Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies – Box Score – May 09, 2009 – ESPN
A much better outing from Javier Vazquez. He allowed two more homers, but only two other baserunners, which minimized the damage.
The Braves took an early lead in the second, when Francoeur singled in ACHE (who had walked, and moved to second on a McCann single). The Phillies tied it up in the fourth on a homer by Utley, but the Braves followed with the big inning. Vazquez doubled with one out, and KJ, back in the leadoff spot, followed with a double of his own to make it 2-1. Then Escobar hit a homer to make it 4-1.
Vazquez, meanwhile, was cruising. After the homer, he retired eleven Phillies in a row. McCann gave him some more breathing room with an eighth-inning homer, scoring Chipper, to make it 6-1. The Phillies broke the spell with a leadoff homer from Ibanez, but Vazquez got the next two before handing it off to O’Flaherty. Vazquez wound up with seven strikeouts, four hits, and, importantly, no walks. O’Flaherty got his man, and Gonzalez pitched the ninth (non-save situation), allowing a two-out double to Utley is all.
McCann’s eyes seem to be fine, as he went 3-4; he was the only Brave with more than one hit. McCann and Escobar join Francoeur, Chipper, Ross, and KJ with three homers; nobody on the team has more than that.
you know guys, i was as down on this team as anyone after losing a bunch of games at home recently. but, to wit, i think they can win the world championship this year with a few breaks. remember that getting into the playoffs is half the battle, as it’s pretty much coinflips after this:
save the OF, the offense is solid. kotchman isn’t a great hitter for a 1Bman, but he’s not a tremendous liability. i think we can count on CF/schafer being as bad as he gets from here on out. anderson will be replaced in LF if this pace continues (anyone else think he looks completely done?).
the catching tandem is solid, escobar is solid offensively although he’s looked terrible on the basepaths, johnson is solid, and chipper is obviously a superstar.
so, i’d say, break even on the offense, maybe average minus…
vazquez, lowe, jurrjens, gonzo, and soriano (read: almost all of the high leverage playoff innings) rock. our pitching is really really good right now, and in fact, the weakest member of the staff peripheral-wise is jurrjens, who has been lights out.
the team’s lost a bunch of dumb games, they’ve lost a bunch of unlucky games, they’ve hit terribly in low-leverage situations, and their runs created formula predicts more runs scored by the offense and fewer given up by the pitching.
have some faith. it’s not a great team, but it’s a lot better than we stand right now.
After today’s game, Vazquez has a 11-57 BB/K ratio in 46 innings. That’s just filthy, Maddux-esque. He just needs to cut on the home runs and he’ll be money for us.
#1, I think the biggest key to us getting to the playoffs is the NL East. It is, on the whole, pretty awful at the moment.
I agree with alot of what you guys say there.
The East is weak overall, but we need some real improvement from the OF.
Would you guys trade KJ next hot streak if we can get a real LF for him, like a 20-25 HR kind of guy?
Comcast is airing the Gwinnett Braves tonight. If you ever wondered how Skip’s other son–Josh, the one who is not blathering idiot–is as a broadcaster might want to tune in. Redmond is pitching–nothing wrong with him but I was hoping to see Hanson.
Redmond just gave up a slam.
Nice win today.
The offense is still a liablility, but the pen is coming along much better than I expected.
O’Flarety has done a really good job and has probable earned the 4 spot in the pen. He has turned out to be a usefull middle bridge to the big 3 in the back of the pen.
Vasquez was dealing and the pitching matchup tomorrow is not a huge disadvantage if Kawakami can keep it in the park.
Re 4
YEEESSS!!!!!!!
…some of the most impatient mother f**kers in this lineup.
?
Ladies and gentleman, Rob Copenhaver is a college graduate. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. I got this piece of paper to prove it. I have to get a job, and life now sucks.
Congratulations Rob!
Rob, congrats dude. Welcome to the world.
Congrats Rob, good luck.
oldtimer, I will definitely trade KJ at the trading deadline or after this season. I have seen enough of him to realize he will never be able to correct his flow of inconsistency.
I have also concluded that JoJo will never be able to handle pressured situation. I think we should trade him to the White Sox and let Ozzie handles him!
Congrats Rob.
“No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks”
way to go Rob………..i cant imagine hitting the job market in this day and age but i guess its working out somehow for some guys………. makes me glad i’m an old guy and 95% retired.
Can we reinsert McCann into the cleanup spot now? And put ACHE far away from it?
Edit: Wow, I just read what I typed and remembered that epic thread from about a week ago with all of the innuendos. lol
“We’ve got a good lineup when everybody’s healthy,” Cox said. “We can score some runs.”
“He’s so close to being good,” Cox said of the left-hander [JoJo]. “We certainly don’t want to give up on him. We’re going to stick with him and see if he can get through this.”
Bobby, what have you been smoking?
Rob, congrats on graduating. You could always do more school (I’ve been in college for over 10 years now)… but grad school’s not always the most fun. Best of luck landing a job.
I guess too much LeBron for the Hawks. I honestly think it’s time for Hawks to find a new head coach.
Stephen, I have noticed some positive development from Cody from the past few games…no strikeout from Cody again today. Hope he can keep that up.
gotta get McCann in the 4 hole so Chipper will see some pitches
over/under on KK allowed HR’s tomorrow is 4
Under, it’ll be close though.
I say KK get the win tomorrow with a quality start.
if only David Ross could play left field
@17, i know it’s unpopular but i like the jojo of 2009. I think he will be fine.
I am reluctant to attribute problems to mental issues, but I think Reyes flakes out sometimes when things go wrong. You’ll remember that in his first start he was cruising until Schafer slipped, and I don’t believe he got an out after that.
Most K’s in the NL:
1. Javier Vazquez – 57
2. Johan Santana – 54
3. Jake Peavy – 52
4. Dan Haren – 51
5. Tim Lincecum – 50
Nobody else has 50 or more.
Highest K/9 minimum 20 IP in the NL (IP in ()’s):
1. Johan Santana – 12.25 (39 and 2/3)
2. Tim Lincecum – 11.74 (38 and 1/3)
3. Rich Harden – 11.65 (31 and 2/3)
4. Javier Vazquez – 11.07 (46 and 1/3)
5. Jake Peavy – 10.10 (46 and 1/3)
Nobody else has a K/9 of 10 or higher.
People called me crazy when I said Javier Vazquez would probably be in the conversation for the NL Cy Young at the end of the season. And I’d be crazy if I said he’d have a decent shot at winning it, but he’ll be in that conversation. He is, and take a minute to clear your head of any previous knowledge you thought you had, our best pitcher. And easily the most entertaining to watch except for maybe Jurrjens (I prefer watching Vazquez, but I understand if you prefer to watch Jurrjens).
Mac, why are you reluctant to attribute problems to mental issues? We do it in almost every other profession.
Because people are too willing to do it. Somebody goes 0-10 (which happens all the time, and is just chance) and they say he’s pressing.
People are too unwilling to not know. They HAVE to be able to explain something. Attaching a label to a slump is important to people. Weather the pure Joe Morganist says he’s having mental troubles or the pure sabermetrician says he’s having tough luck, nobody knows what the f*** causes an 0-10 slump. 10 PA’s ain’t nearly enough to draw any conclusions from, and people should be more willing to accept the fact that conclusions can’t be drawn. That’s why sabermetrics try to take an approach that’s based only on what happens, not how it happens. Because if you can quantify it, you have no idea. And even when you can quantify it, the concepts of sample size, regression towards the mean, and statistical noise all indicate that even if you can quantify it, you probably have no idea.
Rob–Congratulations!! I want to wish you the best of luck getting a job and building life–it is a challenge, especially now, but things will improve and you will grow and develop.
Congratulations again!
KC–Cody Johnson will always strike out more than we would like–but I do think he has the chance to be very useful player. A Jay Buhner type does not seem out of the question.
One thing I like about Johnson is that he appears to be teachable. He has encountered adversity (most recently the first half of last season), made adjustments and gotten better.
Of course, he still has a long road ahead of him…..
Congrats, Rob.
“School’s out…”
“I am reluctant to attribute problems to mental issues.”
I am reluctant too, but we all have seen the kid pitched the last couple years and the problem is obvious. He just can’t get himself out of trouble no matter if the trouble is started by himself or not. I wish he can be good too, but he just lack the mental toughness like Davies.
Speaking of Maddux-like stats…Greinke’s stats are crazy.