Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Box Score – June 08, 2010 – ESPN.
Weird game. Of course, most baseball games are weird in their own way, but this was weirder than most. At the center of the weirdness was Kris Medlen, though unfortunately the weirdness for him ended prematurely, and possibly catastrophically.
The Braves took the lead in the first when McCann singled in Heyward. The D-Backs then took the lead in the bottom of the inning with two solo homers (one by KJ). The Braves re-took the lead in the second when Melky tripled (!), Medlen singled him in, then went to second on a wild pitch and scored on an Infante single. Then he gave up another solo homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it. The game was like that, except those were the only homers and the only multi-run innings; everything the rest of the way was one at a time.
Medlen hadn’t allowed anything but the solo homers until the fifth, when the D-Backs put together a two-hit rally to take the lead. In the sixth, Medlen walked (for the second time in the game) and came into score on a Heyward single. Unfortunately, he hurt his left (non-throwing) shoulder sliding into the plate, and his night was done with only 66 pitches thrown.
After a perfect sixth from O’Flaherty, the Braves retook the lead in the seventh. Melky picked up Yunel (who grounded out to the pitcher with runners second and third, Glaus out at the plate) with a single. Moylan struck out two in the bottom of the inning but also walked two, and Venters came in to try to get out of it. He couldn’t, allowing a single to KJ to tie it, but the other runner was thrown out at third to end the inning.
Glaus hit a two-out double in the eighth to drive in Omar, making it 6-5. Melky scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the ninth to make it 7-5. Wagner nailed down the save.
The Braves left an awful lot of runners on base, fourteen in all; the D-Backs left only four. That’s the sort of thing that can easily come back to bite you… Chipper was back in the lineup, but went 1-6. Prado took the day off to rest his hand. Everyone in the lineup but Yunel had a hit.
Melky has been the primary contributor to a couple of wins lately. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still very bad — but credit where it is due. We have a hell of a time beating this crappy D’Backs team.
Looks like it might be Resop time….
Yup, Melky was really good tonight, in the field, on the bases & at the plate. Might’ve been his best game as a Brave.
I am just happy we won–especially after another uninspiring draft by the Braves….
how bad is Medlen’s shoulder injury?
DOB said it’s not serious at all.
Melky’s had a good month, really. He’s silencing his critics…
Seems like Medlen will be fine.
Melky can actually hit!!!
Weldon, please don’t encourage Peanut. In my opinion, since the beginning of May, Melky’s at least been close to league average where it’s survivable. I wish we could get Oliver Perez’s doctor to take a look at McOut where he could get some ABs and (hopefully) straighten himself out in Gwinnett.
It’s weird for me to describe, but even when KJ’s tying up the game tonight, I’m still happy for him, even if hurts the Braves short term. He deserves to be an all-star this year, and I hope he makes it. Unlike certain others that I won’t mention, he always handled himself with class as a Brave. I didn’t have a problem with Venters pitching to him, there weren’t many better options, I’ll take my chances with in that spot. Moylan seems to be on a short leash with Bobby lately, he needs to be pitching well, especially with Saito out.
I usually make it out to the DBacks series, I think this is the first year in a while that I haven’t (dumbass friends getting married, sheesh), and there are almost always more Braves fans than DBacks when they play in Phoenix.
@7 It’s really too bad things could work out between KJ and the Braves. I loved KJ, but he was simply terrible last year.
#3.
you HAVE to be kidding, speaking of “uninspiring” drafts.
i take it you don’t follow scholastic baseball much, then. because we got a TON of talent. if we can sign Sabol and Alvord away from Oregon and Auburn, respectively, we will have to have a top-5 draft.
Lipka, Cunningham and Leonard will all see time in the Majors with Lipka and Leonard looking like possible stars.
While I would have loved to have seen the Braves draft A. Wilson, I think this draft is MILES and MILES ahead of the past 2.
chris, I agree. A few college position players, novel concept. I will never criticize the Braves scouting and player development too loudly, because overall I think it’s top notch, but I don’t seem to recall too many college position players being picked, let alone developed over the years. I could be way wrong on that, but I’m drawing a blank other than LaRoche, and he wasn’t a high pick. I can’t fault for them taking the most upside available (usually HSers) but it’s nice to have a little certainly with a few guys that could move up the latter quickly. Sometimes those guys work out better in trades quickly (Brett Wallace recently comes to mind) and end up helping the club in different ways too.
#9-#10–To say that the Braves draft was better than last year is not a very strong claim. While it is still too early to evaluate the 2009 draft, from where we stand now, it looks unappealing.
Lipka might develop into a good player and possibly a star, but there is no reason to be believe that Leonard will be more than an everyday player–which is not a bad thing at #101. My real complaint is Cunningham–why draft a corner outfielder/3B who does not project to have any significant power? Reggie Golden or Jarrett Parker would have been solid choices at that point. I don’t see the attraction of Gosselin in the 5th. Sure, he is safe pick, but not an ambitious one. Tony Thompson and Drew Cisco could have been selected instead.
The Braves talked about getting ‘some bats’, but it is not obvious to me, that they gained a single player who projects plus power.
Let me add that I liked the players drafted from 6-13, but I also believe that the early rounds are for getting players in your organization who have high ceilings. With the exception of Lipka and Simmons, I am not sure we did that.
Obviously,it will look a good bit better if Alvord and Sabol sign, but that may be a tall order.
Lets hope for the best….
I’m wondering if I can get some opinions (on this board, who am I kidding?) on a pitching situation? Two pitchers both pitch 5 innings and give up 4 runs. Pitcher A pitches four shutout innings and one inning he gives up four runs. Pitcher B gives up one run for each of four innings and pitches one shutout inning. Without knowing anything else about the situation (earned runs, LoB, hits, walks, Ks, etc.) which pitcher had the better outing? Or is it a wash? If you have an opinion, why is your opinion what it is?
TIA.
My opinion is that pitcher A had a better outing in that he was consistently effective. That tells me he’s more likely to replicate it. If he’s prone to falling apart and allowing runs in bunches, that’s easier to manage.
That’s my two yen.
My opinion? They both stink.
I was hoping we would take Dietrich in the second round, but I’m a little biased.
From previous threat: “I’m really down on this team after watching them against the Dodgers. The Braves are not as good as we think they are.”
How good do we think they are? Most of us, I think, were hoping the Braves would be good enough to contend for the wild card. As it is, they are in first place by two games in June with a bunch of players not playing well. I’m concerned about Heyward, but let’s keep things in perspective–did anyone expect him to not have any struggles this year? Even Willie Mays didn’t set the league on fire at 20.
I live in DC and I do root for the Nats except when they play the Braves and it was a wonderful night for baseball here and everywhere. Strasburg’s next start is in Cleveland on Sunday and apparently they have sold more tickets than for any remaining game on the Indians’ schedule. Assuming he stays healthy, it won’t be fun watching Strasburg against the Braves, but I am looking forward to seeing him drop that curve on Francouer.
The NL East could be a monster division for years to come, especially when compared to the NL Central where you have numerous poorly-run teams that will be fodder for the Cards and, maybe, the Reds (although Pittsburgh apparently had a terrific draft).
@12,
I think the better outing sort of depends on the timing of the runs. If pitcher A gives up 4 in the first and then shuts the door, he gives his team plenty of time to come back. If he gives up the runs in the fifth, that makes it much harder for the team, while pitcher B, even though struggling, is keeping the team in the game. In general, though, from a pure pitching standpoint, I think one bad inning is better than several struggling innings.
Wishful thinking or did Chipper hit the ball pretty well tonight?
Did McLouth actually get a hit? Sweet.
Anyone else watch and enjoy “Justified”?
Dietrich might be able to hit, but he looks like he couldn’t catch a cold.
How can someone as obviously strong as Hinske have such a weak arm?
If it makes anyone feel better, Broxton struck out Pujols last night.
Justified is great, not as good as Breaking Bad, but I enjoy the show. As far as Hinske goes, I played with a guy at BCC that could throw mid 90’s when he pitched but threw from the outfield like my 13 year old daughter.
Maybe Broxton’s just prejudiced against Latinos.
I dont get the complaining about this road trip, currently 3-3. The dodgers are one of the best teams in baseball at the moment. We have faced tough SP on this road trip also. Kuroda, Ely, Billingsley, Kershaw, Haren, Jackson isnt a bunch of scrubs. Not to mention the Dodgers pen is very good. If the Braves win these next two a 5-3 road trip is very encouraging and Ill be more than satisfied.
I’m happy that the Braves are at least staying in all the games that they play, even the games they lose. A 500 or just over 500 mark on a 11 game road trip will be a good sign for this club, especially considering who we are playing and how bad we started off the year on the road. The Dodgers are playing awesome, the DBacks are a 500 team at home. We are walking and getting hits and getting on base in bunches. The clutch hitting will come when our #2, 3 and 7 hitters get going.
On Yunel.
Prior to this year, Yunel had only had one month in his 3-year career where his batting average was below .270 (July of 2008 he hit .240), this year he had two such months in April and May (.215 and .207) but for June he is hitting .367/.457/.433. He will be fine as he has always been a consistant average hitter and a plus defender. The only real concern is the lack of power, but even when his average was consistant over the past three years, his power has always been streaky, so I’m betting he’ll turn that on soon too.
Most people here agreed that a 6-5 or even 5-6 roadtrip would be very acceptable, and I am one of those people.
I’d take 5-6 and would be pleased with 6-5. 7-4 would make me give myself a secret high 5, and I can’t even begin to comprehend what would happen if the Braves finished at 8-3.
West Coast road trips are really, really hard. Keep your head above the water, and start dominating again once you come home — and, eventually, hopefully, get an off day.
Braves were 6-15 (an even .400) with a walk with RISP last night – they left a lot of runners because they got a lot of hits. You’d take that for a season average in a heartbeat. It would have been great to get another win in LA, but from where I sit, Hanson seriously got away with one out there, so it’s a wash to me. With all the injury and performance problems right now, the team is doing better than I would have though. No complaints.
11—Stephen, I think your error is in failing to acknowledge the huge sh— out of the ‘pen we got in this draft. That, by itself, makes it a top-fiver, IMO.
#17 – I dont recall Chipper hitting the ball hard. He hit a ball to LCF that Chip exploded in his pants on for some reason, other than that I just recall a grounder to first and a weak fly ball that wouldve easily been ball 4 in an AB
#28–You’re right–and it will certainly sell tickets too….
I hate Chip’s deep fly ball calls. Though I think I’ve finally trained myself not to flinch.
http://twitter.com/YahooSportsNFL/status/15790634370
Finally! I’m expecting something between Hiroshima and Al Capone’s vault (aka I have no idea).
Cary @ 32 (and others),
Potentially showing my pro SEC conspiratorial bias, but does the NCAA usually release its reports to schools in advance? Particularly, do they have JOINT NEWS CONFERENCES?
Pretty sure the schools always see the reports in advance.
The draft, to me, was about eating chicken wings, listening to metallica, drinking Keystone Light, and wanting to get into the stadium to scream “Huge Shit!” as loud as you can.
Braves’ 47th round pick is Francois LaFreniere from St. Petersburg Junior College. I thought we’d learned to avoid guys with French names.
@36 LOL!
The Braves’ latest pick, Ryan Turner, is the grandson of a Braves scout. Now we’re just in the nepotism rounds.
Speaking of which, it looks like Kenny Williams is going to have to fire Ozzie Guillen. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Haven’t seen it here, but Proctor got into a game with the Beach last night. 1 inning, 1 K, 1 BB, 2 groundouts. All in all, pretty good.
I haven’t seen anything on how long he stays where. I would guess he is 3 weeks off, at best.
#39 – he’s a better bet than Chavez right now. Martinez actually looked good in the mop up role the other night, he throws strikes at least
No 50th round Braves draft pick has ever made the majors, although Wonderful Monds (1993) came close. But who knows? Maybe Cody Gabella (OF, Burlington, IA) will be the first.
#39
Getting anything from Proctor would be terrific. Joe Torre really rode that guy into the ground.
And catcher James Rice is Mr. Irrelevant, for trivia purposes.
PG Crosschecker has long scouting reports on our first three picks, with more to follow.
Haven’t seen this posted here but KLaw on Lipka:
Jacob (Atlanta)
Hi Keith, do you think Matt Lipka will be able to stick at short? And if not, where would you move him? I’ve heard 2B, 3B, and CF are all possibilities.
Klaw (1:29 PM)
Second base. One of my favorite players to watch in this draft, and he’s a lot stronger than you’d realize from just seeing him in uniform.
Is there any chance the Hawks are diddling around waiting for the chance to sign Doc Rivers?
Game thread is up.