ESPN – Braves vs. Nationals – Box Score – August 30, 2008

And another miserable one-run loss by this miserable team. The pointless Vlad Nunez walked Crazy Elijah Dukes with the bases loaded (after getting ahead 1-2) to end the game. The tenth inning was a microcosm of the season — Jeff Francoeur (as a pinch-hitter) failing to get in the potential go-ahead run, then Blanco popping up on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning, Nunez walking the potential winning run, then the runner going to second on a passed ball, then Prado committing a classic Prado to make it first-and-third, then an intentional walk to load the bases so you can’t make a mistake, then getting two outs, only to lose it on the aforementioned bases-loaded walk. I hate this team.

The Braves led 4-0 after a third inning doubles eruption; Anderson doubled with one out, then with two out Chipper, McCann, and Infante doubled, followed by a single from Dr. Strangeglove Jr. But Jo-Jo let two runs score in the fourth, and was lifted after the inning having thrown 94 pitches. The Braves got homers from McCann and Prado to get the lead back up to four in the fifth, but the usually reliable Buddy Carlyle got his head handed to him in the bottom of the inning, giving up five runs, and Bennett gave one up in the sixth to make it 8-6.

Chipper hit a solo homer in the seventh to cut it to one. In the eighth, Blanco doubled in Norton, but Anderson was thrown out at home representing the go-ahead run, with, mind you, Chipper and McCann in wait. Good one, Josh. (I accidentally typed “Jeff” there.)

Anyway, the Braves suck, and lost a game in which they had fourteen hits, including three homers and six doubles. Brandon Jones was 0-5; he wasn’t just the only starting position player without a hit, he was the only one without an extra-base hit.