ESPN – Braves vs. Phillies Box Score, August 11 2007 – MLB
When Lance “UnRheal” Cormier is your starting pitcher, you take your wins any way you find them, even when you’re not sure how you won. Cormier did not actually pitch that badly for the first four innings, allowing one run on a Rollins homer. He led 6-1 entering the fifth, but didn’t record an out in the inning. Single, infield single, wild pitch, walk, double, single, and finally Bobby came out to get him.
The hero of the hour was Ron Mahay. With the game 6-4 and still nobody out, runners first and third, he struck out the first two men — one of them Ryan Howard — and then got a weak grounder to first to end it. He got the win, and mightily deserved it. Deserving more than just a hold was Oscar Villarreal, who needed only nineteen pitches in two perfect innings after Mahay.
KJ had a huge game, hitting a two-run homer in the third (making it 3-0 at the time) and singling in a run in the fourth to make it 6-1. He wound up 2-3 with two walks. Francoeur hit a solo homer in the fourth, and Teixeira tripled in Chipper in the third. Andruw hit a ball to the wall for a double in the eighth, scoring Francoeur from first, which was probably the hardest-hit ball he’s had in a month.
Soriano fed his gopher again with one out in the eighth, but luckily it was a solo shot. Wickman allowed a leadoff double in the ninth but rallied back for the save.
Mets lose.
All in all I will take the win. This is how I thought this series would go with both teams starting the back end of their rotations.
It is so disappointing to see Soriano struggle with his control. We need to get the series tomorrow.
2 1/2 out of the East, and 1/2 game out of the wild card.
Oscar is the man.
Huge games from Mahay and Villarreal. They gave us exactly what we needed, and Soriano and Wickman held on for dear life. I’ll take the win.
Sure am glad the Marlins are handling the Mets.
Maybe I’m wrong, but Cormier’s implosion in the 5th didn’t necessarily look like a case of hitters seeing him for the 2nd or 3rd time. It looked like his arm loosened up and his curve was breaking so much he couldn’t throw it for strikes. When he lost his curve as a strike pitch, he was done for. I wish we had a better option (like everyone else), but at this point I think another start is warranted.
Rick Ankiel hit two home runs today. That’s just freaky.
Good win today. A win tomorrow would be amazing. Does Buddy have it in him?
Didn’t we make Moyer look like Spahn earlier this season? I don’t think that will happen again.
buddy will kill!
I agree that Mahay and Oscar were awesome. I was one who voted for Andurw to be DL’d, but he looked a lot better tonight – this was his first 2 solid hit game that I can remember in the last week or so.
Oscar really seems to be feeling it. His delivery has a very relaxed, purposeful rhythm right now. I always look to see how the landing foot is working for a pitcher and he looks really confident in his mechanics right now. I love it when “dead-arm recovery project” guys work out.
I didn’t see Cormier pitch, but did he look decent enough to warrant another start? If not, does Bobby finally relent and give Villareal a start? If not Oscar, who else at this point?
I wouldn’t start Villareal at this point. He’s the 2nd or 3rd most effective pitcher out of the pen and would weaken the pen significantly with his absence. And since he hasn’t started all year, he would likely hurt the bullpen even when he pitched well (by virtue of not being able to get past the 4th or 5th inning).
I imagine that Cormier will get at least two more starts and then we may see Trey Hodges or Kevin Barry as the next contestant in the Braves 5th starter search. I wonder, seriously, if a contending team has ever had this much trouble filling a spot on the rotation…
Jeff, the Braves had trouble filling the fifth spot in the rotation in years in which they won 100 games. The only difference was that the rest of the starters were so good that it didn’t matter — and Bobby could go to a four-man rotation if he had to, as he did in 1991 and 1993.
Hanan,
I mentioned in #6 above that I think Cormier deserves another start. I don’t see Hodges or Barry giving us more than 1 quality start and I think Cormier has a shot to give us 2 or 3. In any case, the 5th starter outlook is poor, but I’m afraid we’re stuck. I don’t see a decent SP clearing waivers – this includes Wells!
It’s Cormier or Jo Jo for the rest of the way as far as I’m concerned. I’m fine giving Cormier another start. Hell, 4 solid innings is more than we’ve gotten in the past out of this spot….
A Braves win with a fifth starter?! Mets lose to the Marlins again?! A good night in my book.
Rob Copenhaver, to answer an earlier question, I’m in Jupiter, FL visiting friends (about 10 minutes from the West Palm Beach Airport). It’s really humid but otherwise pretty great.
Let’s take the series!
We won, he deserves another start. All I ask for is a chance to win.
wait Andruw actually hit one out of the infield, that should be on Sportscenter. Thats of course, if we get any coverage or not
Cormier didnt do that badly, however, thats pretty scary close to my prediction earlier.
Oh ok, Rob. Beautiful area; I hope you’re enjoying yourself.
Great win today. Also good to see the Marlins beat the Mets and great to see Rick Ankiel umm… amazing everyone. Man, I really hope that guy sticks. He made a decent catch too, but I wanna say if he had read the ball better he wouldn’t have had to make such an acrobatic catch.
I just want to say, that someone in an earier post definatley wrote, that Cormier would go 4 innings, give up 7 hits and 4 ER, i saw the line, and i was like holy crap!
Andruw might have gotten mad reading this board. Two things can happen, he gets hot, and if he does, we will win teh NL East, or he goes back to sucking, making it even more aggravating? Which do you think?
Mahay was lights out
From the Manny Acosta thread…
“csg Says:
August 11th, 2007 at 8:58 am
guys – forget about what was said yesterday. The Braves lost again by 1 run and things got a little tempered. Today is a new day my friends, lets find a way to get Druw on the DL and get both Harris and Diaz playing everyday.
Mac, do you always have direct access to DOB? If so, ask them why Bobby hasnt seen the pain that Andruw is in and ask him why he’s still letting him play that way.
Come on Cormier, you need to step up today. My preditcion
4IP 7H 4ER 3BB 1K
prove me wrong”
This was his line…
4.0IP 7H 4R 4ER 2BB 1K
Cant get much closer than that!
well, here is my post from 9 am this morning on the previous thread…
“Come on Cormier, you need to step up today. My preditcion
4IP 7H 4ER 3BB 1K
prove me wrong”
his actual line today
4IP 7H 4ER 2BB 1K
so I apologize because I actually thought he would walk one more batter. If this is the way this is going to work. My prediction for Carlyle = CG win tomorrow
do I get like a Braves Journal cookie or something?
Thats an oustanding job predicting that! Thats like, I went to a rutgers games with friends this year, when they played howard, and i said the score would be 56-6 or something, and sure enough with 1 play left it was 56-6 and howard was threatening to score, Rutgers stopped him, I was a genious for te day, haha
okay so I dont miss Macay anymore
News: McBride was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Saturday.
Impact: McBride has been unimpressive with the Tigers, going 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA in 20 appearances. The 24-year-old lefthander, who allowed runs in eight of his outings, was reached for a total of six in his last two relief efforts.
Did anyone catch this stat during the game?
Braves’ starters 1-4: 3.42 (?) ERA.
Braves’ 5th starter: 7.51 ERA.
Great catch #22. Just beat csg by one minute. One of you guys should go buy a lottery ticket, lol.
Got any stock tips, csg?
CSG, I don’t have any cookies, but you can pick tomorrow’s video.
Dont forget, that has alot of leftover from Hurricane Redman that thrashed our pitching staff earlier in the season and blew away
redman reminds me of this kid i coached, started one game at QB last year, nice kid but threw 4 INTs and fumbled 4 times, and then he was gone the next week. and i thought to myself, did that happen? Sometimes i think about the redman experience the same way
I love that The Redman Experience can be summed up by an 8-turnover game. It’s so true.
Considering how the season has gone, if we can get a 7-5 win for every other 5th-starter game I can deal with it.
Helluva middle-relief effort tonight. Mahay against Howard & Rowand—that was the game.
And boy, are we scoring some runs these days. Ever since Tex joined the lineup, it’s 65 runs in 10 games (6-4 during that time, though).
I have a strange confidence in Buddy Carlyle. We win tomorrow & it’s hard not to feel good about 4/6 from NYM & Pha.
i actually like buddy carlyle, very serviceable, can give us some innings, keep them to 2 or 3 we are in good shape
Its sad but true, that QB was a great kid, that day, he didnt have it, and never would have had it, but it was an emergency and we were playing a great team, jersey shore football is good!
I would take 5 or 6IP from Buddy tomorrow. I just want us to pick up the series. Their lineup just looks weak without Utley. We have the better team. I say dont worry about keeping Dotel around for 5 mil next year. Just keep Ascanio up and resign Mahay
By the way, Mets had to put LoDuca on the 15 day DL today
I heard on Baseball Tonight that Andruw’s getting an MRI tomorrow.
ububba,
well, he has to. If he’s DLed, what then? Another pitcher? Heh.
Here’s a great quote from Mets blog today:
“There isn’t one guy in the pen it seems that can get through an inning without giving up a run. Maybe [Jorge] Sosa, once in a while.”
If your most reliable reliever is Jorge Sosa, you are in for some trouble. Go Braves!
I was looking at all of the contending teams in the NL. On paper, I think us and the Mets have the best 2 teams. All the other teams have (more) serious flaws.
Phillies–only pitcher on team that’s worth much this year is Hamels
Brewers–starting rotation outside of Sheets (who’s injured) is awful
Cubs–no offense, especially with Soriano hurt
Diamondbacks–I just don’t see how they’re doing it. They can’t hit, and their rotation other than Webb sucks. Bullpen is decent though.
Padres–no offense, biggest threat is Adrian Gonzalez
Dodgers–no power
The Padres and the Cubs both have outstanding pitching staffs, and should probably win their divisions. But both have putrid offenses.
Oh, and the Rockies. Jeff Francis is a legitimate ace, and Aaron Cook is a legit middle of the rotation pitcher, but the rest of the staff is just a bunch of guys.
Since the ASB, we’ve outscored the opponents 167-125. And gone 14-13.
I wouldn’t count the Cubs out. They have Aramis Ramirez, who’s very underrated and who does have some power, and Lee, who is once again hitting consistently above .300. Theriot is a good situational hitter, and DeRosa has been a big boost both offensively and defensively (he plays something like three or four positions). They’ve hit a snag lately, but they’ll be in the thick of things come October.
Fair enough. I do think they’ll win the Central.
As long as they keep on with 2 out of 3 I like our chances. The wild card has too many variables – I would think the division would be more winnable, givan the unbalanced schedule and all.
I hesitate to write this but it seems like the Braves may finally be on the roll we’ve been waiting for all year that will take them above mediocrity and secure a playoff spot. I hope the baseball gods don’t punish me for saying that by having Buddy stink it up tonight.
I just have a feeling JS migth roll the dice at the waiver trade deadline on a steve trachsel or a bronson arroyo, if we are in first in either the WC or the NL East, then I bet he makes one more move, our lineup is tough, and if we get a #5 we could win the NL East
Going back a bit on this thread and Mac, you are right. The Braves have struggled quite a bit putting a 5th starter on the mound. I’ve watched the Braves for a while now, but I guess I’m having a bit of a problem with selective memory. It is easier, however, to have a sucky 5th starter when your top three are Glavine, Maddox, and Smoltz. Not that Hudson or Smoltz has been bad at all, but Chucky just doesn’t rate alongside those guys. And so the real problem is that from 3-5 we aren’t as deep as we used to be.
Buddy has been a real find. And if he was our 5th instead of our 4th, we would be better off (just as if James were our 4th and not our 3rd).
And here’s a lovely thought, should Andruw go on the DL. At that point, a pitcher will be brought up, maybe Devine again since we are evidently trying to get him enough frequent flyer miles so that when we trade him to Japan he can fly first class for free. Willie slides over to center. And, here’s the kicker, Thorman platoons with Diaz, because Diaz is only hitting .340 and can’t be allowed to play everyday, right?
I guess things could be worse. Diaz might have to platoon with Woodward (even though both are right handed).
If Andruw goes on the DL, will Ring get called up? Does anyone know if he’s ready?
Since Ring came over to us, he has had one bad outing (3 runs in an inning), 1 mediocre (1 run in an inning) and gooseggs. Cumulatively about a 4.5 ERA. His lefty splits are awfully good (BA .175 or so). Righties are killing him, so therefore, average.
I think his Pacific Coast League numbers were better which may bring us to “Caution, small sample size.”
I haven’t seen a post since I asked about post season roster. This affects Julio, Ring, Stockman and whoever else. I think that only MLB active as of 8/31 and MLB disabled as of that date are postseason eligible. But anybody on 40 man that is not disabled can be “called up” for the expanded roster on 9/1. Is taht right?
My prediction for Buddy today (hopefully it’s csg-esque):
7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K
There, shot in the dark.
Rob,
I’m sure Mac will get you a cookie.
on Baseball Tonight they were also discussing Smoltz’s possible continuing shoulder problems and how scouts are saying it’s forced him away from the splitter.
Smoltz’s breaking stuff is still pretty nasty (just ask David Wright). I’m curious to hear how he could throw that wicked slider but have trouble with a splitter. What’s their hypothesis, anon?
I’m not really too sure, all I caught was that the buzz among opposing scouts was that Smoltzie hadn’t been using his splitter in his last three starts (in which he’s 0-1) and they were theorizing that his shoulder is still bothering him.
Normally, when he stops using his splitter that’s because his elbow is bothering him. I’ve never heard that the splitter puts particular stress on the shoulder, but I suppose it could.
No splitter means Smoltz is losing a vicious out-pitch. However, Smoltz seems crafty enough (if nec.) to get outs, even missing a key pitch.
Watching a really nice video tribute to Glavine. They’re giving him a little 300 ceremony at Shea today.
Smoltz, Bobby & Leo are in it, of course, but also a lot of hockey players—from Bobby Orr to Wayne Gretzky.
They’re trying to make it slightly Met-centric (they’re not showing Glavine strike out any Mets), but all his great moments are with Atlanta. It’s unavoidable.
Of course, when Seaver got up to speak, there was a loud jet from LGA flying over, drowing out some of his words.
Is it just me or does it seem like Glavine’s 300th win is getting more attention than Maddux’s because of the whole New York thing.
Mark,
The New York thing? I don’t know, 300 is pretty rare wherever it happens. I kinda thought between Bonds’ “record” and A-Rod’s HR #500, Glavine’s accomplishment actually went a little under the radar, which seems to be just the way he likes it.
Nice tribute to him today, though. Anyone who saw Glavine’s speech can only think he’s a class act.
Back in Metland, Oliver Perez is getting touched up again. Marlins up on the Mets now, 4-3, bottom 3. He’s also having a little bad luck, Ramon Castro dropped a sure out at the plate (on a throw by Green) & Moises Alou lost a pop in the sun.
Marlins “off the deck” (pun intended) for 3 in the 3rd. 4-3 Marlins, still batting, top 3 at Shea.
Vandenhurk vs Odalis Perez
Like really, are you kidding me?
Isn’t Vandenhurk the guy that almost no-hit us with a 10.00 ERA?
Reyes homers; 4-4, bottom 3
Reds are rallying in the 6th at home vs San Diego
Was 5-0, but the Reds have 2 on, 0 out, down 5-2, bottom 6
@61
yep
End 6
5-3 Padres behind Peavy and two Brian Giles homers.
How has Oliver Perez’s velocity been today? Is it down like it was when he faced the Braves? If it is, I suspect he may have serious arm trouble. Just a hunch, nothing more.