Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds – Box Score – April 25, 2009 – ESPN
I assume you’re not one of those people who reads the Internet standing up, but if you are, sit down. The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as they have done in other games. However, this time, they kept scoring runs! They scored four in the very next inning! And when things tightened up, they scored three more! Astonishing!
In the first, Escobar doubled home KJ, then came home on a Chipper single. Kotchman followed with a single, but Francoeur hit into a double play to basically end the threat, and I think, “Here we go again”. But in the next inning, Escobar singled in Ross with two out, and Chipper followed with a three-run homer to make it 6-0.
The Reds got a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, and it stayed 6-2 for awhile. The key juncture was the bottom of the fifth. After a leadoff double, the pitcher sacrificed, but instead of taking the out they got the runner in a rundown. It appeared that he was thrown out, but he was called safe and the Reds had second and third, nobody out, and I thought, again, “Here we go again”. But Lowe then struck out the side to get out of it unscathed.
In the next inning, Schafer and Ross led off with back-to-back doubles to make it 7-2. With two out, Escobar hit a homer to make it 9-2. Even Norton got involved, doubling home Schafer in the ninth. Lowe finished with seven innings pitched, eight strikeouts, two walks, four hits. O’Flaherty and Bennett finished the game.
McCann did go on the DL. Sammons was called up, though Ross will get most of the playing time for now.
I thought that Norton rbi was in the 8th.
Lowe was great in the bottom of the 5th. May have been the key sequence in the game.
ross has been worth his weight in gold thus far. let’s hope that continues for the next 13 days. good victory to get back to above .500. i’m glad to see the power coming back to our middle lineup. also, schafer continues to draw walks. he’s making a strong case to lead off.
after today, he’s getting on base at a .393 clip.
Ross almost looks like he should just step in for McCann at cleanup.
Mac, I think you really hit the nail on the head. It was very nice to see this team keep scoring.
Schafer and Kotchman both have been doing a good job of getting on base lately. I’d like to see Kotchman start hitting for a bit more power, but as long as he keeps hitting it hard like he did today, I think it’ll come.
It’s as if a switched was flipped in Schafer a few days ago and now he’s putting together great ABs to get walks.
Has Andruw’s defence degenerated so much that the Rangers will only play him at DH or at 1st? Seems quite sad.
He’s a young kid making adjustments. Stuff like that’s going to happen.
For all the bashing that Kotchman, Ross and Francoeur have received on this blog, they performed pretty well so far. Time for an apology, anyone?
Well, I complimented Ross yesterday, and I was actually positive on Kotchman this winter.
you’d think Bobby would give Brandon Jones some playing time while he’s up and with Diaz is hitting .209. Im starting to think he wont
Diaz is actually creating some runs with walks and power, though. I would like for Jones to get the start tomorrow.
He didn’t create any runs today with a 0 for 5. Diaz is a good platoon bat but I’d like to see Jones against RH. Can’t figure what Cox was thinking today when he had a healthy player who hits lefty as an alternative.
It’s good to see AJ Burnett get lit up.
Hey, I actually got to see some of the game today! Thanks honey for going shopping around lunchtime!
I wouldn’t mind getting him some playing time, but does anyone believe that Brandon Jones is going to be an everyday player at the ML level? He was on our top prospects list for a while, but that only obscures some relatively pedestrian stats.
Radio announcer said that Jordan is choking up with 2 strikes and is refraining from going for long ball. He may be getting more walks batting in front of pitcher
NickC,
No, that’s not it. They have Josh Hamilton in center and don’t want to disrupt him, since he’s one of the faces of the team, along with Michael Young and Ian Kinsler. Andruw played 1b the other day because Chris Davis, the regular 1B, got hurt in the game, and Blalock, the other 1B, started at DH. So Andruw was the remaining option. If he keeps hitting (and that’s a big if), I bet he’ll get more playing time in center as the Texas Heat rolls in. It’s not here yet, but by mid-June, July, and August we rarely get below 80 and typically are above 100 with quite a bit of humidity–which just kills the players here.
Royals DFA Brayan Pena. Wonder if the Braves might have a bit of interest given McCann’s injury and general lack of depth in the organization. No big deal either way of course.
17 — I think his knee has still been an issue, too.
@18 – and alot of people were upset when we got rid of him. Maybe this club does know what it is doing after all.
Several years ago, Brandon Jones was voted by the managers as the player with the most power in the Carolina League. He followed that with some nice stats at AA and AAA. To this point, he has failed to build on those couple of years.
The point is: there was a reason he was one of our top prospects. Guys like that flame out all the time. It’s not like he was ever an elite prospect. And there is still a chance that he gets it together in the Bigs, but I think we are talking 4th outfield type.
When read correctly, the first paragraph of Parish’s post sounds like the beginning of a movie trailer. “Several years ago…”
I dunno, maybe its just cause its 2 AM and I’ve been studying for marketing all day.
Yep, I slagged the Ross signing in the offseason, and given McCann’s injury, I’m happy to admit I was wrong.
I was wrong.
Brandon Jones still have some upside and I would not write him off just yet. With some luck he can be as useful as Brian Hunter (in 1991)or going back further Terry Harper. If he is that productive, then he is a bargain….
I would confess to being another who was grouchy (to say the very least) about signing Ross. I would still like to see Sammons get some ABs and a chance to develop….
I had problem with the money we commit to Ross, not acquiring Ross as a player. He is definitely much more useful than Sammons. I honestly don’t see much of a future in Sammons’ bat.
The platoon of Bream and Hunter worked like a dream for couple years. Eventually JS needed to get the Crime Dog as a long term solution. I personally am NOT a fan of platooning.
This is just a classy place with a lot of classy people. I don’t think there is such a thing as a Mets fan admitting he was wrong.
However, after people on this blog were pulling Francoeur to pieces after his atrocious 2008 campaign, no one seems to have a word of encouragement for him now, which is somewhat undeserved given his better play recently (I still hesitate to call it a turnaround). Still a lost cause, critics silenced or on probation?
Tom–I agree about the lack of balance, but in terms of his performance, I think that jury on Frenchy is still out. He did not start that badly last year, but then took a complete dive in the late spring.
I think that we all hope that Francoeur has a great year–but forgive some of us for some acquired scepticism….
KC–I was not against Ross–but I did believe that the Braves should have relied on Sammons as a backup and used the money spent on Ross elsewhere….Its often nice to be wrong….
I won’t apologize for anything I’ve said about Frenchy. He was an utterly worthless crybaby ***** last year.
He’s been pretty good this year. I’m still reserving judgment.
As for Kotchman, a lot of people thought he was (along with Frenchy) one of the keys to a successful season. There weren’t too many people bashing him until he started out the year looking horrendous at the plate…
the bulllpen, after an atrocious start, has strung together 6 straight elite outings: 14.1 innings and only 2 earned runs.
@27 There is a lack of balance in this blog but its understandable. People in general like to criticize more than they like to praise.
thats why jeff gets no credit when he hits for a good avg. It’s also why 31 people write on the blog when we win instead of the 150 that post when we lose.
Stephen, do you know where on earth is DeVall? I am surprised seeing Spruill doing well at Rome while we have heard nothing on DeVall.
Frenchy…the kid has struggled for so long that couple weeks of good play means very little. Of course we all want him to do well.
Batting average is highly unstable, and in small samples it’s not as reliable predictor of performance as walks and power are. When you look at Jeffy’s process, it’s nearly identical to his past performance. His walks, power and pitches per PA are stable. The biggest change so far is that he’s cut his Ks in half, which is a good thing.
The important metric isn’t where Jeffy’s OPS is now, but where it will be over the course of the season. As I see it, the only positive trend is in his Ks, and I’m not sure it he can continue that. And even if he does, I don’t think a .300 AVG is sustainable. He hasn’t done that in a complete season since rookie ball.
When the AVG starts to fall, as I think it will, his OPS will plummet. In order to be an exceptionally valuable player with an all-AVG approach, you have to consistently bat over .300.
Jeff is a useful player, and worth his salary. But, he’s a 3rd/4th outfielder who should probably be in a platoon, not a rising star on this club as he is treated. (On SportSouth, they have been advertising “Jeff Francouer and the Braves take on…” ) If not for the hype, I doubt people would devote more time to discussing him than they do to Ryan Langerhans.
When the AVG starts to fall, as I think it will, his OPS will plummet. In order to be an exceptionally valuable player with an all-AVG approach, you have to consistently bat over .300.
The Angels used to have a guy like that. Garrett somethingorother.
Ooof!