Whee, ten days in a row of road games, mostly on the West Coast! Pack plenty of clothes, guys.
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Whee, ten days in a row of road games, mostly on the West Coast! Pack plenty of clothes, guys.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Being on top is such an odd feeling after so long on the bottom. That’s what she said. Go Braves!
If the Braves can survive this road trip, the rest of the month is manageable.
The road trip is less scary than I would have originally perceived. The Dodgers are very average right now and the D’Backs have been free falling.
If we can manage to win 4 or 5 of the next 6 (and with the way we’re playing, we have that chance), then we head into the road series at Minny with some momentum. The Twins are very very good, which is why trying to go no less than 5-1 in L.A. & Arizona should be the goal.
re: organ music
I went to a game against Arizona a couple of weeks ago, and a friend and I did side bets on what the music would be for the DBacks players. He scored first with Justin Upton’s (Uptown Girl) music, and I countered later on by guessing Chris Snyder (We’re Not Gonna Take It) correctly. I was pretty proud of that one….
1. Prado 2B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Jones 3B, 4. McCann C, 5. Glaus 1B, 6. Hinske LF, 7. Escobar SS, 8. McLouth CF, 9. Lowe P
Somebody took 5 pitches in a row (Utley, maybe) and the guy played the “Sitting On A Park Bench” riff from Aqualung. Priceless.
After a walk he plays “Fool on the Hill”. I always thought that one was clever.
I can get used to the McCann/Glaus cleanup ‘platoon’ and the Hinske/whoever platoon in LF. Bobby’s not messing with success, so I can’t complain.
I was thinking last night right before Venters entered in the 9th that he, instead of Kimbrel, might be our Closer Of The Future. A lefty that throws in the mid 90’s with a nasty slider? He seems to be Billy Wagner Lite. Anyone else feel that way besides me?
I’m not too worried about his performance last night, as the hit by Valdez was an 18 hopper up the middle that Escobar almost got to anyway.
Well, let’s hope D. Lowe can repeat his 2009 Opening Day effort today, and let’s finish off the homestand in style!
Spike,
Of course, that’s also the “Snot running down his nose” riff.
Couple of corrections:
First #3: In what world are the Dodgers “very average right now?” They’ve won 17 of 22.
Also, it’s an 11 game road trip with 4 each in LA and Ari before 3 in Min. A 5-6 record on the trip would be fine with me (although I’d obviously love to do better).
Thanks for the lineup. Looks like we are playing the varsity this game. I gotta believe that Nate is going to turn it around.
OK, I’ll bite:
How does “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” relate to Clint Barmes?
————
I don’t often join these campaigns, but: “Vote for Prado” (which is close enough to “Vote for Pedro” to be somewhat cool).
@12
He hurt himself a couple of years ago falling down the stairs I believe while carrying a load of deer meat.
@12 he injured himself a few years back and missed significant time trying to carry deer meat into his house
@13, 14, you mean he pulled a Jeff Kent, and that was his excuse.
Yeah, the Dodgers are pretty damn good, although our old friend Kelly Johnson helped them out big time the other night. And Ethier is coming back, if he hasn’t already, which won’t make things easier.
FWIW, the Dodgers are only +8 in run differential on the season, good for 10th in the NL.
Looking at Jason Heyward’s stats makes for a very enjoyable use of time.
I really, really, really like the idea of “Vote for Prado” shirts.
@18 – I was doing that as well. I can’t figure out how he’s 14th in WAR, and Angel Pagan is second. I mean I get positional adjustments and all, but that is just weird.
From BJOL:
The hottest teams in baseball at this moment are:
Atlanta Braves 116°
Boston Red Sox 102°
Los Angeles Dodgers 100°
Colorado Rockies 95°
Cincinnati Reds 91°
NL RBI’s
Troy Glaus 40
Albert Pujols 39
Who’d have ever…..
As for today, it would be nice to keep it going, but I fear a Derek Lowe buzzkill coming. The Phillies are showing signs of life, and Lowe of late has skated with the Pirates who made him look more improved than he really is.
Good day for a rainout.
Wish we had a lefty or a knuckleballer to throw at them today.
Hey, the good news is that Lowe won’t face the Dodgers. (Vin: “Ethier scores, and the Dodgers lead 6-2, as Ramirez pulls into second with another double. Nobody is throwing in the Braves’ bullpen…”)
@23 Radar is clear, and it’s not hot enough for a pop up shower yet. There will be a game played today.
Angel Pagan was very good last year, and he’s been very very good this year. He’s the one thing on that team that’s going right — he isn’t playing quite as well as in-his-prime Beltran, but he’s providing significantly above-average offense and defense at his position.
20—Yeah, it’s weird. If the Braves would just stick Heyward in center, he’d hold his own and get a big WAR-bump just by virtue of the team’s decision.
He’s tied for first in all of baseball among RFs, though.
Does anyone know where I could get an online radio feed for the game today?
So, is anyone convinced the Padres are real yet? They have played six more home than road games, but that can’t account for all of it. They are getting just insane pitching performances.
Aside from the Big Two obviously, that is one ugly lineup Philly is rolling out today. Lowe has a fighting chance if he can just keep Utley and Howard in the ballpark.
I’m not at all convinced they’re for real. Latos has a tremendous arm, but he’s had tons of health problems in his career and is a risk to break down. Garland, Richard, and LeBlanc aren’t this good. And they still can’t hit. They’ll have to have a lot of things continue to go right, and nothing go wrong, to keep it up.
On the other hand, it’s a soft division. So they can certainly stay in the mix. But they’re not this good.
Julio Teheran for Andrew McCutchen
do you do it?
So Werth is batting lead off for the Phillies? That’s odd. Manuel must really be trying anything to get them out of their funk and trying any order possible.
If GameDay has it right:
1 Werth CF 2 Valdez SS 3 Utley 2nd 4 Howard 1st 5 Fransisco RF 6 Ibanez LF 7 Dobbs 3rd 8 Schineder C 9 Kendrick P
@32
Yes
#32 without hesitation. You’re trading 6 years of Teheran for 5 years of McCutchen, and as good as he’s been in the minors, there’s still a long way to go for him.
@32 sure, but he has to add an ‘O’ to his name.
Teheran + Schafer.
Get it done Wren.
@32
Hell yeah…but he could be our Devon White for years to come
Sorry nate
Braves fans need to vote for Jason and Martin for the All-Star Game at mlb.com. While Martin will not catch Utley, he’s only 1,000 votes out of 2nd. Jason is currently in 5th place in outfield. Also, in the American League Texiera is currently ahead of Justin Morneau. VOTE MORNEAU!
Prado again.
That Heyward got a hit on that swing is just insane.
Bethany a couple of threads ago someone had a good link to a radio feed. Timo? I can’t remember.
Well, that was a disappointing run.
Johnny, I found one that had been linked to on the 22nd, http://www.broadcastradioservices.com/WFIS.asx
Good piece of hitting there by Heyward. He had to swing to protect Prado with the hit and run on and the pitch was no where near the plate. It wasn’t pretty, but to get a hit on that pitch in that situation was more awesomeness from 22.
No Victorino in center will likely come in to play in this game.
Somewhat big strike zone here, good news for Lowe.
Aw drat, I was hoping that would go out.
@46
No kidding. I think I once saw him catch a foul tip.
Well that’s a bummer.
Well I guess that’s why you can’t bat 1.000, huh?
In case you’ve forgotten, Lowe sucks.
We’ve turned into the Phillies.
This inning is turning into a disaster…but it’s hard to blame Lowe so far.
Edit: Beautiful DP
Was he trying to bunt them over or trying for a bunt hit?
Huge.
I agree, he’s awful, but in that inning some balls just found holes. I’m happy so long as balls aren’t being hit over the outfielders’ heads.
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-My-Time-Matthew-Kaminski/dp/B0031OSBNA There ya go… the Braves organist has a CD out.
I think Lowe’s going fine. Two ground ball singles and some cute tricks. Then one more groundball got him out of it.
If Hudson’s pitching, it could have played out the exact same way.
McLousy strikes again! In this lineup, he should be batting ninth.
Tony LaRussa would bat McClouth 10th
Conversely, Nate McLousy sucks like it’s his job.
It’s not?
man, mclouth’s 1/3 year slump just doesnt make sense.
this might be the breaking inning for lowedown.
Five hits, one run for the Phil’s we need a big inning soon.
He’s getting paid $4.5 million. So if sucking is his job, they should renegotiate his contract.
He’s making me miss 2009 Kelly Johnson. If he keeps this up, he’ll make me miss 2005 Adam LaRoche.
Looks like Hibernation Mode’s come early this afternoon.
Kendrick looks like he could go eight strong–again.
It gets worse.
2005 Raul Mondesi 211/ 271/ 359
2010 Nate McLouth 179/ 298/ 271
Kyle Kendrick is a tomato can. It’s thoroughly disgusting watching him shut our offense down. Again.
Raul wasn’t a CF, either, but that’s pretty bad.
Is Chipper hurt?
Zombie Chipper’s out of the game, Omar Infante playing 3rd base. Uh-oh.
Don’t forget Melky: he has a .235/.305/.295 line. Better than McLouth but not Mondesi.
He seems to have agitated a finger.
Sutton and Powell haven’t even mentioned that Chipper left the game.
What the hell…
Kyle Kendrick is terrible right? We all haven’t been sucked into a parallel universe?
Let’s put it this way. The closest OBP/ SLG comparison I can find for McLousy right now, among recent Braves, is…
1991 Rafael Belliard 249/ 296/ 286
1993 Rafael Belliard 228/ 291/ 291
Belliard at least was a shortstop with a great glove
True. Belliard played a tough infield position well, and Cox knew not to play him all the time. Can’t say either of those things about McLousy.
Lowe’s actually pitching well after the bad start, and that came from a few bleeders and seeing-eye balls.
Sutton and Powell *still* haven’t mentioned that Chipper left the game.
Sutton’s PBP on the Kendrick AB.
“And he lost him.”
“No, strike three.”
It was a late call by the ump.
Jeremy – It really wasn’t a very good pitch. And Kendrick started running to first before McCann even caught the pitch.
Really sick of Kyle Kendrick. He is not a good pitcher.
Kick this joker’s ass! Kendrick sucks and he always pitches well against us.
McClouth is better served by taking every pitch
So is Lowe.
The sixth inning will decide this game
Kendrick was also dumb enough to believe he was traded to “Japan.” Though I can’t say I would have handled the situation any better.
This is ridiculous. Kyle freaking Kendrick.
I’ll cut Sutton a break on that call, then. He shouldn’t be doing play by play though. Powell is fine.
Escobar is a badass.
The groundballs from Lowe are coming a little hotter off the bat now, but still mostly grounders.
Hopefully we score this inning, get a little more comfortable. Lowe looks ready to have trouble in the 7th.
Getting a good effort out of Lowe today.
It’s about time we had that “Lowe-must-be-pitching” offensive explosion.
Whether we win this game or not, getting 7 to 8 innings from Lowe will help us a lot for our coming road trip. Of course if this goes into extra innings that will be a different story.
FEAR THE PRADO.
Borderline, but good for Martin.
Two more hits from Prado
Heyward struggling a bit this series.
He’s taken some awkward swings. That double-play ball was hit pretty hard, as most double play balls are, but he really hasn’t hit with much authority.
I’ll cut him some slack… I guess.
He was about 2 feet from a homer in game one, but hasn’t done much since then.
Great start by Lowe. Can we break out against Kendrick now?
His first fly-out looked like it was almost a HR, from the gametracker at least. Was it not?
Looked like Glaus almost had one too, actually.
Lowe’s season ERA now at 4.50!
Also, for all the grief McClouth gets (and it’s warranted), he’s still OPSing higher than Escobar.
yikes.
Watching fly balls on gametracker is wild
104, Glaus did but it was brought back in by Ibanez!
Regardless of what happens here on out in this game have to give Lowe a big tip of the cap for 7 innings allowing 1 run.
Now if we could somehow hit this mysterious ace “Kyle Kendrick.”
Lowe’s last 5 games: 32 IP, 9 ER
David, Glaus DID hit a ball over the fence, but Ibanez went up to rob it, and the ball landed right in the webbing of his glove, and slingshoted (is that a word?) back into the field of play. It was clearly over the fence, though.
Damn, Lowe sure proved me wrong on that ‘trouble in the seventh,’ thing.
5 hits, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 ER in 7 IP. I don’t care who you’re facing, and how they’re playing, that’s getting it done. And one hit was a bunt, another a slug-bunt, and those are what produced the 1 run.
I don’t care if he implodes in the 8th, he pitched well today. If he’s even OUT there for the 8th, it’s because we didn’t get him any runs and Bobby goes too long with him to get him a win.
4 pitches, 3 outs.
holy crap, did not know that about Glaus’ would-be HR. that sucks!
The ball’s just not leaving the ballpark today. SO many hard hit balls by Braves hitters. Man!
Nice 4-pitch inning there. Way to go offense.
Four pitch inning. Nice….
I would have liked for Lowe to not go back out again.
That was just plain bad baseball. Three good hitters, good at working counts. Seventh inning against a pitcher who’s shut you down, and comes in with 85 pitches thrown. And you let him off with 4 pitches, three outs.
You could go down 1-2-3, but at least get him into the mid 90’s in his pitch count, ensure that next inning is all you have to see him again.
That was just stupid.
Great at bat by Dobbs
THANK GOD, no more Kendrick.
I guess, perhaps, the Braves hitters and coaches, might have a list of some sort of list in the dugout, that could inform them of the order in which the Phillies hitters are to bat. And perhaps, they had the foresight to mark on that list each time a hitter batted, thereby having foreknowledge that Kendrick might leave after that last half-inning, regardless of the number of pitches they saw.
I still say stupid, though.
So why are the Braves about the only team in the NL that cannot hit Kyle Kendrick or Oliver Perez?
We’ve been hitting everyone in the world the last couple weeks. Sometimes the soft-tossers just make you look bad.
Thank you Charlie Manuel. Thank you.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Terrific game by Lowe. He’s been great lately!
@121 I’m sure they knew he was coming up to bat, but they couldn’t have assumed he would come out. Not with that pitch count and how heavily the Phillies bullpen was taxed the other day.
Frank Wren is a genius.
Now let’s get some runs.
Lowe has absolutely shut them down today. I know the Phils are struggling, I know there’s no Victorino, Rollins, or Ruiz. But there’s still two big lefties in that lineup, and he absolutely shut them down today.
I hope Lowe has really turned a corner, here. Maybe the Braves will get some of their money’s worth going forward.
Troy Glaus is NL Player of the Month for May.
Alright, McLousy does something useful!
Edit: And Cox does something stupid!
Take a walk here, Melky!
Couldn’t Lowe have done that?
And was he bunting on a 2-0 pitch?
Crazy.
I get so irritated watching NL late innings.
EDIT: good thing we gave away that 1st out!
Time for Heyward to win the game
Edit: Infante
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Get used to this, Jason. You’ll see it a few hundred times over the next 20 years.
Not only do you give away an out to a guy who can’t find the strike zone but you burn a bench player to bunt for the pitcher. Brilliant.
I don’t see the problem with having Melky bunt there. He probably has a worse GB ratio than Yunel and the last thing you want is a double play turned on you. Nothing wrong with that decision.
And you take the bat out of Heyward’s hands.
Edit: Omar (or as Joe calls him, “Martin”) bails out Bobby!
Fear the INFANTE!!!!
It gave the guy leading the league in hits a chance to drive in the winning run with a base hit. Come on guys.
YES!
OMAR!
Contreras just got Infantized!
hooray!!
Told you…
Unreal. That was an incredible AB by Infante.
Now how does that bunt look.
Way to pick up the slack, Omar!
Let’s get one more
En Fuego Infante
Babality!
Chipper’s cuticles are hurting apparently
Bunt is the right strategy – I just think I would have been taking 2-0.
There are people here – not just some, but many – who hate the bunt no matter what the situation is. That is just as wrong as bunting all the time. I personally have no problem with bunting the runner over in a tied game bottom 8th.
McCann’s about to take Romero yard.
Dammit. Nevermind.
Nuts. That looked hittable for McCann there. Alright. Time for Wags to shut ’em down.
Weldon, your comment makes me happy.
@157 – Especially when you’re the home team. And definately with Melky batting who hits ground balls like crazy.
Let’s get through Murder’s Row (and Francisco)
This team is one bat away from being something really special. I really hope we can find a good cf bat.
“There are people here – not just some, but many – who hate the bunt no matter what the situation is. That is just as wrong as bunting all the time. I personally have no problem with bunting the runner over in a tied game bottom 8th.”
I generally hate the bunt, though it makes sense in some situations. Not when it’s 2-0, however, and not because you’re afraid of a double play. All that said, it was much, much dumber for the Phillies to bunt in the top of the 8th, because it not only gave away an out but got Kendrick out of the game.
I agree with Spike. Bunt was the right call, but not ahead in the count 2-0 when the relief pitcher just walked the previous batter.
Whatever, it worked out.
When you go to bunt, you bunt unless it is 3-0. You really only get two chances to bunt (hard to bunt with two strikes)
Wags is still throwing 98 MPH gas. Incredible.
I don’t hate the bunt there. And I don’t hate burning Melky, either.
If Lowe pops up a bunt, we’re fucked. And Melky is a good bunter, and for everything that’s wrong with him, if the situation had turned (3-1, or a passed ball, or stolen base) he’s light years better than having Lowe in the box. You can turn to a hit and run, a slug bunt, or hit away.
Not to mention it gave Prado, the hottest hitter on the planet, a shot, forced their hand on Heyward, our best player (and they chose to give us another baserunner) and got Infante a shot to do it.
And with Infante coming through, if they come back and tie it, they also burned their best loogy on McCann there.
Bunt was right, whether it worked or not. One run wins it. You didn’t need a big inning.
Two big outs…
@168
100% agree
I think Wagner is pumped up.
Man, if you’re throwing 97-98 consistently why would you retire? So much money left on the table..
GameCast had 3 of those 4 balls as strikes. What do the eyes tell us?
@172: Not only that, but he’s popping that slider in there at 84. That 13-14 MPH disparity is just absolutely nasty.
I’m “watching” on gametracker, and Wagner just threw 5 strikes according to the strikezone grid they have.
MLB Gameday had them all being balls, with ball four being marginal.
SWEEP!
HUZZAH!
SWEEP!
Billy’s slider looks like a bit of a spinner today..
Until that last one.
2.5!!!!!
Wagner, we’re gonna miss you. Now on to LA. Pass the No-Doz.
Nice Sweep!
Hottest team in baseball?!
Great game. Now back to real life. Have a great afternoon, everyone.
Awesome sweep!
Perfect ending striking out Victorino, who is a hall of fame douche.
Great job by D. Lowe. We needed every one of those 8 innings, and he got quality too. The Player of the Game.
What a nice, quick game. Felt like the days of yore.
Anyone wanna puts odds on Lowe and Huddy continuing to strike people out like they did against the Phils?
Well, it wasn’t quite as good numbers-wise as his Opening Day start last year, but coming when it did, I’d say this was the best game Lowe has pitched as a Brave.
For today at least, Mr. Lowe, you are worth every dollar Wren paid you.
Strange, there is more depth at 3rd than any other position.
Infante can play several positions and Conrad does well too
Unreal. This season is unreal.
That’s a game we lose in April. How the worm has turned.
God this is exciting. If KK and Lowe are for real, we look REALLY good. And Jurjjens is coming back, so Medlen moves back to strengthen our bullpen.. Diaz will be back to platoon with Hinske, the net-effect of which takes AB’s away from McLouth, who, if he doesn’t improve, simply cannot get worse, and we’re carrying him just fine now.
We’ve seen how bad this team can be. And I don’t see how they can be that bad again, barring injury. I know what they’re doing now isn’t sustainable, but DAMN.
Just damn.
And with Lowe going 8, we should have everybody available for tomorrow’s game in LA, except Wags. I hope Bobby would give him a day or two off, and let Saito or my newest Braves mancrush Johnny Venters close.
Edit: Although throwing 98 on the black working 5 of 7….Did he have a bionic arm attached during the last surgery?
Magic number 108
Heyward is fine. He hit two balls on the nose last night–one a line out to right, the other he just missed hitting out. If that’s a “slump” I’ll take it. But Chipper just looks awful and it’s going to be hard to sustain this if he doesn’t provide something.
Still, 8 in a row . . .they are already booing in Philadelphia.
Came into Taco Mac for a late lunch. Braves on nearly every one of the forty flat screens. Music off. Sound up. Way up.
It’s beginning to feel like the 90s around here.
—————-
Oh, and I’m pretty sure “slingshotted” has two t’s.
Big up to Lowe today. Great getaway win.
Let the Continental Death March begin…
Great to see Lowe pitching so well.
I had lunch at Taco Mac
Which one?
Chattanooga
@197 – Conlin is calling it “the worst sustained display of offensive malfeasance by a Phillies team in the 45 years I have written about baseball”. He’s not only an idiot, but apparently an idiot that can’t remember all the way back to 2000. I guess that makes him more of a dumbass, now that I think of it.
Surprise, surprise. Just finished up Pete’s book and he wrote that Skip “lobbied hard” for TBS to hire Chip after he decided to leave his beloved Cubbies. Great book, by the way–short read and some nice insight.
Hey, D-Lowe earns a win for once!!!
What a great day today!!!
Nepotism is a time-honored way to get ahead. Well, I can’t blame a father for helping his son.
The Phillie bloggers are already turning on a team that has won back-to-back pennants, one talking about “Werthless.”
I don’t say it often enough, but: Roger McDowell seems to be doing a great job as our pitching coach.
And back in April, when we couldn’t hit a lick, all those walks may have indicated that our offensive approach wasn’t completely awful. I’m standing behind TP, too.
Those coaches don’t get too many compliments, but right now I think kudos are in order all around.
I don’t hold that against Skip, obviously he cared about his son. But TBS and now Fox Sports, what is their excuse?
Someone said as much yesterday, but it bears repeating. I’m pretty sure Wagner has told Cox “I’m done after this year, throw me out there every night.” And he’s slinging gas to prove it.
The pinch bunt always makes me chuckle. Hard to complain about it when a) you’ve won 8 straight games and b) it’s Melky Cabrera, anyway. But I still chuckle.
If you’re banging on the nepotism drum, it’s not as grating as Chip on the airwaves every day, but having Jonathan Schuerholz, Jr. as the Braves “roving minor league infield instructor” is probably more harmful to the organization.
212 – ouch. Didn’t know that.
If Johan Santana and Chris Carpenter win tonight, the Braves are tied for the lead of the National League.
Recap is up.
@212,
Sam,
Maybe he’s a good infield instructor. 🙂
As for Wagner, it’s fine for him to be willing to throw every day because he is done after this year, but that’s not the point. If he tires from overwork, he won’t be effective. But Bobby didn’t have much choice last night or today.