Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Box Score – May 11, 2010 – ESPN.
Okay, that’s just weird. The Braves were only no-hit for one inning and avoided Hibernation Mode pretty much all night. And they scored eleven runs.
In the second, McCann led off with a double, then came home on another double by Hinske. The Brewers tied it up in the bottom of the inning, but the Braves came back in the fourth when Infante doubled in Heyward, back in the lineup and hitting third with Chipper back on the shelf. In the sixth, Glaus’ second solo homer in as many nights made it 3-1.
Then the offensive explosion, as McCann singled in Prado, and Hinske hit another double, a two-out job, to score Heyward and McCann. The Brewers cut the lead to 6-3 with runs off of O’Flaherty and Moylan in the bottom of the inning. But amazingly, the Braves came back for more runs, four of them, in the eighth. Conrad, playing for Chipper, hit a solo shot, Heyward drove one in with a fielders’ choice groundout, and Glaus doubled in McCann and Heyward. They got one more in the ninth with an infield single by McLouth.
I am so used to the Braves just stopping scoring once they’ve got a few runs and a decent-sized lead. It’s nice to see them pour it on once in a while. Heck, this year it’s nice to see them score at all.
With an afternoon game, I’m letting this stand as the game thread.
Some serious patience at the top of the order–the first 3 hitters saw 93 pitches. That’ll burn through opponents’ pitching staffs very nicely.
edit–it’s also the reason the game seemed to take forever.
Does anyone else just love watching Heyward work a count? He had one at-bat yesterday that I don’t think I ever saw from Francoeur. He got down 0-2 and worked a walk by fouling close pitches and taking poor ones. He just has a fantastic eye and plate discipline. It’s truly a joy to watch him.
And I think Heyward’s patience is leading others in the lineup to work the count as well. With Glaus now hitting, the Braves might have turned the corner.
We’ll have to see how they handle Gallardo this afternoon. I’m not terribly surprised that Hanson and Hudson won their starts. We’ll just have to see if Lowe can respond as well.
While miracles are happening, I’d like to see Lowe turn his water into wine and win today.
kagan rules
kagan does rule, and yes, I’d like to see Lowe turn in at least a quality start!
This is classic Mets Blog in discussing moving the Blue Jay/Phillies series to Philadelphia.
“Francouer does not need to have been here nor be Einstien to understand that it is not the best course of action. Frankly the most wise thing to do would be move the games to a neutral site.”
I agree that Francoeur is not “Einstien.”
@2
Watching Heyward’s at-bats are great. It reminds me of watching McGriff in the sense that they both stand pretty far from home plate. I keep thinking “There’s no way he can reach and hit an outside fastball. He’s so far from home plate!”…
Then he ropes a double into left-center.
It’s amazing
Let’s just remember that the Brewers have Yovani Gallardo going for them today, so if the offense sucks, well, it has a very compelling excuse. Either way, taking a series on the road is always nice, and now they’ve got a shot at a sweep!
@7
I also get physically excited when I see the catcher is setting up middle-inside on Heyward.
something is wrong with me.
todays lineup, no chipper
McLouth
Prado
Heyward
McCann
Glaus
Hinske
Infante
Conrad
I don’t want to seem overly pessimistic, but I think Jason Heyward may be the greatest player in the history of baseball.
I always thought that if we had to replace Chipper in the near term, it might have to be Prado. If Conrad can actually be that answer, it gives us some breathing room. Hope it happens.
I know one game means nothing, but that defensive play tells me he has great instincts for 3B. And his speed is something we have been lacking for years. Again, hope it happens for him.
Kagan would like to rule. By fiat.
No Chipper but no Melky. Almost a fair trade.
Conrad is NOT the answer to replacing Chipper, even a much diminished Chipper.
Conrad will not be an everyday player at any point. I like the guy and hope he performs well for us, maybe Oakland will think he’s another Charles Thomas and we could get Brett Anderson for him and Jesse Chavez
Good call keeping Hinske in the lineup. If Lowe’s on then there will be lots of grounders. If Lowe’s off then there will be plenty of flyballs but they’ll land in the bleachers. Either way Hinske’s glove doesn’t matter and his bat does.
Is Hinske that much worse in LF compared to Diaz anyways? Hinske has okay UZR career #’s in his limited time in LF
RT @jc_bradbury: Francoeur: extra home games for Phillies “not really fair.” But starting ahead of M. Diaz for 3 years is http://bit.ly/ … 1 hour ago
Love Hinske’s swing. He should play against righties every day until he proves he shouldn’t.
Anybody have any solutions for the Hawks?
Wish there was some way they could land John Wall. I fear they’ll just replace the coach, re-sign Iso Joe and wonder why they don’t improve.
I hate mcClouth leading off. If has to be him or infante, give me infante right now.
nate: .172 .304 .280 .583 58OPS+
omar: .270 .313 .378 .691 84OPS+
The lineup is almost ideal, though. When chipper comes back, put him in at 3, and slide everyone down in exactly the same order. I’d love it to go Chip-Heyward-McCann-Glaus.
I thought all scouting reports on Minor was that he was a soft tosser who didnt K many batters…guys calling the game said Minor was hitting 94/95 on some fastballs. He’s also struck out 54 in 36IP
Sounds like Minor might end up one of those picks where the Braves just knew something.
CSG, he was with the Oakland system to begin with, so I don’t think they’ll trade for him.
Braun’s out of the lineup again.
The only “solution” the Hawks need is one in which they can dissolve Mike Woodson.
21—Well, not *all* scouting reports. 😉
#26 – good point….gotta give credit where its due I guess!
The Brewers pitcher has a higher BA than our lead-off hitter… yeesh.
Here’s Stu’s analysis of Mike Minor from a year ago.
Are those reports about a mid-90s fastball legit? Is he sitting there, or just touching it on the gun? Has he added a couple mph to his fastball?
In fairness, I, too, wanted Matzek. I just thought Mikie’s stuff was being sold short, and I was one of the only people saying he had #2-starter upside. And, while I’m biased, I had also seen him pitch more than any of the commentators here or elsewhere had.
Of course, this is only one month, and there’s still plenty of time for all of those commentators to be ultimately proven correct.
#29 – reports are that he put on some muscle over offseason. Some people over at DOB’s place are saying he was sitting around 92 but hitting 94-95
He’s got some command issues, but I dont think its a far stretch to see him move to AAA at some point this season. If he progresses and Medlen stays around, KK could definitely get moved this offseason. We do need a lefty in the rotation
If he’s a lefty sitting at 92 with a killer changeup, that’s definitely something we could work with. And, yeah, that would probably make him better than Lowe and Kawakami.
Jeffy’s season in chart form.
What are the odds that his OPS would match his SAT score?
@12, you do realize the Supreme Court issues “fiats” for a living? In any event it beats rule by bullying, which seems to be the alternative
/stopping here. Sorry In advance
I thought Fiat stood for Fix It Again Tony. Don’t they own Chrysler now?
Groan.
Six-pitch inning. Who’s that guy on the mound dressed as Derek Lowe?
Glaus wuz robbed. Nice catch by Hart.
from the gamecast it says we’ve lined out 3 times…how well are we hitting these balls?
39—Really well.
McCann hit a line drive right at Fielder and Glaus hit a sinking liner down the line that Corey Hart had to slide to catch. Hinske hit one decently too. And of course Prado scalded his single, though Weeks probably should have gotten an error — it wasn’t hit far to his left. And no one has gotten themselves out on the first pitch. The approach has been decent so far.
Damn it, Hart made another sliding catch. We’re awfully close to breaking through on Gallardo; he’s getting bailed out by his defense, but he’s still over 50 pitches.
I think Mac is going to have to intervene on Kagan or it could get ugly here.
Agreed.
Well, there goes the perfect game.
just stick to her softball playing and away from her politics
edit–@aar–me too, just being cheeky
The Braves are hitting the ball pretty well off of Gallardo. I just hope they have something to show for it before he finds his stuff.
Meanwhile, a 2nd bad throw by Infante. This time, Glaus does not bail him out.
Conrad just saved a run.
I’d really rather we just omit her altogether.
Gallardo to require an amputation after that shot?
That looked like it hurt.
Trivia — only two 20-year-olds to exceed 133 RBI in a season (Heyward is on pace for 133).
Man oh man…The Braves are really hitting the ball hard off Gallardo with nothing to show for it.
ARod and Mel Ott is my guess.
Brew Crew gonna be happy when we leave town. We’re taking out all their best players.
I’m following the game on Yahoo, and I figure our batter are working some counts, because Gallardo has 51 pitches through three innings.
Is that true?
I’ll guess Ted Williams and Ott.
Mark, yes, our batters have been working the count, more or less. Hopefully some of the line drives will start falling soon.
“glaus thinks he can, he thinks he can, he knows he can.” wtf is that, chip?
Whoo, Hinske!
Hinske! I thought that would be caught.
Hinske! I think we’ve got ourselves a starting outfielder here.
would’a been a HR in just about every other park in the major leagues.
Hinske’s gonna knock over the outfield wall if they keep pitching to him.
Edit: Don’t you know the crowd is jealous watching our beer-league duo circling the bases?
Here’s a thought on the Braves’ lineup moving forward. I know it’ll never happen, but see what you think:
Chipper 5
Prado 4
J-Hey 9
Glaus 3
McCann 2
Escobar 6 (with Infante in this spot till he gets back)
Hinske 7 (Diaz against lefties)
Nate/Melky 8
I know the Chipper leadoff thing seems weird, but he’s a high OBP guy (.400 right now, even with a weak season), his power has dipped significantly, he hits lefties and righties both pretty well, and the Braves don’t steal many bases, so you don’t lose anything there. And you open up the 3-hole for the Braves’ best run-producer.
Anyway, it’s a thought. I know it’ll never happen, but it might be the kind of thing that could rejuvenate Chipper. Just worry about getting on base. Similar to what the Padres did with Brian Giles when his power went.
I like that fine. The main thing is getting McLouth out of the leadoff spot. The way he’s scuffling, he’s an automatic out every time we turn the lineup over.
I like that lineup, but I’d probably flip Glaus and McCann. I’ve got more faith in McCann’s production, and batting McCann cleanup allows for a L-R-L sequence in the 3-4-5 spots.
Elena Kagan was teaching at U Chicago Law when I was there (as was Obama, Cass Sunstein, Diane Wood, and a host of other liberal law professors who have been elevated by Obama). No one other than she knows how she will act as a judge, since she’s never been one. The only thing I can tell is that she has liberal political instincts and a strong sense of what not to say to reveal them.
Before that walk, Lowe had given up a walk and a hit; he picked off the guy who walked and got a double play. He had faced the minimum through 5 2/3. Not bad.
4 and 2/3
Oh… er, right.
Still.
judging by the gamecast, that first pitch to McCann was a foot outside and low.
so naturally, a strike.
According to the radar at the stadium last night. Minor was mostly 93-94 even into the sixth and ke hit 95 a few times. Looked really good for as much as that’s worth coming from an untrained eye.
God bless Troy Glaus.
Glaus starting to rake!
So Heyward just stole his second base in two tries… and of course scores on a single. He’s the best.
Will Jason finish the year in the 25-25 club?
*sigh* Man, I love Heyward.
If Glaus and Hinske can stay hot, we might have something
Troy Glaus, Brewer Killer.
Milwaukee’s defense has been pretty shaky this series. Let’s make ’em pay, Mr. Conrad.
Glaus’ 14 RBI in May are 2nd in MLB to Andre Ethier
108 pitches by Gallardo. Got to figure that’s it for him.
Yeah, Parra’s up and throwing, for those without a TV in front of them.
Oughta be. Lowe seems like he is on the brink.
… and here comes the episode.
lowe’s about to lose this game. he was hit hard last inning and he’s been hit hard this inning. it’ll be 4-2 before bobby takes him out…
My lips to god’s ears apparently.
Here comes trouble.
Glaus is still not used to first base.
“Oh, it’s a lefty, I can relax for a…CRAP.”
At least he kept it in front of him.
Ryan, please stop making sense.
why does bobby always do this?
Wow. I thought it was a homer. That was close.
midnight is approaching for Cinderella
edit–thanks for the gift out Brewers
Thanks, Jody.
Text from Alex R.: “We’d be better off with a llama starting.”
I’d like to thank Gerut for the brain sprain he just displayed.
Everything’s dropping the Braves way. Fielder’s double misses by a distance of the-umps-didn’t-see-it. Then, he pops up. Lowe pitches a foot down and away just when they try to steal, and McCann nails the throw.
This is exactly what hasn’t been happening this year.
balls.
and Lowe still coughs it up
Can we make sure Lowe gets a tough-luck no-decision now?
Edit: OK, a hard-earned win with a run.
And Lowe STILL manages to lose the lead.
Blarg.
Well, we can get him the win with runs in the 7th.
McGehee is 6-for-11 against us this series with 4 RBI
@87
what exactly is Bobby doing? Lowe pitched well for 5 innings and you’re blasting Bobby for not yanking him as soon as a couple hits go down. good lord
Hey, Matty! Way to go!
Still, I’ll gladly take 2 runs in 6 IP from Lowe every time out.
Okay, who think that Derek Lowe’s new nickname should be “The Llama”? Or should I just call him Derek Llowe?
I look at it as a plus – 2-2 game in the 7th when Lowe starts…take it every time.
atta boy Diaz – get Lowe a win
it may be the correct move, but I hate giving away outs at this point in a game
The out at third still tickles me. I don’t know if it was a botched hit-and-run, as I don’t have the sound on, but I think it was, and it’s hilarious. Lowe threw such an awful pitch so far outside the strike zone the batter didn’t even try to make contact. You know it wasn’t a pitchout because it was low. Like, really low. It was outside enough that McCann had to almost dive for it, and it put him at a spot that gave him a great line to third, even with a righty at the plate.
Sometimes Lowe’s so bad he’s awesome.
Chip, on Fielder’s near-double that short-hopped the wall: “If it’s fair, it’s gone!!!”
You know you have a sucky leadoff hitter when he bunts immediately following a double by a pinch-hitter.
@101, maybe he was lamenting Bobby keeping him in the starting rotation.
Dammit, Martin.
Im sick of watching these guys leave runners at 3rd with 1 out
@101
yes, that’s exactly what i’m doing.
112—You can’t be *that* sick. We don’t get very many runners to third.
Sac Fly Fail…sigh
Heyward is just plain awesome.
@109, even more so than yesterday, that’s an extremely defensible bunt call regardless of Nate’s performance right now. Late, on the road tie ball game? Any non-star would be bunting there. Not to say nate doesn’t suck at this point.
Jason delivers again.
Edit: And so does McCann.
Holy cow, this guy is just unbelievable.
They’re going to have to promote Heyward to the SLB, Super League Baseball.
Heyward is a golden god.
Heyward: 1 for 3 double, walk, sb, 2 runs…
what a difference he makes.
Chip Caray takes away the excitement from a big hit.
“BIIIIG”
i know its cliche, but this is what you do if you’re a winning team. you respond. sure lowe gave up the lead, but he pitched well. pick him up, get the lead back, now lets clamp down and win the game.
how many times have we seen the braves tie a game in the late innings only to give it right back? this is what’s supposed to happen if you’re a winning team. now let’s hold them and have a winning road trip.
Manny Parra is much worse than he should be. How about a Jo-Jo/Parra challenge trade?
Is it time to keep Heyward in the three hole? I know it’s only two games, but still…
way to pick em up boys
Anything for Derek Lowe…
Two-out magic, where have you been?
Heh-heh-Heyward!
Chip just said that 1998 was the brewers “first year back in the NL”
back in the NL, chip? tell me when they were in the NL previously.
This is all because Derek Lowe Knows How To Win.
Fielder’s thoughts:
“Man, I thought I had that double in the corner. This Lowe guy, he’s just creepy. It’s like he Knows How To Win. I wish I… Ack! Ball!”
See, Jason Heyward’s double is due to Lowe’s mind games.
I’m listening to the Brewers radio feed (while watching on my iPhone app) and I love how the Milwaukee radio guys refer to their team as “The Crew.”
I keep expecting Nikki Sixx to pinch hit.
They don’t need him to pinch hit. They need him in middle relief.
Super League Baseball?
Superman playing centerfield.
Batman on the mound.
Heyward in right.
#132 earned from me a chuckle & snort, sitting at my desk at work. Good thing no one is around to stare at me funny…
spiderman should be on the mound…he’s got that wicked slinky actioned web ball, but heyward is most definitely in right.
The bullpen’s pretty good. Until Jurrjens comes back, we should replace Lowe’s starts with a series of two-inning appearances by our stud relievers. It would allow Bobby the chance to do a lot more double-switching, which he needs to get out of his system before he stops managing forever.
francoeur: 0 for 3 with 5 lob .237 avg .710 ops
think about this…if francoeur were still playing with us, heyward would probably still be in the minors.
seemed like two weeks ago our 3-6 hitters had numbers like
.220, .230, .182, .190…now that Heyward is up there, Hinkse in the lineup, and Glaus heating up….
.301 .242 .270 .333 looks better to me
Brooks!
at that same time Francoeur was in the NL top five in avg, slg, and ops….oh how things can change
Brooks Robin…..errrr…Conrad!
who is this conrad brooks guy and what did he do with brooks conrad?
That’s basically what Conrad does. He goes 0-3 then he hits a homer.
Conrad reminds me of Scott Thorman: when he does hit the ball squarely, it can go a long way.
sad stat: Conrad has as many HR’s in the last two nights at 3B that Chipper has had all season….atta boy brooksy
new nickname for prince:
chunky fielder
Cabrera just hustled that hit out of nothing. Apparently, playing well is contagious.
I remember a game against the Brewers in late ’07. We were down to our final out, nobody on, down a run and Bobby trotted Thornton up there. I remember thinking that Thorman was the perfect player for that situation. Sure enough, Thorman got a high fastball and depositied it deep into the right field stands. His last meaningful moment as a major leaguer.
Melky must lead the league in reached on errors
Oh, it was an error. Still, he hustled that reaching base out of nothing.
cmon Schafer we need a replacement for Nate…..can we buy out his contract at any point for the 1.25mil or is that only in 2012? If we have to wait, send Nate to AAA for two/three weeks
ya know what sucks about melky? he and heyward can each hit a ball hard to first and fielder doesnt make the catch, and because heyward’s so insanely good, he gets a double. because melky is so insanely bad, he gets on by error.
Schafer is not ready yet, but he wants to be back badly. First thing he said when signing a ball for my wife was, “I’m only here for 3 days”.
does anyone have a logical explanation as to why mclouth has become this bad?
154—That doesn’t make much sense.
@157
exactly
i know it’s too much creativity to expect from bobby, but it would have been nice to see O’flaherty or wagner here with 3 straight lefties due following weeks…
Can we move the team to Des Moines?, Omaha? We’ve got the sickness and can only survive off NL Central blood.
137 – Sorry. Spiderman got tossed for doctoring the ball.
Braves MVPs today: Heyward, Glaus, Gerut.
it’ll be interesting to see how heyward looks against hoffman.
Joe basically calling Chip out for making stuff up, which Chip is, of course, doing.
Chip claims that some folks don’t think Hoffman’s a HoFer. Joe basically told him to provide a list of names.
It’s true, that Jody Gerut basepath adventure was huge.
There’s something about losing a big out on the bases that’s just so deflating.
Just saw that Schafer’s gonna start playing at Gwinnett on Saturday. Maybe a short hop there before they bring him up to take over CF? He probably needs some at-bats, but they don’t seem like they’re screwing around with getting him back up. I’m guessing the stinking pile of dog poop where Nate McLouth used to be might have something to do with that.
I feel bad for Chip. He is such an idiot
Why Hoffman is, at long last, losing effectiveness: the difference in speed between his cutter and his changeup that AB was 5 MPH.
schafer to gwinnett on saturday…
outfielders that will be on gwinnett’s team:
matt young
gregor blanco
bret clevlen
mitch jones
jordan schafer
with barbaro already as a backup 1b/dh, someone’s gonna have to go.
@169: Blanco, I hope. I think we’ve seen his best, and it’s not good enough to be a major leaguer.
brandon hicks must be about to pinch hit.
Everytime Chip Caray utters a word, I can feel the value of my UGA degree going down.
If you’re going by actual performance in AAA, it would have to be Young. Greg White is doing his usual .370 OBP/.310 SLG thing.
This is the first time I’ve seen Hoffman in awhile but he looks done.
that was really good to see.
Hey, who woke Chipper up?
Man, this series has been a demolition. Way to go, Chip.
Hicks is now officially Chipper Jones’ Legs.
@150 – I was at that game. Great stuff – not many things in life better than a come-from-behind win late in the game
Our platoon at 3B works nicely.
@176: Conrad? =) Man, he’s trying to Wally Pipp him, isn’t he?
What’s going on here? Did someone stop slipping them suck juice?
No hibernation so far this week…
what is Brooks slg% on the yr now…? chipper better watch out (im kidding, right)
i know everyone knows this, but jason heyward went 1 for 3 with an rbi, 2bb, 3 runs, and a stolen base. that’s production.
I actually feel a little bad about this. I’m a great admirer of Hoffman, and I hate to see him like this.
Conrad is hitting .250/.357/.625.
guarantee you…Hoffman will not be their closer much longer
we’ve scored at least two runs off every pitcher today….that may be a 1st
I’m surprised because it’s usually games of greater consquence that Hoffman coughs up.
186,
it’s his own fault.
Something in me thinks Bobby just wanted to see Chipper hit against a fellow Hall Of Famer one last time..
Geez – Trevor Hoffman – a 12.34 ERA?!?
Maybe he should have hung ’em up already.
I guess soft tossers never die; they just pitch away.
usually id be pissed, but wags can use an inning
I think the Brewers have some pitching problems. Well, as bad as things have been, if the Braves hold on today, it’s a 5-4 trip and 8 of 12 overall. Granted, most of the damage has been against the Central. 8-1 against the central, 8-17 (gulp) against everyone else.
I guess Wagner is in for the Atlanta Save
Not a terrible road trip, could have been much worse.
Since the 9-game skid, we’re 8-4.
Not that we’ve turned any kind of corner here, but that’s about as well as can be expected. We’re not the Miracle Braves just yet…
@193 (St. Louis swept us in a 4 game series…)
sweeping a series on the road is huge for this team. I think the braves should possibly consider putting Infate in CF when Yunel comes back. Like I said before it wouldnt be the best defensive group, but the offense seems to be turning a corner and Nate, Melky, Diaz are still the three that are struggling
When we swept the Astros I really wanted to think it meant something, but I couldn’t get really excited.
I feel alot better about this series, though. With the ‘Stros, we basically did whatever we wanted to them. In this series, we had to go out and play some baseball. Defense, timely hitting, bench players really stepping up, pouring it on late. Hanson dominating, Huddy gutting one out like a real pro, and Derek Lowe really getting it together for a day.
We have played ball. Maybe this is real.
Florida trails the Cubs 4-2. If the Marlins lose, the Braves will no longer be in last place by themselves for the first time since April 23.
Just glanced at the box score, and the Braves saw 182 pitches from Milwaukee hurlers. I wonder what the average per inning is for a major league team, and if seeing more pitches is an indicator of success?
(BTW – Braves pitchers threw 145 pitches, which also seems high, but 30 of those were from Wagner in the 9th).
RE: Using Wagner for the Atlanta Save – he hadn’t pitched since Saturday in Philly, and the Braves have an off day tomorrow, so I’m sure Bobby was just getting some work in for him.
Recapped.