hit that scored the last two runs against him should’ve been a routine grounder. I’ll start worrying about Tim when he starts getting hit hard, but not when its these easy infield singles. Think about it Thor, KJ, Woodward, and Prado is our current infield.
roids didnt help one of our guys…
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/6851226
Oh, come on Smitty and csg, Bobby makes all the decisions in the tunnel. All managers are involved in all decision makings even after they are thrown out.
Oh, come on Smitty and csg, Bobby makes all the decisions in the tunnel. All managers are involved in all decision makings even after they are thrown out.
Obviously true.
I also share the feeling that the wheels are coming off this season. We might be in the Wild Card hunt all year, but it’s going to be tough to hang with the Mets.
what worries me is if one of Wickman and/or soriano gets hurt, then we are in quite a pickle. I wish that they could go out and get a young arm, with upside instad of getting a superstar #1 or2 and see if he can break into the rotation behind huddy, then let james be 4 and davies 5 and thats ok, leave L Screen Redman home. WE do need another bat too
Cormier and Carlyle are our saviors!!!!!
Now hold on. ATL is 4th in RS and has an OPS+ of 113, as opposed to last year’s 110. The Mets front 4 starters have been just outrageous. 28/20 leads the other two divs. We’re just a bit of NY coming back to earth and ‘Druw coming back up to his norms away from catching/passing the Mets. It may not happen, but I’d say it’s a reasonable bet.
Robert, I think the current team is still good enough to keep up with the Mets (if Davies can continue his good work, Chipper comes back healthy, and Andruw regains his form), but the trio of Wick, Sori, and Gonzo is what made me believe the Braves are a better team. Without Gonzo, I think the Braves are at best just as good as the Mets. I have been in bad mood since I heard the Gonzo news.
Do you think we would hire hime back???
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-070526rogersinside,1,6092888.column?coll=cs-whitesox-headlines
I agree that the last couple of weeks have brought bad news–but we just took 2/3 from the Mets and continue to win despite a wealth of injuries. Lets remember that it is a long season and there is every chance that the Mets will play badly (other than when they play us–we are 6-3 against them in 07)at some point.
It is also worth recalling that an 83-79 team won the World Series last year, so I think that hitting the panic botton is premature….
Yes, Stephen, I am thinking about the Cardinals as well. I know there is always hope, and the Braves are still light years better than last year’s team, but I guess I love Gonzo too much, and his injury has been a torture to me.
I think we would hire Leo back. All we would need to do is push Roger under a bus.
@22,
guess he was getting too close to johnny jr.
Is Peterson that good of a pitching coach? Their defense is pretty solid all the way around, Shawn Green was hurt last night. He’s been pretty solid all year
problem is, we beat the mets, and we lose to the nats, wihch is disgusting, if we got our work done vs them and took care of business, we would be in first with a cushion if we didnt blow those two lates aves too, i hate when we dont run away with it, haha
well i guess that’s baseball