ESPN – Braves vs. Marlins Box Score, August 29 2007 – MLB
That Matt Diaz guy, who can’t get into the lineup every day because he hits righty, even though he’s a career .313 hitter against righthanders, hit two homers against Dontrelle Willis (who is, admittedly, a lefthander, and not pitching well at all) and the Braves actually managed to win a game, and a series, despite leaving eleven men on base and getting two men thrown out at home.
Buddy Carlyle pitched adequately, I guess. He struck out six men in five innings, but allowed single runs in each of the first three frames. The Braves led 4-3 at that point, because in one of their innings they got two runs, and made it 7-3 after six. Carlyle only allowed four hits, but two of them were homers (one by Willis, who is probably on the verge of getting converted to a left fielder) and he walked three.
Bobby started Chris Woodward for some reason, and Woodhead continued his plunge below the Mendoza Line but did walk three times. Diaz had a double to go with his two homers. Escobar hit a homer for one of his two hits; Teixeira, Francoeur, and Andruw all also had two hits. Corky Miller started at catcher and had an RBI in his first appearance, but also left seven men on base.
Moylan pitched the sixth, allowing a run that was at least partially Corky’s fault for a passed ball. Acosta pitched the seventh. Mahay got two outs in the eighth, then gave way to Soriano, who struck out two in an inning and a third (15 pitches, 13 strikes) for the save.
Andruw’s two doubles tonight should push this year’s OPS+ past his career worst set in 2001 (96). Which is, well, something I guess. He had more defensive value back then so this is probably still his worst season. At least it looks like he’ll get above 100 on his OPS+, which is the absolute least you can ask for $14 million.
Are these(Mahay, Moylan,Soriano) the only relievers the Braves have?
I imagine that “some reason” is the
Guess the site doesn’t like the less than sign, let me try again.
I imagine the “some reason” is the less than .140 average lefties are putting up against Willis.
Well, if we’re ever going to sweep a series, this weekend is the time to do it.
How sweet it would be.
Well, the Phillis are one game away from sweeping a four-game series against the Mets…
I can’t believe the Braves won a game with 3 pitcher’s spots at the bottom of the order and Buddy Carlyle on the mound.
We’re now as far back/close in the division as the wild card so let’s sweep the Mets and get back in this thing.
Right, Ron. Let’s focus on the NL East and go right after the Mets and Phillies.
A sweep of the Mets would be nice, but I’ll be happy with 2 out of 3 from them. The Phillies’ series scares me – especially the way our pitching lines up.
The nice thing about this weekend is rosters expand. As has been stated, Willie Harris (when he’s not stealing PT from Diaz), Thorman, Orr, and Woodward make up the worst bench in baseball. I think Julio Franco will be able to hit better than those 4 guys in 10 years.
Question – What is the maximum number of players we can put on the roster when it expands? Is it 40?
How good of a bench did we have last night with Willie, KJ, and McCann riding the pine? If only these guys would sit every night!
Yeah, right, Bobby, you “wish”… then DO iT!!!
“I wish he had enough at-bats — he’d lead the league in hitting,” manager Bobby Cox said after his Braves came away with a 2-1 series win to salvage something from an otherwise disappointing road trip in which they lost six of 10 games.
BC on Diaz.
I wish he had more at bats too. Of course, I’m not the manager, so it makes more sense for me to “wish.”
But seriously, that should signal Diaz is going to get more at-bats, right? Right?
Woodward’s 3 walks last night means that Bobby will think starting Woodward was successful. That is scary!!!
I’m looking forward to these upcoming series. It is put up or shut up time, IMO. I’ll know at the end of these six games whether to keep hope alive or to start watching the NFL.
Edgar, please save us from a Woodward/Johnson platoon!
I fwe are for real then we make our move starting this weekend. We can do it!
I am also looking forward to seeing us play the Mets. We have dominated them all season and they are approaching a meltdown mode. The only problem is that we may wind up helping the Phillies. In any case, I would rather the Braves finish on a strong note….
For all the complaints about the bullpen, it actually isn’t that bad–at least compared to a lot of others like the Orioles, which has become sort of otherworldly bad. They have blown a lot of saves but they have also pitched a hell of a lot of innings. I don’t blame the bullpen for extra-inning losses when they pitch two or three scoreless innings, especially on the road. The offense needs to score at some point and the starters need to pitch past thh fifth. Obviously, there have been some egregious meltdowns by the bullpen,especially Wickman and Soriano, but even some of those could have been salvaged with even a little more hitting. It’s not like last year where the bullpen couldn’t get anyone out.
I understand Diaz is going to going to beat up Woodward and take the pictures; it’s the only way he can get in the lineup everyday. (:
FWIW, Soraino has managed to get pretty well-rested. He’s only appeared in 4 games in the past two weeks and 6 over the past three (give or take).
And Bobby’s about to unveil his Secret Joey Devine Strategy: he’s been deliberately saving his arm all year so that he can pitch in 20 games this September, helping to secure Atlanta a playoff spot.
Booya.
Anybody read my Vandy football preview and become a believer? 🙂
As for the Braves, I don’t think anything short of taking 5 of the next 6 games will reel me back in.
Stu,
I just read it. I thought it was very accurate as far as what to expect from Vandy. I think overall the defense will continue to be good (especially Goff); however, I am still not sold on the offensive side of the ball. I expect another stellar year from Nickson, but outside of that I still think they have a lot of questions to answer.
One thing I will say about the Vandy Alabama game is that I actually think we match up a little better than we did last year. I expect both our offensive line and defensive backs to be the strengths of this team. Of course, all that being said it has consistently been a very close series.
I cannot wait for tonight for the official kickoff of CFB.
Kenny,
I think you have it backwards. The offense should be one of the best in the conference, while most of the question marks are on defense and special teams.
I—and most who follow the program—will be shocked if we have trouble scoring on Bama. If you win, I think it will be because your O-Line wears our defensive front down.
Bobby has to start using the best 9 all the time. Diaz should play everyday in LF period. KJ at second. Bobby rests KJ against really tough lefties and thats ok but I sure hope that last nights Woodward sighting isn’t the full time platoon.
couple of things
We somehow got away with putting Woodward and Miller in the lineup and came away with a win. This gives both KJ and McCann two days of rest before the Mets series. They needed it
I really believe that Acosta and Ascanio have the best stuff in the pen, just lacking experience. Soriano looked very confident last night, hope Bobby doesnt ask him to have two inning saves from now on.
FREE DIAZ!!!!
I’m almost at the point where I’m just gratified to see we didn’t lose. That may mean that I’ve almost given up on the season, which is probably healthy.
I’m such a wreck.
Where is said “Vanderbilt Football Preview?”
I don’t see the link with the other previews.
http://www.secpreviews.wordpress.com
Should be the first one there.
Free Matt Diaz is right, this has to be the biggest travesty of Booby’s reign as manager. Maybe he’s losing it. I’ve thought all along that Soriano’s problem was the fact that when Wickman came back off the DL that Soriano was no longer the closer.
@30,
The anti Diaz thing is apparently a scouting and front office thing as well. Bobby wouldn’t have been the one trying to sell Diaz’ contract to a Japanese team last off season.
Fundamentally, Diaz is a vastly better player than he had been before THE BRAVES’ DOCTORS FIXED HIS VISION.
Who is going to fix the vision of our manager and general manager with respect to Diaz? Maybe DOB and Mac and some more will keep rattling the cage until finally the hard headed old man thinks it through again.
“I wish he had more at bats.” What a statement.
Anybody know the reasoning on why Acosta is a reliever? Has he had trouble throwing multiple innings? Injuries?
He has what looks like 5 pitches. He, in effect, throws a screw ball. He can bring high 90’s. Shouldn’t we be looking at him next year as a major league starter?
I know he has tended toward a high walk ratio, but that seems to have slowly come down.
Cliff, I’ve been wondering about making Acosta a starter too. He has all the pitches for it and is a better candidate for the conversion than Soriano. I don’t know if he’s had injury problems in the past that make them unwilling to pitch him more than an inning or two at a time. Anybody know?
“I wish he had enough at-bats — he’d lead the league in hitting…
Well Cox, can you guess the reason why Matt Diaz doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title?
Stu – Thanks, I enjoyed the read and I am excited for the upcoming season.
Cliff – Guy Hansen has talked about making Acosta a starter, so the Braves recognize that he has the stuff to do it.
BTW, Blaine Boyer went again for Richmond last night. He pitched well enough to win 2-1 over Durham who have some pretty solid hitting prospects.
It’s especially nice to see Diaz showing some pop. 7 of his 12 homers have come in August and his slugging pct is .821 (not that continue that torrid pace).
To offer a slight, but only slight, defense of Cox’s LF platoon, Diaz and Harris have essentially the same OPS against RHP. Of course, that’s over the whole season and at the moment Diaz is smoking hot while Harris is slumping. Platooning Diaz and Harris is more defensible than sitting KJ against lefties in favor of Woodward or Prado.
See, here’s the thing about Diaz: he’s playing great now, but he doesn’t have a huge margin for error. He’s basically got to hit .330 to be acceptable as a LF given that he doesn’t have a lot of power and doesn’t walk, like, ever. He’s at least as bad as Francoeur in this respect. His high BABIP will make many suspicious of him (it’s at like .400 this year and was at .372 last year), but in truth, these numbers aren’t that much different from what he put up in the minors. He’s basically always hit the ball hard (when he hits it), albeit with little loft in his swing.
So basically, the problem with playing him every day is that you run the risk that he becomes a .300 hitter rather than a .330 hitter, and this makes him WAY less useful overall. Granted, when your platoon partner is Willie Harris, this doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t consider playing him every day, especially when he is as hot as he has been this year. So I agree with the general population in that Cox needs to start given him a game or two against RH pitchers.
With that said, I’d still like to see him enter next year as a platoon player once again. Bring up Brandon Jones to split the ABs, move Willie to a 5th OF/PR/backup 2B role (basically, instead of Woodward, since we’ll have another backup IF who can play at SS) and everything will work out nicely.
Of course, if Diaz really is a 25 HR guy in fulltime ABs, all bets are off and he just might be a better-than-average every-day guy. I’m just not sure if he’s really got that kind of power.
Willie Harris probably ain’t going to be here next season anyways.
I’ve been agitating most of the season for Diaz as leadoff. And, as Bobby Cox’s cognitive dissonance proves, there’s only one man keeping him from a batting title. OTOH, when Harris was also hitting .350, there was more of a justification.
The guy just mashes. He’s no doubt got 15-20 hr power. 25? Eh. Maybe. Probably hits too many line drives. He can also steal 10-12 bags a season.
I’m not sure that the HR total is what really matters. Diaz has right now a .545 SLG for the season, which is, perhaps, a bit inflated, but great nonetheless. Last year he had a .475 SLG, better than Frenchy’s marks for both this season and last. I think that he has another year, maybe two, of being able to post such marks, probably around .500 SLG. That is, if Diaz plays every day next year he could and should post an .850 OPS with a high average and solid gap power. That definitely warrants a starting spot and actually would be better than both CF and RF for the Braves this season.
Diaz probably isn’t the long term answer in LF, but he is the answer for the rest of this year. Thank you for your contributions the last 4 months, Willie, now go take a seat next to Scott Thorman.
Diaz will be 30 next year. His window is probably already closing. The annoying thing is that he wasted a lot of his prime on the bench.
Mac,
I wouldn’t say that he wasted it, more like being miscast for the last season and a half, a lot of his prime has been wasted on the bench. Semantics I know, but it kind of matters for Diaz supporters at this time.
underutilized?
Window closing or not, I think he could and should be the everyday left fielder for the Braves in 2008.
Phils up 2-0 in the 2nd
Let’s see this division race tighten up & make the Mets sweat.
And regardless of how misused he’s been, Diaz has had a lot more PT in Atlanta than ever in Kansas City. He’s been a great little player for us.
It seems like the only times I can watch a game on TV is when its on SNY. I hate that TBS is dropping their games.
Let’s not forgot that Harris is getting playing time because he’s lightning fast…
I’d love to see Diaz in LF next season over Harris (who I have definitely been impressed with), but I have this terrible feeling that Diaz won’t be in the picture and he’ll tear it up for a team that gives him the PT he deserves.
Has anyone heard who the Braves might be looking at for CF next year?
Go Phillies! You got to think the Mets are sweating. Up 7.0 games only four days ago. If they lose today, it’s only 2.0 games.
I hate the Phillies, but I’d rather they win the division and keep the Mets out of the playoffs.
Pat the Bat makes it 4-0 Phils.
“Let’s not forgot that Harris is getting playing time because he’s lightning fast…”
Oh yeah, that’s a great reason to give someone playing time. Let’s start Pete Orr at second base everyday too.
Even if the Mets slip into second, they’d probably get the Wild Card. I would be shocked if they didn’t make the postseason somehow. Shocked but ecstatic mind you.
HR Rowand. 5-0 Phillies.
Mhahahahahahahahhahaha!
52,
How could you lose with Harris leading off and Orr batting second?
“How could you lose with Harris leading off and Orr batting second?”
And maybe trade for Juan Pierre this offseason to be the new center fielder? The Braves will be unstoppable!
Last Sunday, I would’ve never thought the Braves would be in a position to be 1.5 back with a Mets sweep this weekend, and with a shot at taking the division lead against Philly next week. It’s just amazing how Baseball works. I think this team can sweep the Mets and Phils and . . . . holy cow, I can’t entertain the thought.
Thank you Philly, for giving us a shot.
SomeYahoo is a great name.
And the Mets have Hudson and Smoltz coming up.
I wish I could listen to the local sports radio talk shows in New York later today.
We owe the Phillies a good series against the Mets this weekend. They helped us this much, we need to help them (at least until Sunday, then after that either we have re-paid the Phillies or all deals are off).
FWIW, they flipped Diaz and Harris on the official site’s depth chart to make Diaz the starting LF.
Pat Burrell is Met Kryptonite.
Just went to the deli & overheard this: “Kyle Lohse! We can’t hit Kyle Freakin’ Lohse?!”
Dan,
You should’ve heard the WFAN overnight last night. A real humdinger for Met haters like me.
If they lose today (and it’s 5-1 Phils), I get to hear my favorite radio show: I call it “Mets Rehab.” It’s when the WFAN host is talking Met fans down from the various area bridges. It is hysterical stuff.
A theoretical Mets blog post today:
“I’m want to bomb our team bus, but let’s wait until we can get David Wright and Jose Reyes off.” They’re giving up on the playoffs with a divison lead. If that’s called passion, I don’t want it.
Randolph pinch hit for El Duque in the 4th inning & it worked out. Millege with a PH single & it’s 5-3 Phils. Lohse out. Mets still batting.
Of course, I’m hoping the Mets make it all the way back & then lose crushingly in the bottom of the 9th or something.
FWIW, Chien-Ming Wang hasn’t given up a hit through 5 IP today.
Mets are into the bullpen in the fourth inning. That’s exactly what we were looking for.
And the Phils will probably get 2 innings to try & rough up Aaron Sele.
Mets fans are great:
“Take out the brooms down 2 runs in the 2nd inning thats to many runs down to come back from this team sucks trade them all keep wright and reyes”
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We actually lost the last games Hudson and Smoltz pitched. As bad a time as the Mets are having, the Braves have been far worse. Sending New York on a 7 game losing streak would be unbelievably nice though. 🙂
There are a lot of Met fans out there, but there’s one commonality, something pre-’04 Red Sox fans had: Deep down, they half-expect disaster.
And then they get to moan about it.
Considering the Braves couldn’t sweep the Giants or the Marlins, it might be just a bit of a stretch to expect a sweep of the Mets, even a struggling Mets team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mets come back and win today.
We can dream & we might as well. As PM Dawn once sang, “Reality used to be a friend of mine.”
C-M Wang now goes to the 7th inning vs Boston, having given up zero hits.
Earlier this year, I went to a game vs. Seattle where he was within 5 outs of a perfect game before he gave up a HR.
Matchups this weekend:
Hudson v Maine
James v Pelfrey
Smoltz v Glavine
🙂
also, the rochet had a no hitter going into the 6th yesterday and now Wang has a no hitter through 6 today. Good pitching there
5-3 Phils
rochet means rocket
James is back? Any news on how his “dead arm” is feeling? Did he pitch any rehab starts?
Chucky threw a ‘pen session, which Bobby described as “great.”
Phillies melting down…
I noticed the Twins broke ground on their new outdoor ballpark–16 years too late. If that had been in place instead of the putrid Metrodome, the Braves almost surely would have won the WS.
For the Mets, today is either gonna be the highest high or the lowest low. I vote for the latter.
Bobby has also described Woodward as “great”, so who knows what the reality is.
Wang no-hitter broken up by Mike Lowell in the 7th.
With those pitching matchups against the Mets, the Braves, at the very least, have to win two of three and should probably sweep. They have a rather big advantage in every matchup.
5-5.
Looks like the Mets said “enough”.
This just shows that it is possible, contrary to the Braves performance, to score runs at CBP. You don’t have to roll over like the Braves did when you get behind a few runs.
Here’s a write-up of last night’s Phils-Mets game in The New York Times. Figures that C.B. Bucknor would have made the controversial call at second. You can just feel the desperation, can’t you?
Mets Send Distress Signal
Phils back up 7-5.
Now 8-5. Mets are on their third pitcher and it’s only the fifth. Tire that bullpen out with Maine pitching tomorrow.
8-5 Phillies.
Make that 8-5, Phils.
Since its a slow day at the office, time for a little Joe Morgan humour. The setting is an ESPN live chat full of Mets fans.
Joe says: Welcome to today’s chat, I look forward to answering you questions with a consistent inconsitency. Lets get started.
Smitty07: Hey Joe, my wife and I are about to have our first child, a boy. I was thinking of naming him David Jose Smith, or Jose David Smith. Need you help deciding.
Joe: Well Smitty, I think its a wonderful idea, if your wife goes for it, although sometimes people won’t understand, so I wouldn’t do it myself. Although, I know there are several babies from the 60’s and 70’s named Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, or Johnny Joe. But its a great testament to name your baby after you baseball heroes, but you might want to think it over some more.
MettsRulz: Joe what do you think are the mets chances of winning the World Series this year? And Jose Reyes or David Wright for MVP?
Joe: Two great questions here, I think that I would have to go with Reyes for MVP, I mean the guy just does so much, he runs, he hits, and he steals bases. Pretty much reminds me of how I used to play the game, and as you know, I did make it to the HOF, thats Hall of Fame for short, but in todays game you have to score runs and drive them in.
metfan4lif: Joe if you could pick one player from the Mets to start your team who would it be?
Joe: Well metfan, this is a tough question, but just going on stats, I would have to say Wright. He drives in a ton of runs, has some power, and scores some runs too. He doesn’t steal a lot of bases, but that’s not important in todays game. I think Jose Reyes is a fantastic player though, and he does all those things that Wright does, but he steals a lot more bases, and plays some good defense, so I think I would definitely pick Reyes.
Smitty07: So Joe, I am a little confused after your answer, should I name my kid after them or not.
Joe: Well smitty it all depends on who you are naming your kid after, and you have to think will they end up in the Hall of Fame. But either one of those guys would be great, still a long way to go for them to make it to the Hall of Fame, so I wouldn’t do it quite yet.
If Cox does see the light and start Diaz tomorrow, will he finally give Kelly Johnson his leadoff spot back….or will he still stick Escobar up there?
The Red Sox are in full meltdown mode. About to be swept by the Yanks. Still have a 5 game lead, although that’s a small consolation for RSN.
Red Sox will be fine, unless Manny stays hurt for a long stretch. Yanks got some great pitching this week.
Sox will hang onto the East & the Yanks (their sked is pretty easy from here on out) will be the AL WC.
And the Yankees’ October reward? Their nemesis, the LA Angels of Anaheim.
The Mets are going to be wounded when they face the Braves. I sure hope they take advantage of it.
They have a better shot at winning the division than the WC at this rate (don’t laugh).
Never mind, Alfonseca is pitching.
Like clockwork.
OK, Charlie Manuel is starting to make me crazy.
He’s up 8-6 with 2 Mets on base & 1 out in the top of the 8th, but he’s walking Reyes (the winning run) to load the bases.
I mean, does he actually want to face David Wright this inning?
Justin Parker,
That Joe Morgan humor was great. You really caught his essence (uh, is that a good thing?)
Tied at eight in the eighth.
Imagine that, a 2-run single for Chavez.
No comprende.
And tie game.
Thank you, Alfonseca.
The wheels are coming off the wagon.
9-8, Mets.
You walk Reyes intentionally & you think he won’t score?
Actually, David Wright is knocking on the door of 30-30 this year. He’s stolen a surprising number of bases. (I know this because he’s on my roto team.)
Ububba, funny you should mention P.M. Dawn — I just wrote about them a couple days ago on the Huffington Post.
Thanks Marc,
I would do a full Q & A Morgan chat with you guys, but I am scare of how long it would take, and also scared of the questions you would ask
if the Mets can somehow end up losing this game, that would be huge for us in this next series. Cmon Phils knock the lights out of them
I think if the Mets win the game, it will be a huge boost for them. It’s the kind of game the Braves can never seem to win. It’s very typical of teams like the Braves and Phillies that they can never deliver the knockout punch.
The Phillies’ pitching is terrible…
I think if the Mets win the game, it will be a huge boost for them. It’s the kind of game the Braves can never seem to win. It’s very typical of teams like the Braves and Phillies that they can never deliver the knockout punch
Agreed. At 8-5 this Braves team would have rolled over and gone to sleep.
It’s 10-8 now. Can someone pull Charlie Manuel’s head out of his ass now?
AAR,
I was a big fan of PM Dawn. We put them on the cover of our mag a few times.
What killed them was gangsta rap, really. After N.W.A came out, all those really interesting “Daisy Age” groups (De La, Quest, etc.) were viewed as “soft” and the kids didn’t like them anymore.
There was a famous incident where KRS-One jumped onstage at a PM Dawn gig to insult Prince Be, and that was that for PM Dawn.
Personally, I loved the early gangsta stuff (N.W.A, Ice Cube’s first album, Geto Boys), but it got old quick. PM Dawn’s material definitely stands the test of time.
Pat B. with another dinger to make it a one-run game.
You’re absolutely right about gangsta. The thing is, early gangsta rap was quite subversive — when Chuck D called rap music “the black CNN,” it was because gangsta rappers were fairly realistic about violence and how it tore their lives apart. Ice-T in particular was extremely explicit about warning kids away from choosing the lives he depicted in his songs, and Slick Rick did the same thing in “Children’s Story.”
What ended up happening was that gangsta rap overshadowed and ended a lot of the best, most progressive elements in hip-hop and then in fairly short order became a cartoonish parody of itself. PM Dawn and De La Soul weren’t the only casualties. Gangsta rap killed itself too.
Wes Helms = Scott Thorman.
Billy Wagner for the 2 inning save? He threw 22 pitches in the 8th. Could be a fun 9th with some of the issues he has had lately. With Burrell’s HR this is the 4th straight appearance he has given up at least a run.
And might mean he won’t be used tomorrow…
Very true. Let’s hope they make him work either way.
OK, the current headline at ESPN.com is: “Yankees Wave Magic Wang and Sweep Red Sox”. The ESPN web guys are probably still rolling around the floor laughing.
Wow, this game is crazy.
AAR,
Artistically, yeah, gangsta fell on its sword, but it still sells.
Tie game!
Iguchi!
Werth just stole 2nd and 3rd? Wow.
Tied at ten!
What a game.
Sweet!
Whatever happens, this is one entertaining game!
LOTS of extra innings and a Mets loss would be a wonderful thing. Guess that’s a little greedy…
The Phils giving the Mets a dose of their own medicine with all these stolen bases.
Thirty-nine come-from-behind wins for the Phils so far this year. Let’s make it forty.
41 pitches for Wagner..
Holy cow. The Mets are going to be zapped coming to the A tomorrow. And Wags is going to be a non-factor, at least tomorrow night.
Billy’s out for tomorrow’s game definitely, maybe Saturday one would think.
A horrible, horrible loss for the Mets.
Nyuk-nyuk…
WOOOOOOO!
Holy crap, the Phils are smoking!
Man if this were Mets @ Braves Chipper would have been pulling into his driveway 45 minutes ago.
Mets announcer Howie Rose: “And the Mets have suffered as difficult a loss as they have absorbed all year long!”
Awesome.
Mets lose!
If you would have told me 4 days ago the Braves would make up 2.5 games by mid-week I wouldn’t have believed it. We certainly control our fate over the next week.
I don’t know how well we’re going to do this weekend, but the scenario couldn’t be better: Mets in a funk with a spent bullpen.
And we have Smoltz/Hudson and don’t face Hernandez or Perez.
We’re now closer to the Mets (4.5 GB) than to the wild card (5 GB the Padres and D’Backs).
If the Braves’ have a killer instinct, now’s the time to show it.
killer’s instinct
I’m looking forward to reading Met’s Blog today.
I can hear the Met fans stomping around outside my office.
I’m not saying a word. I don’t have to.
killer instinct, wow thats something this organization has lacked for a long time
Soy muy satisfecho.
The Braves were already inside the Mets’ heads before their losses to the Phils, and Maine’s had a couple of rough outings lately. I like our chances.
That was a great baseball game, and it’s really fantastic to see those Mets on the losing end. Thanks Phils, but don’t be mad if the Bravos whip up on you next week.
An opportunity just fell into our laps (thanks to the Phighin’ Phils), now it’s up to the Braves to take advantage.
I hope Huddy & Co. are thinking the same way tomorrow night.
What are we against the Phils, 6-6, right? I don’t think the Fish will cool them off any before we get our shot, but here’s hoping.
The problem with the Phils is we either beat hell out of them, or they beat hell out of us. It doesn’t seem like there’s much in between. And right now I don’t want to face them. If I were them, I’d be very happy to meet us.
So I’m not feeling too sanguine right now.
Metsblog.com is hilarious right now.
4.5 games back now, 2.5 of second, 9 games against Mets and Phillies.
Here we go.
The wonderful radio talk has begun. A Met fan, just now on WFAN in NYC:
“The way we’re playing, I can’t tell you how nervous I am about going to Atlanta right now. They own us! The Braves just own us! And they know that!”
Just win, baby. All weekend.
Taking in the WFAN show too. Wow. These guys are cartoon characters. They’re tearing down every single player on the roster and the Phillies are the greatest team to ever play in the NL. Somebody better check Flushing Meadows. The sky has fallen there.
Well, WFAN’s Chris Russo is great at baiting fans of the local teams, because he hates both of them. He’s a Giants fan.
But he understands how to stir things up when one team is failing. You should hear him whenever the Yanks are against the wall in the post-season. That’s classic stuff for YankeeHaters—and there are a lot of them in NYC.
We’ll see the team’s true colors this week.
From Metsblog:
“willie has overused sosa to the point that his effectiveness will fade”
Yeah, I seem to remember overuse being his problem in Atlanta.
Throw in what the Yankees just did to the Red Sox, and the Mets fans must be positively suicidal.
Yeah, Met fans are freaking out over Randolph’s use of the bullpen. Everyone’s relievers are wearing down, sure, but I’m not sure I use Wagner for the 6-out save.
Glad he did.
A Met fan on his way out of the office to me: “And, what’s worse is that you get Pelfrey on Saturday.”
Me, trying to “soften” his misery: “Well, we may counter with Chris Woodward, so I’m not sure who should be more afraid.”
Pelfrey’s a righty, though, right?
Yup, just trying to soften him up & make him think our manager’s crazier than his.
I don’t know guys….how many chances have the Braves had this year, & they keep blowing it…I wouldn’t be surprised if they lay down this weekend.
its getting worse for the red sox also, just lost Manny for 7-10 days, not good timing
It would be just like this team to get close & miss, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to play some meaningful games. Here’s to a big weekend.
Off to see a reunion show of one of my very favorite bands from the ’80s: The Meat Puppets. Fingers crossed.
It’s most certainly not over. You know, I think that the Braves have weathered the worst, and they’re still in it. That’s a good sign.
The Sox are fine. If the Yankees make it, it’ll be in the wild card.
What the Phils did was wonderous fine but I’ll believe the Braves can take advantage of the situation when I see it. They have not stepped up all year and I’m not optimistic now — but I hope I’m proven wrong.
Keep hope alive!
Anyway, it was nice to come home and find us still in the hunt. And the day off before the homestand can’t hurt. Home cookin’ and your own bed is heaven for a traveling man.
Here’s hoping we bust some Met heads this weekend.
take hope behind the woodshed and shoot it
we’re done…and im NO pessimist. this team, ahem, has no heart
Booooooooo.
Its showtime: 9 of the next 12 with the Phillies and Mets. With a days’ rest and 6 games at home it really is now or never….
Mets Blog is hilarious today. Some of them are ready to jump off the bridge. The funny thing is, the Braves, Phillies and Mets fans all feel pretty much the same way–their teams are sucking choke artists. IN fact, the teams are pretty much the same–talented and flawed. The Mets have been able to beat the bad teams more consistently and that is basically why they are in first place.
This series couldn’t line up any better for the Braves. If they don’t get it done now, they’re done in the division (and their chances at the wild card don’t look so hot either). Time for Chipper to earn his second MVP.
Ububba, I’m eager to hear your report on the Meat Puppets. I saw they reunited. If they’ve still got it, that’ll warm my heart.
Fun Meat Puppets fact:
They’re the only band covered by both They Might Be Giants and Nirvana.
If the Mets blogs are filled with anxiety and frustration, their Red Sox counterparts are probably pretty entertaining as well….
Last day to make trades and be eligible for postseason play. Get us a starting pitcher, JS!
as the great yogi berra once said “i’ll believe it when i believe it”
i really don’t wan’t to get my hopes up only to have them smashed by some 3rd rate team with AAA pitching, but now that football is cranking up i guess i can make one last push for the old bravos.
c’mon braves, let’s get this done!
You know, I’ll bet Terry Mulholland is available.
Though Mac hasn’t mentioned it yet, my football preview for the Dawgs is up 🙂
Go Dawgs.
And this weekend, go Braves…if we could sweep the Mets this weekend (I know, I know, won’t happen), but they would be psychologically REELING after what the Phillies did.
Truth be told, I was pulling for the Mets against the Phillies. Remember, Mac and I hate the Phillies far more than we hate the Mets.
The good news is Hudson tonight and Smoltz on Sunday and hopefully a rested and better James on Saturday. There is a chance for a sweep. A chance.
The bad news is no Smoltz for the Philly series.
I bet he’d pitch better than Reyes too.
6-0 in our next 6 games (yes, and there is almost no chance that happens) I think I would be floating–combined with Georgia hopefully win their first game tomoorrw (which I have to miss flying out to the west coast).
any ideas who will be called up other then the current 40 man roster?
Ububba and AAR,
I’d like to check out the Meat Puppets. What’s a favorite album or songs of yours?
cant believe no one made a deal for Wickman
FWIW, and I bet this won’t surprise anyone, but the Braves now have a better Pythag record than the Mets and Phillies.
I have hardly been around the last few weeks and will be disappearing again tomorrow for 8 days (on vacation), but I assume people have already seen this You Tube sensation Teixeira video?
Awesome.
Those guys are playing at Turner Field tonight before the game. Some of the lyrics have been edited, however.
YouTube Sensations
Yes, I think they should be allowed to sing, “Scott Thorman Sucks”.
I mean, he DOES after all. Would this really be news to Scott–or Braves fans?
Hate King, I have “Too High to Die,” and it’s real good — I like it better than a lot of the contemporary “college rock” stuff, which I always found a bit obscure for my tastes. (For whatever reason, stuff like Husker Du, the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. all struck me as brilliance laced with intentionally off-putting production.) Conventional wisdom says that Meat Puppets II is their best album.
Of course, the best album in the entire Puppets oevre is probably Nirvana Unplugged in New York, on which Curt and Cris Kirkwood play and on which Nirvana covers three Puppets songs.
My favorite song is “Things.”
AAR & HK,
As I first saw the Meat Puppets opening for Black Flag at the 688 Club in Atlanta in 1984, I guess that makes me appreciate their “college rock” days. I’ve probably seen them 15-20 times.
IMO, “Meat Puppets II” is easily their best album. “Up on the Sun” would be next. Pretty much all of their material on the SST label is terrific. Their major-label stuff is alright, but to me the material isn’t as good as their mid-’80s stuff. And, like all the other SST bands (Flag, Huskers, Minutemen, etc.), their live show never took a night off.
BTW, they were terrific last night. I was really thrilled that they were so into it. Cris the bass player went off the deep end with drugs for about a decade & he was welcomed back in a big way. You should’ve seen the look on his face.
Redemption is a sweet thing.
Speaking of which, let’s go Braves.
nice piece on southern football.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=southernfootball
I saw that. The highlight is the picture of the Ogeron sitting next to William Faulkner’s desk pretending to be a Faulkner scholar.
“yah yah yah Abner Snopes yah yah yah Sound and Fury”
Trachsel traded to the Cubs.
Why the standings are where they are:
1 run games
Mets 18-11
Phillies 11-20
Braves 15-21
Extra innings
Mets 6-6
Phillies 7-7
Braves 4-9
Interleague
Mets 8-7
Phillies 8-7
Braves 4-11
vs losing temas
Mets 40-18
Phillies 40-28
Braves 31-29
Thanks goodness we beat the +.500 teams.
Good thing we didn’t need a starter.
Ububba and AAR, thanks.
I hate trachsel.
ububba, a friend of mine assures me i was there for the first meatpuppets show. damnif i remember it. a buddy of mine lived in the tech dorms acrosst the way, and we’d go under the street and down to the 688. loved that place.