Keep it going game thread: April 7, Braves at Phillies

Guys, you do know that you’re allowed to keep scoring runs after you get an early lead, right? We’ve been over this.

A reminder for veterans and a notice for everyone new… I post game threads for night games (except on the West Coast) at 2 PM Central. (I live in the Central, that’s why I use it.) In general, game threads for day games will go up four hours before game time. West Coast game thread will go out around 5 PM.

NB: This is probably going to be our first morning recap of the season. I need sleep, badly.

235 thoughts on “Keep it going game thread: April 7, Braves at Phillies”

  1. I’ve got to get my wife to nail down her travel schedules for the summer so I can figure out if I get to go to Maddux’s number retirement game. Anybody else planning on going to that one?

  2. JJ vs. Moyer?

    Hmm, I smell a 7-3 thrashing coming on. Frenchy with a 1-3, 1 walk game, Chipper driving in 3 with a bases loaded double.

  3. I see on the sidebar that, after one game, we’re already being subjected to Francoeur puff-pieces.

    If Francoeur keeps it up, I’ll take ’em.

  5. I, for one, found it very amusing that there was already a Critics Silenced piece after just one game.

  6. NB: This is probably going to be a morning recap. I’m working on big-time sleep deficit right now and I don’t see how I’m going to make it to nine o’clock.

  9. Sweet dreams, Mac. Hopefully, the recap will get tomorrow started well for you.

    How have we done against Mr. Moyer?

  10. @ 1

    Charles, I’m planning on going to the that one. Still plenty of good seats available, as they say.

  12. @8

    Lincecum is supposedly a special case whose arm can withstand anything. I don’t know how much stock to put in that, but he’s probably the least worriesome pitcher on the list

  13. From the last thread about Tex:

    Someone mentioned that Harrison, Andrus and Salty were all on Texas’ opening day roster and while that certainly is true, I would argue that not one of them would be on ours. Not saying it wasn’t a horribly lopsided trade, but those guys are basically blocked here. Would love to still have Feliz though.

  14. Hey!

    Just wanted to throw this out there. It’s my favorite part of March Madness, and with last night’s game, it’s all I stayed around for.

    PS: Take note of my homeboy Denmon making the money shot of the tourney @ 3:30

  15. Always fun to listen to NY sports radio right after opening day.

    The crazier Yankee fans are raking Sabathia & Tex over the coals, putting Girardi on notice, while the positively insane Met fans are calling Daniel Murphy a “potential triple-crown winner” & predicting 100+ wins.

    And I thought Henny Youngman was funny.

  16. #12, the problem is, Lincecum is not the first guy who’s supposed to be a special case whose arm can withstand anything. Sportswriters love to say that about guys, but with the exception of Nolan Ryan, it’s never true.

    I’d love to believe Timmy will be good for a long while — especially because I drafted him in my keeper league a couple years ago — but the odds aren’t in his favor.

  20. Unless he’s learned to throw a knuckler, Jamie Moyer seems well past due for a Last Crusade-style rapid-aging demise.

    The corollary of this is that the knuckleball is the one true Grail.

  22. Ah, there’s the first wrinkle line already. Keep it up lads, I want to see skin sloughing off ancient bones.

  30. “… and that will drop in front of Ibanez.”

    I get the feeling Phillies fans should get used to hearing those eight words.

  34. KJ hit a rocket over the right field fence.

    Escobar grounded out to short.

    Chipper hit a rocket that was a couple feet short of being over the center field fence for a double.

    McCann hit a grounder to Ultey who booted it, allowing Chipper to score.

    Anderson single to opposite field.

    Francoeur foul out to Howard.

    Kotchman feeble ground out to Howard. (again)

  36. RJ, 1st pitch HR Kelly Johnson, Chipper double(missed HR by about a foot) error on Utley on a groundball by BMac, 2-0

  38. Jesus motherfucking Christ. MLB.com is now such a total flash whore that I cannot run their media player app on my work computer so I can’t even use the service for which they will apparently automatically debit my account in perpetuity. On top of that it’s that time of year in Augusta when our Braves radio affiliate decides to broadcast the same douchebag talking about golf on all three of their channels. May they burn in hell.

  42. Sounds like you guys are blacked out…

    …I’m not sure what your cable/satellite situation is, but a lot of places in the southeast patch through peachtree tv when the Braves are on -= usually on some obscure channel number….its number 90 for me in birmingham, for example.

    They’ve been doing this for a couple years now. I guess the demand was just too high across the southeast once the Braves dropped off of tbs.

    I’m just saying, if you’re blacked out. Make sure you don’t have the game on some other channel. Or call your cable company and get them on the boat with this.

    Otherwise, you’re shit out of luck. No exceptions to the blackout map. I had mlb.tv the past couple years… :x

  44. :writes down the advantages of living in South Jersey:
    1.) Philly feed of Braves/Phils games
    2.) ummmmmmmm…..

  46. @36 – Definately not blacked out here – I’m in Texas…

    They just aren’t showing the darned thing!

  47. This game isn’t even showing up on the Extra Innings schedule. I don’t think I would be blacked out in Chicago.

  48. If you live in MS, GA, TN, AL, SC, or parts of NC and FL, all braves games will be blacked out on extra innings and mlb.tv.

    If you all already know this, sorry. If not, then now you do.

    edit: If there’s smoething fucked with extra innings, I apologize. I’m watching on peacthree tv. I was just sayin…

  51. You may have to sit through 5 or 6 army commercials but ESPN gamecast will eventually work if you keep trying.

  54. I love gameday on Ibanez:

    Loves to face: fastball
    Hates to face: fastball

    Classic…

  55. I love the Phillies broadcasters logic, “the ball was flying off the bats Sunday because of how warm it was” hmmm, wasn’t flying off the bats of the team in the clown uniforms, and the comment of Scafer’s 2/3 nite, “but he was brought back to reality in the 9th when he faced Lidge”…wow, what a bunch of jerks, God forbid one of their youngins get a hit off O’Flaherty and they’ll be ready to anoint the kid the next Richie Ashburn….sigh

  56. Anderson shoulda caught that. They scored it a double, which I guess I can see, but they could have just as easily scored it an error, IMO. Ball was in the pocket of his glove before he dropped it.

  59. I’m not blacked out in Raleigh, so it’s not all of NC that’s in the Braves blackout region (I’m BAL/DC).

    And yeah, it wasn’t working for like the first inning, but it’s going okay now.

  60. Just getting online tonight…can someone tell me why Diaz isnt playing instead of Anderson with Moyer on the hill?

  61. Negative points to me for not using “prado” in my intial post. :oops:

    I’m so ashamed. But cut me some slack, I’m rusty!

  65. lol@ the Phillies announcers saying that was a bad play by Escobar, tougher play yes, bad play? Not in my opinion, let me reverse the situation “heads up play by Rollins!”, sounds about right

  67. @53,

    Technically, it wasn’t a Prado, as Utley was charged with an error. A Prado only occurs when the batter is credited with a hit when an error is the more appropriate call.

    Edit: Yikes. I already blocked Anderson’s misplay from my memory. My mistake.

    @33,

    Believe me, I feel your pain. Having lived in Augusta most of my life, I’m conditioned to stay inside as much as possible throughout the course of this week, avoiding Washington Road whenever possible.

  68. #57…Anderson is playing instead because he is a career .317 hitter against Moyer in 100+ AB’s

  69. Solid D there by Jurrjens. Two out, two on, J-Roll at the plate. Hot shot grounder back up the middle. Gloves it. Inning over.

  70. Well, Jurrjens makes up for the walk to Moyer with the quick snag on a cold night.

  72. Jason,

    We were talking about Ibanez fly to left field that hit anderson’s glove and was ruled a double. A textbook prado.

  73. BravesJournal Glossary:

    Prado: Martin Prado has mastered the ability to make horrible plays on defense without being charged with errors — routine ground balls he waves at, “tough” plays that he botches for no reason, the old reliable bad relay on the double play. This leads to the term “Prado”, which is both a noun and a verb: Prado, n. “an egregious misplay that is not scored an error for some reason.” Prado, v. “To commit a Prado”.

  74. JJ gets the groundout after walking Moyer with two down…. He’s not looking particularly consistent, but he’s making pitches when he needs to.

  77. Let me ask Bravesjournal again:

    is there ANY explanation as to why Garret Anderson is playing againstMoayer instead of Diaz?

  82. it would appear that we will get an extended view of both ‘pens tonight. Jair somehow at 46 pitches thru 2 without giving up a run.

  84. @67 – I don’t think they are using them in a straight platoon role this year. Anderson will play most of the games. Also, he has more familiarity with Moyer than ANYONE on the team – and with some success, I believe.

  87. i want to demand tbs regularly air the braves games, it sucks i cant just see them on tv anymore

  89. is there ANY explanation as to why Garret Anderson is playing againstMoayer instead of Diaz?

    If you want to stay in the lineup, you have to throw a tantrum and declare that you have been disrespected. Apparently, Matt’s too mature for that.

  91. I dont know about anyone else, I need one At Bat from Kotchman where he doesnt look totally clueless

  93. I think Francouer just matched his “Good At Bats” number from all of last year

  96. So I just went over to check out gameday and a pop up said there is free audio until the 19th. Anyone getting it?

    Wait… now I see a “Gameday audio coming soon” textbox. Nice.

    I know it’s only $15, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to try it out first. Probably a better deal for me than the video package… I can almost sort of convince myself to believe I’m studying while listening to a game.

  97. Got somethin cookin. Frenchy and Kotch on the corners with no one out for the n00b.

  100. Not really. It was a good piece of contact hitting, but he golfed ball 4 and it just barely squibbed through the middle infield.

  101. Don’t worry, Jordan. You’re not Roy Hobbs, and as long as you don’t think you are (like the guy now on third base), you’ll do fine and make a lot of money in this game.

  102. Philly fans boo after the ump calls a ball fouled off of Jurrjens foot foul, LOL.

  104. Why isn’t this game on MLB Extra Innings? What the hell am I paying for? Oh well, at least I’ve got the GameDay audio on my phone.. it’s better than nothing.

  106. I’ll take it. Kelly breaks bat on a weak squib to short that was too weak for J-Roll to get KJ at first. 3-0.

    8)

  107. We’ve got ourselves a darn good second baseman, don’t we? Or at least a darn lucky one, and we’d all rather be lucky than good.

  108. Kotchman gunned down at the plate after a great throw by Ibanez off of an Esco single to left field. He’s not very fast, that Kotchman.

  109. yeah, ill take that, as a coach, i dont care if the kid hits a rope down the line or a bloop the other team cant catch, a hits a hits a hit!

  110. Nice. We’ll take it. If the Braves can score even when they’re in hibernation mode (nothing too sharply hit), then we’ll take it.

  113. need to break it open with 3-4-5 coming up. Jurrjens is holding, but we need to get some comfort for the pen when they come in in the 6th

  115. Crap, I didn’t see the answer to the trivia question. Anybody see it? I could only think of the Cubs in the aughts and the Big Red Machine in the ’70s.

  116. With a couple more eight-pitch innings, maybe we won’t have to endure too much of the seamy underbelly of our bullpen.

    What was the trivia question?

  117. I also missed the trivia question. I’m doing by best over here, but my girlfriend is making me check in on American Idol at the same time…

    :oops:

    Let the ridicule begin…

  124. The boys on the radio are having a lot of fun with Joe Morgan’s opening day commentary: “Imagine how much trouble the Phillies would be in, if the Braves had any power.”

  125. Agreed, RJ, and in between games we should wrap him in that bubble wrap we have left over from trying to protect Mike Hampton.

  126. Yeah, clearly Garret OWNS Moyer – SHEESH.

    This is the kinda Bobby Cox managing year to year that I loathe.

  127. #112

    It should be obvious to ANYONE now that Joe Morgan has always hated the Braves. He’s an evil idiot.

  129. Sansho, Question was the teams in the last 100 years. So right after the Cubs repeat

  131. I dont know, I think starting Garret was the right thing to do on paper….KJ’s fielding however, now there’s something to loathe.

  132. Oh, I see. Well, that’s kinda cheap, leaving out the first five WS. But if it chafes the odd Cubs fan who might be tuning in, so much the better. :)

  134. yeah, he has settled down, should be able to get through the sixth, unless bobby wants to pitch hit for him if schaefer gets on

  135. In fairness to Morgan, (I know! What am I thinking?!) if the Braves offense has a flaw outside of generally weak offense from the OF, it’s a lack of power. There’s no one on the team who’s likely to hit 30 HRs, although I think everyone should have at least 10.

  137. Kerrrazyness. I thought Chan Ho Park was going to be the Phillies 5th starter. Are they going with the 4.5 man rotation as well?

  140. I live in NJ, read the papers, Part wont start a game until April 20th, so they are using him as the long man until then

  143. Ha, dont be mean to Aaron Sele, I remember when people thought he was the next big thing!

  145. Haha. I’m pretty sure someone in my fantasy league just got caught 1/3 of an inning short of a QS. :-)

  147. Damn. Jair has been getting squeezed tonight according to the gamecast.

  149. Okay, I’m sorry, but fresh bullpen or no, bringing in Bennet for just one guy here is dumb. As is burning your only non-closer lefty on Matt Stairs when Manuel’s gone out of his way to line up his lefty sluggers in a convenient row….

  152. The bullpen hasn’t been looking too great so far, hopefully it’s a temporary thing

  153. Inauspicous start for the fresh LOOGY, but it the got the job done. Schaffer can really move out there.

  154. Man, that O’Flaherty is going to be scary this year, and not the good kind of scary either

  155. wow, 3 no hit no walk, 4K innings for Julian Tavarez tonight, a meaningless 8-0 game, just found it interesting…it doesnt take much

  158. Too bad it’s only the 8th which means that Gonzalez is unavailable.

  159. Nicely done by O’Flaherty. So the LOOGY gets two outs against RHBs, and a hit to a lefty. :-)

    Still, got Howard. Tough call what to do with Werth and Ibanez. I guess bring in Moylan or Soriano.

  160. I like Schafer as much as the next guy, but I’m getting tired of Chip Caray kissing his ass on every play.

    Schafer CUTS IT OFF AND HOLDS UTLEY TO A SINGLE!

    or when he almost beat out an infield single..
    Schafer MAKES THAT PLAY CLOSE AT FIRST!

  161. Was Garret Anderson just jogging out that weakly-hit grounder? ‘Cause it really looked like the play should’ve been closer than it was….

  163. At least Chip now knows whose ass to kiss- listening to him root for opponents last year, especially the Cubbies, was nails-on-the-blackboard.

    A nine-pitch Frenchy at bat? That’s usually at least a whole game’s worth.

  164. Laugh it up, mraver. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

    So, does Anderson own Taschner, too? WTF, Bobby. Poor Diaz.

  167. Whoever described Kotchman as the Corky Miller of first base hit the nail on the head.

  168. Dunno why Anderson started vs. Moyer either. But I don’t pinch hit with Diaz there. No reason to burn pinch hitters when you’re up 4-0.

  169. Shitty outcome, but that’s probably the best at bat I’ve ever seen Frenchy have.

    Color me hopeful…

  172. Well, there’s a 93, but he’s averaging about 90-91. That is down several ticks, I think.

  175. ububba,
    I’d get Diaz an AB and get the better defensive OF in there in the process. Hardly wasteful.

  176. Good to see Soriano get through the inning. His velocity was pretty low (90-91, hit 93 once) on the FB, but I thought the slider looked good. That fly ball at the end scared me a bit, but I also thought ball 3 to Ruiz was really strike 3.

    I think he’ll need to get that velocity up a couple ticks if he’s going to be his old self, but overall a pretty solid outing.

  177. @152

    Does the farm system have a first baseman with some pop or potential that we can bring along? That’s the one position I seemed to not hear a lot about during the spring training.

  179. 161

    The answer is ABSOLUTELY, his name is Freddie Freeman.

    There is also a very, very small chance that Hayward outgrows the Outfield and moves to 1b, but that is not likely.

    They are at high A ball in Myrtle Beach, but should be in AA Mississippi soon if all goes according to plan.

  181. There’s Freddie Freeman, but he’s well down in the system. (He was in Rome last year.) Kala Ka’aihue did fairly well in Mississippi, especially in getting on base.

  185. Can someone do a game update? Following on ESPN gamecast, but it lags behind the action.

  188. “What is this we saw from our bullpen tonight?”

    “I think it’s called competence.”

    “Competence… I like it. Let’s have some more.”

  189. Not exactly dominant, but that’s a 1-2-3 inning for Gonzo.

    Hey! We’ve already matched half our win total against the Phils last year!

  190. Another enjoyable game. I wish we could just end the season NOW. :-)

    Go Braves, go!!!

  192. Atta baby, its early in the year, but these are two good wins on the road against the defending world champs and the team expected to win the division again!

  194. gotta expect phillies bats will come alive next game, we gotta put up a 7 or 8 spot behind vasquez, but encouraging to see JJ fight through a rough early patch of the game, without his best stuff. And a good job by the pen!

  195. 177, Good point, we still got a chance! Its funny, the Yankees fans ont he radio up here act like they are going to go 0-162, and the mets tihnk they are going 162-0, so why not feel the same way, haha, the dream lives!

  196. Looking Good! Didn’t get to watch it live, sadly, but the bullpen looks like it really played solid today. Of course having a 4-0 lead early always helps.

    Was Frenchy’s 2nd at-bat (the single) really as good as it looks on MLB Gameday? It looks like he took a couple borderline pitches, and then served up the best pitch to hit to right field… of course Gameday looks can be deceiving. His 1st didn’t look great, but his 3rd and 4th looked pretty damn good too (especially the 4th.)

    Lets play the Phillies for 162!

    How ’bout it?

  198. Some observations:

    1. Kotchman is going to come around. I don’t know why he is hitting in a run producing spot when his skill set is more Edgar Renteria than Mark Texiera. He would be better in the 2 or the 8 sport.

    2. The braves still need to do better getting good ABs with Runners on base. They are pressing in those situations.

    3. Anderson is no Chucky Thomas in LF, but he is also no Ryan Klesko.

    4. Schaffer has great OF skills, he will make up for some of the Anderson ‘issues’.

    5. The bullpen has issues and potential.

    6. It is early, but the signs are encouraging.

  199. I am predicting Kotchman will have a better season this year than the wonder boy.

    Go Braves! Wins against the Phillies are always sweat!

  200. JJ labored hard tonight. Loved how many strikes he threw (for the most part). Hated seeing him walk Moyer to get to Rollins. We dodged a bunch of bullets.

    Kotchman, you better find your happy place.

  202. hey guys pray for my little one. He’s had a terrible cough for right about two weeks now, each time its a little worse and it catches his breath for a few seconds. The past two weeks seem like months. He was diagnosed today with pertussis (whooping cough) and they say it can last another two weeks or so. Most infants end up in the hospital and it can be fatal. He received one of the vaccine shots but he needs two more to be fully vaccinated. Its an airborne disease, but we are just praying the worst is behind us. Any prayers would be appreciated.

  203. @185 It’s not a crazy idea. If you look at Kotchman’s skill set and ignore the fact that he is a first baseman, he should actually be a very good 2 hole hitter.

  204. csg, wish your little one all the best. It must kill you to see your little one suffering.

  206. @187

    You can’t read much into two games…we all know that. But with the way Kotchman is hitting the ball right now, despite his “skill set”…would you put him in the 2 hole?

  210. Wow – nothing worse than being worried about your child. Prayers over him now.

  211. csg,

    We all get so worked up about the braves and baseball, and in many ways it is an escape, but I’d trade losing seasons for the rest of my life in a heartbeat for your child’s health.

    Without a doubt your son will be in my prayers; please let us know when he is in the clear.

  214. 193, thanks, you are right, it wasn’t about right now.

    182 and 187, I think Kotchman is going to hit. I can’t be certain of anything. He is a gap to gap guy, hits doubles, doesn’t strike out alot. He works counts and puts the ball in play, or at least that was what he was doing before he got here.

    Personally I think KJ should be hitting 7 with Escobar leading off and Kotchman in the two. I know that is different line of thinking than most on here, but I think Kotchman handles the bat better than KJ and KJ drives the ball better than Kotchman.

    If Schaffer becomes the leadoff man, then KJ probably moves to the 7 hole and Kotch to the 8, which is probably the ‘best lineup’ if all goes as planned.

    In summation, I believe Kotchman is better than he has shown and will be an asset for the Braves this year. I have no hesitation to hit him 2 or 8 any day.

  216. Remember, Kotchman missed a lot of ST with illness, which could be contributing to his slow start.

    csg, I’ll be praying for you.

  218. “Jones extended his own hitting streak against the Phillies to 27 games — the longest streak by any Braves player against any opponent since at least 1954.

    The veteran has hit .387 with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in the streak, also the longest by any opponent against the Phillies since ‘54, ahead of 25-game streaks by Orlando Cepeda and Pete Rose.”

    As Emmitt Smith would say, my mind just got blowed.

    Nice win tonight, I think the thing I may have been most encouraged by was O’Flaherty’s outing. Would have been nice to have seen it on Extra Innings.

    Does anybody know, was it just cable customers like myself that didn’t get the game or was it also DirecTv customers ?

  219. csg -I have a little one too, and know a little of what you must be feeling. Your family is in my thoughts.

  221. FWIW, I like Kotchman in the 2 hole. He’ll have a high OBP and low K’s, so he’s pretty much perfect in the 2 hole. He also seems to be a good situational hitter, which I like in 2 hole guys.

  222. @205

    Good points. I agree.

    Just looking at different lineups, and I know it has been said, but we are definitely lefty heavy.

    Really need years out of Escobar and Frenchy

    EDIT: That’s exactly where I’m at Stu, with a robust .150 avg.

  224. My middle infield (Jimmy Rollins, Rafael Furcal, and Felipe Lopez) is a combined 0-11.

    At least my pitching has been strong, even with Brandon Morrow’s horrific performance. Thanks, Jair and Ubaldo!

  225. I hate the conflicting feelings when my fantasy guys play the Braves.

    I had Rollins last year; this year I have Wright.

    There’s always a little guilty happiness when they do well

  226. This is why Bobby Cox drives me to completely bat guano.

    He starts the 100-year-old Garrett Anderson who shouldn’t even be on the team AND missed a whole bunch of Spring Training AND isn’t healthy or hustler enough to run out a slow roller instead of healthy, hustling, lefty-killing Matt Diaz WHO HAS EXCELLED ALL SPRING!

    No wonder guys laud playing for Cox – if you’re one of his paisans, (preferably an old paisan), you can do Duking anything and still play.

    I am shocked that our center-fielder isn’t Andruw Jones.

    Retire!

  227. I’d sooner hit Kotchman leadoff than 2nd. The best hitter on the team should hit 2nd which Kotchman clearly is not. I’d probably run him out there 9th Tony LaRussa style.

  229. David – MS@E (ha!) is referring to some optimal lineup studies done that infer that the best hitter should bat 2nd

  230. I’m very sorry to hear that, csg. That must be terrible…wish you and him the best.

    hankonly, I’ll try not to be too blunt about this. Just look at Garret’s line against Moyer in 104 at bats:
    .317 .327 .567
    Ok, was it really that stupid? Honestly? I guess half the board wants Bobby to retire anyway, but we’re two games into the season. Damn. And we won both of them! Good grief…

  232. No Boyer or Moylan for the first two games…I can’t believe it. He must have found a new arm to destroy this season.

  233. csg,

    I just got online this morning and my prayers for your son. As a young parent, I am keenly aware that any kinda sickness can scare us about our kids so it’s especially hard when it is something potentially serious. Best wishes.

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