ESPN – Nationals vs. Braves Box Score, June 25 2007 – MLB
Well, it’s only the Nats, but it’s a win.
This was the McCann and Hudson Show. Brian singled in a run in the fourth, giving the Braves their first lead since the Nixon Administration Monday. Then, with two out in the sixth and Renteria on second, the Natspos intentionally walked Andruw to get to McCann. Yes, they had a LOOGY on the mound, but still. McCann made them pay with a three-run homer.
That was all that Hudson needed, though he gave up one run in the seventh. To set up the save situation, I guess. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a man. He did have some nice defense played behind him, which helped. Soriano allowed a single but struck out the side in the eighth, and Wickman gave up a two-out double in the ninth but that was it.
Willie Harris, in the leadoff spot with KJ dropped to seventh, had two hits, as did Chipper. Renteria had one.
For a minute there I was thinking this franchise would never again score another run. Hopefully McCann can single handedly pick this team up and carry it into the postseason.
It was only a matter of time before we got the fast guy in the leadoff spot. I want my baseball team to be run by a computer.
Really short-sighted and somewhat desperate move by Cox to do drop a good piece of the Braves’ future to the seven hole for a one year wonder. And why? Speed? So Harris can get thrown out more?
I know it’s the Nationals. I know they had nine hits and should have gotten more off of Hudson. This is the first win of the many that will put us back on top of the NL East.
The Mets are chumps. Their starting pitching will suck and their hitting will come back down to earth. The Braves’ pitching and offense will come back from hell and come up to earth.
I’m saying it on June 25th at the end of a month where we went 9-15: the Braves will win the NL East. By saying that, I’m predicting that Andruw will hit well in the second half and we trade for a starting pitcher (give up the farm for Mark Buerhle?). Two big “if”s, but I think they will happen, and Atlanta will send New York home for the playoffs since the Wild Card will come out of the West.
I live in a small town in northeast Florida, and I walked into the local gym sporting my beautiful, tomato-red Smoltz t-shirt/jersey thing that I got at the Red Sox game last week. I told this group of nice, middle-age ladies minding their own business, watching The Closer or some crap, “The Braves are going to win the NL East, and there’s nothing the Mets can do about it.”
I walked into the free weight room where these two old guys were doing bench and I said, “Ya know what fellas? I don’t care if the Braves couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat this past week. You’ll see them in October!” Of course, those guys had no idea what I was talking about because they don’t like baseball, but I got my point across.
OK, sign me up.
rob is sporting for fight tonight…did you ask those ladies if they wanted to step outside and continue the discussion? 😉
i hope your right rob. it’s certainly not impossible.
GO BRAVES!
Whatever man. You just watch. 🙂
Unfortunately, the Mets beat Russ Springer and the Cardinals in extra innings…
Mets suck. They went 0-23 from the 3rd inning to the 11th. That’s Bravesian offensive ineptitude.
yep, they always find a way to win when braves can’t, but i’ll take tonight’s victory. my braves may be sorry, by they’re my sorry braves.
so let’s get back out there and win another one buddy.
by equals but
Let’s hope Huddy is back. I do wish we had someone with a nickname like ‘The Hebrew Hammer’. Just for kicks.
I think that was Hank Greenberg
hiram could be “the hillside hammer”, he does have more hits than orr.
I believe Shawn Green has assumed it’s crown. Maybe ‘Druw could be ‘The Southern Hamburgler’
I just got home from the movies and almost fell out of my chair when I saw the Braves offensive explosion. Holy crap!
is MLB.tv making fun of our favorite free-swinging chipmunk?
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/ad/Subscription/y2007/what_will/160x600_whatplayer_atl.jpg
I don’t know if any of y’all are wrestling fans, and I hate to bring the mood down after a win, but Chris Benoit and his family were found dead this evening. And it ain’t a big McMahon BS storyline.
🙁
Just read the article on that. Him, his wife and seven year old son. Wow. Puts a Braves losing streak in perspective, huh…
Lance Cormier got rocked at Richmond:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2007_06_25_dubaaa_ricaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
For now Carlyle is better anyway–but it would be nice to see him regain enough of his spring form to become tradeable….
It’s a win. Whoo!! I listened to most of it under the porch of my new chicken coop in a fantastic and much needed downpour. Just a perfect evening, really.
And although I like H&O, let’s get that win streak going, boys!
Cormier might be done. He looked scared to death his last start in the bigs.
On a positive note, Cody Johnson, the Braves top pick in 2006, is off to a great start at Danville:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Johnson%2520%2520LF&pos=&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=451080
Given his tough summer in the GCL, the fact that he is hitting better while climbing into a little more advance league can only be encouraging….
On anothe note, Danville broke out some wicked pitching as well:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_25_dnvrok_jcyrok_1
Now, if the Braves can just sign Heyward….
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_06_25_dnvrok_jcyrok_1
Combined 12 errors?!
The joys of the lower minors….
There’s gotta be another option for the poll question.
How about:
Which Brave will JS trade next?
a. Andruw
b. Salty
c. Escobar
d. Thorman
e. Harris
f. Yates
g. None of the above
Take a look at this… Not sure it was a strike..
http://break.com/index/new-japanese-baseball-pitch.html
I’d take a one year wonder at lead-off over a 3-week wonder. You take away the last 3 weeks in april and KJ ‘s mlb numbers are flatlined at about .240/.320. The speed is just a bonus at that point.
I think bobby is just trying to mix things up. Johnson is still our 2b for the foreseeable future and will probably be back in the leadoff spot eventually. Right now all I care about is the fact that we won a game.
timo,
That was awesome! I remember we used to try something like that when playing home run derby in high school.
I’d like to see MLB try to handle that pitch as a balk or not real-time during a game. And even better I’d like to see Cox and someone else vicious like Ozzie argue each side.
And I voted for Oates because former player/manager Johnny Oates went to Virginia Tech (I think).
Stephen per Wryn’s response:
Your boy Cody Johnson had two errors on the same play, and that’s impressive. There were six total errors in the 4th inning. That must have been painful to watch.
The KJ Question:
Why not move KJ down if his OBP isn’t off the charts anymore. Just ride whoever is hot.
It’s no big deal moving players around the lineup. If KJ is so upset about moving down in the order that it affects him psychologically, he’s not going to have much of a career anyway.
JDMaker1 + Wryn–12 errors in a game recalls my worst days of Little League–but you do get these games in the minors. At least Danville only made 3 errors…
Otherwise, I would not be surprised to see Johnson wind up at 1B, but at this point I am just glad that he is off to a good start….
Rod Beck’s obituary in the NY Times:
The Sickels’ version is more interesting and the comments are heart felt:
http://www.minorleagueball.com/
You remember that “three week” comment later in the year when Harris wilts.
Johnson will be here long after Willie Harris gets his next minor league deal.
I dont care where they hit in the lineup and I dont care who has a longer career. Im pulling for the both of them and I hope they can lift our team. We need them both
As for last night, everything was great until I had to watch Andruw in the 8th take 5 straight pitches and then have that stupid grin on his face after he struck out. Im serious, he and Francouer are killing our offense. Im up for benching the both of them in the same game. Our defense will suck but put Thor in LF, Harris in CF, and Diaz in RF. Its only one game, but the golden boy needs to sit also
Francoeur annoys me more than Andruw because he gets treated as a star when he has done very little. Andruw at least has had success in the past. French is a mediocrity with a Delta commercial–which is a lot more commercials than Hank Aaron had in his second year in the majors.
Willy Harris has been awesome for us so far, lets ride it as long as we can.
Re: Beck Obits.
I’ll take the Times obit. It’s not a great one, as Times obits go, but at least you get a peek into Beck’s humanity. In my book, having a beer with fans goes a long way, whether you’re Rod Beck or Ted Turner.
Sickels thing isn’t really an obit. Hard for me to digest crunched stats at this point. I wanna know about the man, not so much his minor-league K/BB ratios.
Thomson went 7 strong innings last night against the Angels and picked up his 1st win this year. I wasnt a big Thomson fan, but we should have kept him at this years price
i’m shocked that JS didn’t jump on him when he had the chance.
Maroth basically shut down the Mets last night also. I wouldnt be surprised to see him do better in the NL. Would Maroth and Thomson been better than Davies and Carlyle? I would think so
could you imagine if we had Burrell in LF. Burrell, Jones, and Frenchy all batting back to back….that would get TP fired pretty quickly
Stephen, I play “sandlot” baseball with a bunch of friends every Tuesday night, 12 errors is a weekly minimum. I’m happy to see that professional ball players boot just as many as we do.
Then again, our field isn’t quite as groomed as theres is either. We get a few head hunting, noise breaking, expensive dental work hops.
csg,
Why the hell would it be TPs fault if the Braves management was dumb enough to feature an outfield of three impatient hitters like that? I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous.
That’s your typical “blame a coach when things go wrong” comment.
It’s hard enough for a stellar hitting coach to teach grown men how to completely change their approach at the plate. Anyone who can fix the the approaches of those three kids should be in the hall of fame.
Mike, the entire job of a hitting coach is to get his players to hit. If they’re not hitting, you can blame the manager, blame the general manager, blame the players, or blame the hitting coach. The guy who’s lowest on the totem pole is the one who has to pay the price.
And, for the record, TP was a pretty impatient hitter himself. I would rather have a Luke Appling type for a hitting coach than a Nomar Garciaparra type.
Well maybe we should hire the Mets hitting coach who helped Jose Reyes learn patience and pitch selection
My understanding is that it wasn’t the hitting coach who was responsible for Reyes, it was Rickey Henderson. I’d hire Rickey, but I don’t see that working out with the Braves.
Mike Clay, I am reluctant to blame a coach but honestly… Its like another poster said earlier, McCann has his father, Chipper has his father, Francoeur has McCann… Everytime I hear about a player fixing somethiing its always someone other than Pendleton helping him… In his entire tenure with the Braves I don’t know what Pendleton has done. Now when we had Don Baylor in 1999 I distinctly remember him helping players… specifically Andruw Jones and Gerald Williams. That was also the last time the Braves were in the World Series.
I think that one of the reasons I preferred the Sickels piece (its not an obit–but a tribute and a way of remembering) was my disappointment with the NYT piece. I also liked the reader comments. Normally, the obit page is about the first thing I look for when I read NYT…
Oh, don’t get me wrong.
I don’t mean that TP shouldn’t get any blame for our current issues.
What I am saying is that you don’t bring in a group of terrible hitters and just expect a hitting coach to cure them and save the day. That’s ludicrous and unrealistic.
Stephen,
I’m an obit freak myself. It’s like watching the Biography channel.
And there’s also a certain skill to writing a good one. The NYT obits are usually very entertaining. This one was OK, nothing special.
If you really want a good (and long) read, go on the NYT site & check out the Saddam Hussein obit.
I think TP is better for guys like Harris, Renteria…guys who don’t mind going the other way. That’s how TP hit. Don Baylor is better suited to help the power hitters like Jones, McCann, Francouer, etc. He basically resurrected Andres Galarraga’s career. Hell what is Don Baylor up to now?
Then again major leaguers can be stubborn. Remember when Merv Rettenmund was the savior for Andruw? He got fired the next year.
I like Bobby putting Willie in the leadoff spot, we need KJ down in the order to drive in runs. Now if we can get Salty in there…I hope he is playing tonight. Please!!!
Mike Clay,
I totally agree…Francouer and AJ have to be the dumbest hitters in the league as far as their approach goes.
TP fixed Willie Harris, supposedly. But that’s about all I can remember him doing. Color me not impressed overall.
Well at least you can’t blame him for Ryan Langerhans ills…he sucks here in DC too….
Mike Clay, first of all that was a sarcastic comment, you really need to relax a bit! I dont blame TP for everyone’s approach. Geez
Yea CSG…I thought u were being sarcastic also, but I didn’t know if Mike and yourself had been through this before….
Maybe the whole problem is a communication issue.
Maybe when TP says “Ok Frenchy I won’t you to take one.” Jeff thinks he is saying “Ok Frenchy I won’t you to swing at the first pitch and see if you can take it deep.”
Or when TP says “Alright now ‘Druw I want you to go with the pitch” Andruw hears “Alright now ‘Druw I want you to go deeper than ever with the pitch”
Haha. My bad, csg. It’s hard to sense sarcasm in text.
No hard feelings.
Tony, nope never had problems before. I was just trying to think of another stubborn hitter to put in our outfield and Burrell was the best I could come up with. I think I just hit a sensitive area or something. I dont think TP is a good teacher, but what do I know. I just get tired of seeing us swing away against terrible pitchers. We hardly ever take walks and hardly ever work the count and its frustrating to me. If thats TP’s fault he needs to be replaced, if its the hitters fault they need to be benched.
#63 – no problem
Not sure if anyone posted this yet, but yahoo pretty much recapped our dismal June. Check it out…
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AvZAYJj7_pDrYKlF7S_.Ec85nYcB?slug=txbravesjunedemise&prov=st&type=lgns
Speaking of making staff pay for your players’ “failures…”
One of my favorite stories of the year was the Yankees firing their trainer after their freakish rash of injuries—including Wang, Hughes & Mussina coming down with leg issues.
Seemed like Stalin shooting his doctor after getting bad news.
“Atlanta began a stretch of 20 of 27 games against clubs with sub-.500 records against the Washington Nationals Monday.”
Well, here is our big chance to take over the division lead. If we aren’t in a playoff position after this stretch, then we have bigger issues.
By the way Pat Burrell is hitting .205, but the fans in Philly are use to his shortcomings by now. Damn a Burrell, AJ and Francouer outfield would get the manager, GM, hitting coach, scouting director, etc. all fired…lol
I live in Kutztown, PA, which is closest to the Philly market. All day at work (which is where I am now), I listen to 610-WIP, which is a Philly sports talk show that runs all day long everyday. It’s pretty fantastic.
The point of that little story is that everyone has pretty much given up on the Phillies. None of the hosts or fans who have called in trust their pitching and they hate Burrell and especially Leiber (whose probably out for the season).
They generally agree that the Mets are going to run away with the division and not many fear the Braves. Go figure.
Expect Rowand to get traded soon. Not a bad player to go after….
How about this alarming statistic:
In 15 starts from our #5 spot in the rotation, our starters have accumulated a record of 1-10 with an 8.97 era. The Braves are 5-10 on “the fifth day, and 11-19 between Davies & the #5 man of week including Redman, Lerew, Cormier, and Carlyle.
20 of the next 27 against sub .500 teams sounds great. Hopefully the Braves will turn it up heading into the all star break like we are accustomed, minus 2006, of course.
Here would be a deadly lineup….
1st – Julio Lugo, 2b
2nd – Juan Uribe, SS
3rd – Jeff Francouer, RF
4th – Andruw Jones, CF
5th – Pat Burrell, LF
6th – Adam LaRohce, 1B
7th – David Ross, C
8th – Eric Chavez, 3B
9th – Andrew Miller, P, he looked good swinging the bat
Bamachum…
All I got to say is how in the hell did we get one run.
Mike Clay,
I live here in DC and we have two all day sports talk radio stations and all they talk about are the Nationals…yea right!! It’s Redskins, Redskins, Redskins…makes me want to puke. Maybe when the Nationals move into their new stadium next year they may cover opening day. Well at least I get to see all 3 Braves games on TV with the all powerful Mid Atlantic Sports Network
I think Rowand’s overrated. Any time you hear a player praised for being “hard-nosed,” I think that’s a sign that they’re trying to praise things other than the guy’s baseball skills.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a fine player, and a good center fielder. But he’s not going to be worth the price that they’ll ask.
Bamachum…that should be how did we get that one win.
csg, pretty good defense though. How about this rotation:
Jeremy Bonderman
Kenny Rogers
Justin Verlander
Nate Robertson
Andrew Miller
Oh wait…that is a real rotation.
Csg..with that lineup you would have a 62 degree stadium in the dead of summer. Geez imagine the swings and misses…
Rowand is an alright player having a great year. He’s also one of the better defensive CFs in baseball. He’s “only” making $4.5 M.
I see no reason why Philly would trade him. Makes no sense to me.
While our offense has been terrible beyond description as of late with numerous guys slumping…we won’t make the playoffs without getting another middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. Atlanta is #8 in the NL in pitching. Our offense will only get better, but without getting a Javier Vazquez/Noah Lowry type pitcher I don’t think we make a serious run, even if they only eat up innings to help conserve the bullpen.
The Braves won 7 of 10 going into 2006’s all-star game.
I think we’re 8th in NL pitching & hitting right now.
I agree. We need an inning-eater who can keep us in games & pitch the occasional gem, a Chuck James who goes deeper per start.
Ububba, unfortunately, you’re describing Jeff Suppan, and pitchers like that are commanding $10 mill a year these days. Hard to find one for cheap–you can try to make do with Mike Maroth and Mark Redman types (or, heaven help us, Cormier and Villarreal), but it rarely works quite the same.
First of all, I’m not advocating this but…assume we decide to try to deal Andruw before the deadline…who is a likely taker that he wouldn’t veto? Essentially, I’m just wondering from any “insiders” at to where Andruw is likely to sign this offseason?
I’m blaming Mike Hampton…there is our other pitcher…
Or Jorge Sosa.
Jorge Sosa, 6-3 for the enemy. Where was that last year?
Any word on what San Francisco would be asking for a Matt Morris/Noah Lowry? As long as it doesn’t include Salty, I’m up for it.
The Phils have other guys they need to give a shot in the outfield and they need pitching. Thus, Rowand is definately on his way out. Waiting to replace him are Roberson, Werth, and Bourn.
This is another reason they are trying to give Burrell away.
Unless we fall WAY out of the running, I think Andruw won’t be traded. We’ll offer him arbitration. He’ll sign elsewhere. We’ll get two draft picks.
Mike,
Bourn’s not good (though he’s fast), Werth’s not young (or good, really), and I don’t know anything about Roberson, but that indicates to me that he’s not a top prospect.
If the Phillies trade Rowand, it’s because they know they can’t/won’t re-sign him, or because someone makes an offer they can’t refuse—because the guys they’d replace him with wouldn’t come close to his production, IMO.
The idea is to give Bourn and Roberson (but mostly Bourn) a shot.
Mikey is, as you mentioned, quick and I believe he has potential. I saw him play in AA-Reading and you could tell he had a decent amount of talent. They definitely want to give him a shot and Rowand is going to be gone by the end of July for sure. They won’t resign him regardless and they need a pitcher. Rowand is all they have to offer for a pitcher besides the big guns and the Victorino-Utley-Rollins-Howard quatro (like the razor) aren’t going anywhere.
Oh and I think Roberson can make a decent role player in the league. He was my favorite player at Reading and actually outperformed Bourn when they played there together.
He has made some major league appearances to date, but hasn’t blown anyone away. But, like I said, he’s not going to be a star–he’s more of a role player.