Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – May 14, 2010 – ESPN.
FEAR THE PRADO. Note that I do not say, “fear the Melky”. This is because I am not totally stupid. The same can not be definitively said of A.J. Hinch, the Diamondbacks’ manager. After taking a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth off of Billy Wagner, Hinch had no choice but to go to his closer, Chad Qualls, whose ERA was over six. Qualls allowed a leadoff single to Hinske, then had some bad luck when Infante’s bunt bounced high off the plate for a single. McLouth bunted both runners over. And then Hinch had Qualls intentionally walk Melky Cabrera to load the bases. I kid you not. Prado worked the count to 2-2 and then lined a single over first base to win the game without a throw.
So, Kenshin Kawakami won’t go to 0-8, though he was never in danger of going to 1-7. He allowed an “unearned” run in the first and an “earned” one in the fourth. Pulled at 96 pitches with one out and two on in the fifth, he saw his two runners score off of Venters to make it 4-0.
But McCann led off the seventh with a homer, and then the Braves got to first-and-third, one out, with McLouth up. McLouth had looked terrible in striking out his first two times up, but this time he took a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall to tie the game.
Infante was 4-4, and as a reward will probably sit tomorrow because Yunel is expected back. The Braves had twelve hits in all, most of them in the last three innings.
So, I always call Prado “Martin” rather than “Prado” when I get excited about him doing something good. I think this is because I still associate the phrase “Prado” with the egregious defense plays that it came to refer to. Anyone else do that?
Manager Fail.
Bobby got bailed out a bit on that one I think. I don’t see how you could send Cabrera to the plate in that spot.
You are shitting me, right?
Many positives tonight, including HR’s from McCann and Nate. I still think we need to start Infante in CF against lefties, now that Yunel is coming back.
I don’t think it was too crazy to believe that Melky could get a run in there, but probably with an out.
Of course, if I’m Arizona, I go right after him.
I thought KK was 0-6
I didnt like Melky there, but he wasnt going to use Ross anyways. Melky doesnt seem to hit many fly balls and seems to always slap balls to the left side. Either way it doesnt matter
Then he was in no danger of going 0-8 then!
Banzai Bravos!
Walking Melky to get to Prado was priceless. As for Cox batting him there, I think he was the last option (besides Ross) on the bench.
I’ll also have to say that Heyward was in one of the worst spots in the batting order for him. I always thought a 2 hole hitter doesn’t need much power (even less than leadoff), needs to be able to bunt and handle the bat (something Heyward has never really been asked to do), and should be able to get on base (Heyward can do this). I guess I can see batting Heyward 2nd to get him used to an earlier spot in the lineup, but if it goes on for more than a week or so it will be crazy. As it looks right now I would bat Chipper, Prado and Heyward in that order, but I don’t see it happening.
In Hinch’s defense, it does load the bases and put the force out into play, gives you a righty on righty matchup as opposed to the righty/lefty matchup and Melky does have a few walkoff’s on his resume.
Pretty tough spot to be in.
With that being said, Martin Prado is a BEAST.
One minor correction, that was only Kawakami’s 7th start.
I didnt get to see this one, but apparently Chipper cant hit fastballs anymore. Id bat Chipper in the two hole if Prado can handle leadoff for now and Id move Glaus ahead of McCann
Hawks fired Woodson
I liked both bunt calls by Bobby in the ninth and it was refreshing to see the players actually be able to do it. That’s how you win close games, something we don’t do a lot of.
#9 – I think two is a fine spot for Heyward. He’s not going to be asked to bunt. Prado’s not fast so they won’t be hitting and running much. Getting Jason’s high OBP at the top of the lineup makes all kinds of sense.
Didn’t start watching on TV until after Conrad had PH’ed. I withdraw my criticism.
KK still isn’t pitching well, but he was a little bit better than his line indicates.
Can’t imagine how D’Back fans felt after Hinch walked Melky. Must have been painful.
Teheran promoted to Myrtle Beach
Cody Johnson 9th HR
Schafer 1-5
Freeman 0-2 1BB
Yunel 2-3
Dunn 1IP 2K ERA now stands at 0.69
walking a .150 hitter to pitch to a guy almost leading the league in hits, mindboggling….we’ll take it. Now lets leave the bad baserunning up to Yunel
mlbtv sucks…i missed the game. i wanted to watch the highlights so i fastforwarded to mclouth’s 7th inning homer…6 1/2 commercial break right through the homer. unfortunately, this type of shit has happened quite often with mlbtv this year. i thought technology got better with age?
I liked the line up. I’d flip Heyward and Chipper, but that ain’t happening. If we had a real lead-off hitter, I’d have 1) Real Lead Off Hitter, 2) Prado, 3) Chipper, 4)Heyward… etc..
But since the guys we’d project as lead-off hitters all suck this year, what’s the sense in putting a poor hitter up front so that everyone else sits in their ideal slot, but with one more out used up before they get there?
With the hitter’s we’ve got, and the way they’re hitting, just get the best hitters the most AB’s. That’s the best you can do, and this lineup does it.
Also all that stuff I keep saying about, if Heyward is one of the few who can score from first on a double, put him in front of all the sluggers, etc, etc.
Sorry I missed this one.
I only had a temporary blip with MLB.TV last night.
My hockey team lost 4 in a row but the Braves won 4 in a row.
Karma?
Nope, coincidence.
(On the other hand, last fall every time the Braves won on a Saturday, the Tar Heel football squad won as well. Now THAT is karma. Not that I believe in that superstitious junk.)
(Knock on wood…just in case.)
😉
Just FYI, Frenchy 0-4 w/ 1K on 12 pitches last night. He’s now .222/.287/.381 – that’s more like it!
That’s our Jeffy.
the more i watch him, the more i realy like eric hinske. i finally got to watch nate’s hr this morming and eric was pumping his fists at 3rd. he really seems like a great teammate and what a year he’s having for us.
#22 – back to normal
gotta feel bad for omar infante with escobar coming back. while playing full time he managed a .799 ops going 19/57 with 3 doubles and a homer.
omar did a great job filling in, but Yunel is still superior to him. Omar could fill in for Chipper/Prado a game here or there if need be
@12,
agreed, and statistically, the 2, 4, and 5 spots are more valuable than the 3-hole anyway…so Chipper in the 3 is OK with me…just sayin.
post-all-star break:
Schafer CF
Prado 2B
Jones 3B
Heyward RF
McCann C
Glaus 1B
Escobar SS
McLouth/Diaz LF
you could also flip Glaus/McCann permanently, but I would flip them against LH to start.
@27:
Or Infante could play second, moving Prado to third and Chipper to the old folks home.
Hot damn…4 in a row. I have a beagle that has been with us since the first missed playoff year several years ago. Hence, his name during baseball season has been the BLB…as in bad luck beagle. Last night, I threatened to beat him if Nate struck out with two on in the 7th. I think the BLB had something to do with how the AB turned out.
Praise be to Kagan. Lets go for 5.
‘thats our Jeffy’ – No, Thank God, he isn’t our Jeffy anymore.
A come from behind (twice) win. Nice.
Stringing together hits and walks. Nice.
Great bench play. Nice.
Hopefully getting Nate going. Nice.
Somehow inducing A.J. Hinch to walk Melky. sorcery.
How about:
“That’s THEIR Jeffy!” instead?
Hey, my best friend’s getting married today and I’m a groomsman. And the Braves have won 4 in a row. As Manuel Maloof once said, “Anybody don’t like this life is crazy.”
By the way, one small response to Peter’s post linked in the last thread, regarding Infante. It’s certainly true that he has a lead glove, simply unsuited to play as an everyday shortstop. But I think the bat is for real. He was very clearly rushed in Detroit, and his Detroit numbers (.253/.298/.386) reflect that.
But he’s hit quite a bit better since coming to Atlanta, and because he’s 28 and in his offensive prime, I’m willing to buy his Atlanta performance as his true talent level. In 660 PA over the past three seasons, he’s hitting .300/.347/.406, which is absolutely starter-quality for a middle infielder. I wouldn’t want him playing every day, but with that kind of bat, he’s one of the best middle infield backups in baseball.
not that we need him but pat burrell got dfa’d today.
Pat the Bat might be done — can’t hit in the AL, can’t field in the NL. He’s always been a quintessential “old player skills” guy, and 33 is a common hang-’em-up age for them.
I don’t think anybody needs a guy putting up those kinds of crap numbers. In his time with Tampa, I think he was OPSing about 660 or so and getting around $8M a year. He doesn’t even hit lefties anymore.
I must say, however, I always loved to see him murder the Mets. In that regard, he was at Chipper Level.
I’ll be at Turner @ 4:45 today — it’s a sign of the times that my greatest worry in going is that Heyward might not take batting practice. Evidently he only took a few swings yesterday. Along with McGwire and Bonds before him, I consider Heyward’s BP to be appointment viewing.
I’m baaaaaaaack.
Game thread is up.