ESPN – Cubs vs. Braves – Box Score – August 13, 2008
When will it end?
Charlie Morton had nothing; he was removed trailing 4-0 with one out in the third. As I and several others remarked at the time, this is an extraordinarily quick hook, especially for the first game of a double-header. Carlyle came in and he pitched well, but the team wasn’t coming back and anyway the other relievers stunk up the joint.
The Braves had essentially one chance to get back in it, loading the bases with two out in the third. But after working the count full and fouling off several pitches, McCann popped up on what was probably ball four, though you can never tell with umpires these days. They did cut it to 4-1 on a Kotsay double in the fourth, but then the roof caved in.
Bobby was ejected for yelling at a showboating umpire before the inning began. By the end, Nunez had allowed three runs to put it away. He stayed in, and gave up another run in the sixth. McCann doubled and scored in the bottom of the inning to make it 8-2. Finally, Francisley “No Es” Bueno gave up a two-run homer in the ninth, and later got ejected. Guess who came in to mop up in a lost cause in the first game of a double-header! Yes, Blaine Boyer. His arm did not fall off, but give it time.
This will serve as a game thread for the no doubt depressing night game.
Anybody know if Randy Johnson is planning on pitching again next year? He’s actually in a good spot to leapfrog Glavine on the all time wins list if he does… which sucks (though not as much as the Padres not winning enough games for Maddux to pass up Clemens).
Yes, I’m ignoring this game to talk about other teams and players on the DL.
Didn’t Vasquez get ejected a few years ago and basically end his brief stint in Atlanta as a result? My guess is that Bueno is not long for Braves World.
I don’t see how you could hold getting ejected against him, considering that the manager was also ejected.
can we get Frenchy ejected?
I think Cox usually comes out to save players from getting ejected. The problem is when a rookie pitcher shows that he’s a hothead and that he’s likely to come unglued when things don’t go his way. A proven pitcher would get a pass, but not Bueno.
Sticking pins in this Joe West doll …
Any news on new draft signees in the last few days?
What did Bueno do to get ejected?
Any hope for a second Francoeur-free game?
Apparently he through at Soriano.
@8 – Bueno threw one that went behind/over Soriano’s head.
G. Blanco
Y. Escobar
C. Jones
B. McCann
O. Infante
C. Kotchman
K. Johnson
J. Francoeur
J. Campillo
Too much to hope for.
Hey, he’s batting eighth on a terrible team. He can’t possibly believe he’s God’s gift if he’s getting semi-regularly benched and batting eighth when not on the bench… right? Right?
Adam, he still has friends in the marketing department, so he may still think so.
You know, based on something DOB said on his blog, I just realized that Escobar’s been pretty not-good for a while now.
After a very good April (.839 OPS), he’s posted monthly OPSes of .698, .782, .594, and .597. No wonder that season OPS+ is all the way down to 93.
(By way of comparison, the much-maligned KJ, with a season OPS+ of 103, has posted monthly OPSes of .726, .973, .723, .661, and .657. Not all that good, obviously, but I continue to be amazed by the seemingly prevalent notion that Yunel is so much more valuable.)
Yunel is hurt, and really can’t hit the ball with any authority. It’s not going to get better as long as he keeps playing. He’s on my shutdown list with Jurrjens and Boyer.
btw, good for Bueno throwing at Soriano. He deserved it for standing at home and watching his solo shot off the wall.
I don’t watch the Cubs very often, but everytime I do Soriano is doing something very tool-ish. Does he do that all the time?
Also, who did the Braves get for Derosa?
I seem to remember a game where Derosa made 3 or 4 errors in one inning at third during a Chipper injury stretch. Then he went to the Rangers and became a player.
Soriano didn’t “deserve it” for standing there and watching that. There is no rule against that. I don’t see why so many ballplayers get all whiney about that.
Chipper scratched due to a bad stomach?
He watched game one.
apparently Chipper was scratched b/c of a bad stomach–this team makes lots of folks sick
I don’t like that the pitch was near Soriano’s head, but I’m good with plunking him for being a showboat.
Whats the Cubs fans to Braves fans ratio at the Ted? 4-1?
I can’t watch this.
Stu, you don’t think playing shortstop well over playing 2B mediocrely (to coin a word) trumps 10 points of OPS+? Throw in the nagging injury and the premium defensive position, and I think Yunel is more valuable.
Respect for the game, your team, the other players. It’s everything I think.
It’s a selfish move because when you do what he did in game one you hurt your own team. Soriano would do that in game 7 of the World Series, and in playoff time the difference between a single and a double would be huge. It’s just unnecessary, I guess.
you show up an opposing team at their park when your up big, yes you can say those guys arent going to like it. Thats not being whiney its called showing class
Whats the Cubs fans to Braves fans ratio at the Ted? 4-1?
Probably.
The only Braves’ fans there are likely the Francoeurphile teenage and college-aged girls in the first-base-side dugout level and the right field outfield pavillion cheering for only Jeff Francoeur.
They’re always there.
Is Francoeurphile in the glossary?
Thats not being whiney its called showing class
Is it anymore “classy” to throw at their head, or any other part of them, after the fact?
Throwing a 90-something MPH fastball at someone for admiring a hit is stupid. Heck, you can say it benefited the Braves since Soriano only got a single off that off-the-wall hit.
I think Yunel’s a bit overrated defensively. He’s made a lot of careless/boneheaded plays, especially recently. Maybe that has to do with the injury, too. I don’t have a problem with saying it’s a toss-up or with taking Yunel in a close call–my problem is with the notion that Yunel is clearly more valuable.
I bet Chipper didn’t want to play because he knows the Cubs will be aiming for his head this time. Watch out B-Mac you’re next!
Yunel Escobar: 12 errors
Kelly Johnson: 11 errors
Just sayin’…
Dan, we’ll disagree on this one, but I wont say anything other than…Soriano got thrown at for being a jackass and showing up the other team. Its over now
why is BMac catching this game also?
Because he’s not yet dead.
You know say B-Mac wasn’t playing and the Cubs did decide to retaliate. Would Francoeur be the third option? The one that got away…
Yunel hasn’t seemed the same since Pena’s release but I haven’t seen the splits. It wasn’t too long after Pena left that Esco hurt his shoulder so it might be injury rather than loss of Pena that is responsible for whatever split there is.
No one answered me (thanks a lot), so now that I am at home I can see that we did sign Jacob Thompson on Monday. Very good. That’s our top ten draft picks already signed.
Stu, FWIW, BA still shows Wdstmoreland as unsigned, though I had heard he had reached agreement with the BoSox.
Wow. 5-nil without a hit for us.
I am all for improving our draft position, but this is a bit much.
Prado. Yay.
I expect a shortstop to have more errors — Yunel also has plus range and a plus arm. It’s really not close in terms of defensive value. They’re both essentially .500 ballplayers this year, but Yunel has more value going forward IMO. I agree that they’re not separated by a great amount.
In more interesting baseball, Jordan Schafer is 2-for-2 with a homer and a triple tonight.
what a miserable franchise right now.
I don’t suppose someone feels like explaining why Blanco was dropping a sac bunt down 5-0? Other than Cox’s advancing senility, of course.
Blanco was bunting for a hit.
Schafer’s now 3-for-3, a double short of the cycle, through six.
Wrigley South
Schafer is in Albert Hall territory
Looks like we are doing our part to balance out the Pythag record.
Schafer only had one more chance in the 7th and they got him out. As part of a double header, the game only went 7 innings.
The recap is up.