Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds – Box Score – July 30, 2010 – ESPN.
July has been an odd, up and-down month, hasn’t it? One day to go, and it’s another up-and-down game, this one ending on a happy note.
The Braves couldn’t score in the first two innings, despite doubles by Heyward and Hinske. They broke through in the third, when Prado singled, went to second on a Heyward groundout, and scored on a Chipper single. Chipper went to second on the throw, but was stranded.
Kris Medlen mowed down the Reds the first time through the order, allowing only a walk, but with two out in the third gave up four consecutive hits to allow three runs, giving the Reds a two-run lead. The Braves tied it up in the fifth, when McCann hit a two-run homer, scoring Chipper. They loaded the bases in the sixth on a single by Infante, a double by Melky, and Medlen being hit by a pitch; Medlen later had to leave the game. Prado hit a ground-ball to score Infante, but after a strikeout of Heyward and a walk of Chipper, McCann couldn’t come through this time, leaving the bases loaded.
Moylan had no trouble in the sixth, and Saito allowed only a single in the seventh, but they finally got to Jonny Venters. Well, Joey Votto, who’s only been the best hitter in the league, did, anyway. Votto hit a leadoff homer in the eighth to tie the game. Venters then allowed a double to Scott Rolen, but pitched around that, getting a one-out strikeout with Rolen on second.
In the tenth, Melky — Melky! — walked with one out, and stole second with two out. Prado walked, and both of them scored on a long single by Heyward. Unfortunately, he seemed to hurt himself on the play, and had to leave the game for Gonzalez, who was sick and not supposed to play.
With one out in the tenth, Billy Wagner gave up a double to Rolen and hit the next batter, but got a flyout and a strikeout and a walk to end it. Jesse Chavez, of all people, got the win for somehow getting through the ninth without allowing a run.
Bobby says Prado’s wrist is jammed
That doesn’t actually mean anything.
Beats broken.
he’s heading for xrays
True
even with it jammed, it may cause problems (see J-hey)
Marlins want relief help – Dunn and Resop/Marek for Ross? hell throw in Melky too
Props to the Melk Man for starting the rally!
And I’ll be holding my breath all night long for Prado’s wrist.
Yeah, the Prado thing is bad. Glad for the win, though.
Billy Wagner gave up a double to Rolen and hit the next batter, but got a strikeout and a walk to end it.
Typo.
The Prado thing takes a little of the shine off what was shaping up as a pretty perfect evening.
yeah Im praying
David O’Brien
July 30th, 2010
11:26 pm
Prado is being X-rayed now, jammed a finger on his right hand sliding on that winning hit.
Per Dave O’brien’s Twitter. Martin Jammed a finger on right hand.
It is not good when drunk me doesn’t have faith in Jesse Chavez. Riding (not driving) to a friend’s place and Chavez gets through the 9th. Unbelievable.
Its nights like these that I have faith in the Atlanta Braves. Hopefully I wake up tomorrow and have the same feeling.
Sam Bradford is now the highest paid QB in the NFL.
It’s apparently Prado’s right pinky.
Blanco recalled Cleven optioned to AAA
Blanco is returning tomorrow per DOB.
clevlen
If Prado is hurt, that’s a season changer. Fingers crossed that it’s day to day.
The Indians gave away Kearns to the Yankees, why weren’t we in on that? His career .799 OPS against left handers could have helped out and again, he was basically given away.
Prado was asking for an injury the way he slides. So the Braves traded Mitch Jones to the Pirates for cash…so something is up?
Right pinky? That might not be so bad. There are ways to work around that, it’s obviously not too important in gripping the bat.
Amazing win. These games could have WC significance too. Hope Prado’s OK.
Heyward’s hit is now a double, so 3-6, three doubles. All he does is single.
melky, dunn, resop for ross – make it happen Wren
How about a KJ reunion? Prado can play 1st and give Glaus time off against righties.
Apparently LaRoche is available… How funny would that be?
Didn’t Prado get hurt towards the end of last year and never fully recovered? No to LaRoche and no to KJ. Yunel had a couple of more hits tonite.
Me no likely Clevlen.
Clevlen was DFAd, actually. I guess that he was out of options and has to clear waivers.
That would explain why Clevlen was on the DL so long — the Braves didn’t know what to do with him having no options.
I started to question you on calling the last Heyward hit a single Mac, but I heard them say the same thing on tv. Heyward got to second and didn’t get there on the throw. It would have been a really tough error.
well Votto thinks we have the best bullpen in baseball
Tony: no, Prado’s trouble last year was caused by tension headaches; the guy worries me since he seems to be so hard on himself every single time he doesn’t get a hit
@34 I think that’s why Prado’s numbers have dipped in pressure situations. There’s only so much pressure you can put on yourself before it’s going to hurt you.
@34 and 35, I heard him say in an interview how he fears he will be replaced if he doesn’t succeed. With Cox as the manager and seeing how long it took for Cox to play him. I can’t say I blame him.
X-Rays that take longer than expected doesn’t sound good.
The suspense is killing me. Please be ok, Martin!
still checking the right pinky
I remember when everyone complained that bobby was giving kj’s at bats to Prado, and he was senile and loved platoons and kj would be better if he’d just leave him in there.
now hes still senile, but hes also a racist who doesnt give latinos a chance and it took forever for him to get prado in there.
Did they take Prado to Columbus for xrays
This is taking so long that I’m almost not worried about it taking so long anymore, because the delay is getting to be too long to have anything to do with the result of the x-rays. The only thing I can figure is that they took him to the hospital because they wanted to get a better x-ray or something.
Maybe they are waiting for some of the swelling to subside to determine tissue or tendon damage (if any) before making a statement.
…or a second opinion
Or the X-rays are inconclusive and they’re getting an MRI.
The way he landed on it looked terrible. I wonder if we could get a second baseman
Whatever happens, I’ll be kind of surprised if he doesn’t go on the DL. It did look terrible, and you’d have to think he at least sprained it pretty badly.
Prado’s X-rays were inconclusive. He’ll see a doctor Saturday
per DOB
David O’Brien
July 31st, 2010
1:11 am
This just in: Prado’s X-rays were inconclusive. He’ll see a doctor Saturday for further evaluation.
Not the worst news. If it is pinky, I could see that. I think he may miss a few games.
Jose Bautista sounds better now than he did. Don’t think he’s a 2b, but at least he can play 3b if we’re using Infante and Conrad to cover 2b.
That’s like your girlfriend saying her pregnancy test was inconclusive.
#51 – we benching Chipper?
Well, at least it wasn’t obviously broken. I guess that’s good news. There’s still the matter of possible ligament damage to worry about, I suppose.
I do think it’s safe to say that he won’t be playing for the rest of this series.
No, but you might have noticed that Infante and Conrad have played a good amount of third this year.
Depletes the bench a bit if they BOTH have to be on the field at the same time.
Hinske can play third if needed.
If I had to guess, Prado’s hand is swollen and they can’t be sure if there’s a fracture until the swelling goes down.
Tomorrow will be interesting then. I would guess they’d try to get Prado’s evaluation in in the morning. With the deadline at 4 p.m., Wren would need some time to work something if it turns out Prado’s out for an extended period of time.
I really don’t see a move for a middle infield type. Our two best bench bats are middle infielders.
I do think it enhances our need for a lineup regular. Perhaps in a weird way it puts centerfield more in the forefront, as that’s the traditional position of the ‘lead-off hitter.’
If Prado is gone for any amount of time it would be simply devastating. We’re going to have enough problems keeping 1st place as it is, if Martin is gone, ugh.
It would be kind of funny if we brought Kelly Johnson back.
We are always rumored to be getting Luke Scott, and this time no one has mentioned him at all. Except this time, it seems like a fit and it seems like we could get him for a couple of non-topline prospects, if we wanted. Is there something I’m missing here? Some reason the Orioles wouldn’t be willing to trade him or have his numbers gone down the toilet or is he injured or something?
I sure as hell hope Martin is okay. If he’s not, I don’t think it matters what happens tomorrow one way or the other.
I’m all for ‘this team should be in go for it mode’ at the deadline, but I really, really, really don’t want to trade Minor for Commando Cody.
It’s a shame Prado didn’t learn from Heyward or Utley for that matter about sliding in head first. If we had Yunel we could just slide him in the leadoff spot..nevermind. As long as Omar gets on base and the braves get a bat for the OF, they will be fine.
Well, if Prado doesn’t dive in headfirst he’d have been out in the 3rd. Doing it at the plate is acceptable, at second is not.
Blanco called up. Finally.
Use him, Bobby!
Minor gave up one hit in seven innings.
He’s left-handed.
We have Derek Lowe starting for us at the moment.
I don’t care if Bobby has a month to live, you don’t give up a quality, hard-throwing lefty for short-term gain.
Luke Scott has horrible home/away splits, putrid in fact.
What a game!
“I heard him say in an interview how he fears he will be replaced if he doesn’t succeed. With Cox as the manager and seeing how long it took for Cox to play him. I can’t say I blame him.”
With Cox as manager he can suck all he wants and play for at least two-thirds of a full season unquestioned.
the one-out Venters K was with Rolen on third, not second because Old Man McHustle tagged up and ran on a fly ball to Heyward. The throw to third was a bit off the bag but if Chipper would’ve dived he would’ve tagged Rolen out.
and what a BS homerun by Votto. that’s not even warning track in most parks.
Prado wasn’t talking about Cox per se — just that he (Prado) is motivated by fear of failure.
‘The throw to third was a bit off the bag but if Chipper would’ve dived he would’ve tagged Rolen out. ‘
Really? From what I saw there was no way. Good distance and velocity but at least 4 feet off the bag towards home plate.
It’s hard to dive left when you’re headed right. He never had a chance IMO.
We could always trade for Uggla.
I kid.
I don’t want to see Chipper dive unless he has too
Ok, I will make my own prediction: Delgado, Hoover, and Cody for Bautista and a low level pitching prospect.
My barber says Minor and Melky for Franklin Gutiérrez
Votto’s HR was identical to Bmac’s
I didn’t realize there was a rule that prevented Blanco from being promoted from AAA until now. Apparently you have to wait ten days after sending someone down to call them back up again. I wish DOB or whoever had mentioned that when Clevelen was called up, because it seemed like a strange move at the time.
HA, Cubs wont take Ollie and Castillo for Zambrano….and I thought Zambrano was untradeable
#79 – that is correct
“Ok, I will make my own prediction: Delgado, Hoover, and Cody for Bautista and a low level pitching prospect.”
That would be a disaster on so many levels that it’s hard for me to fathom. Especially considering the 237 points of slugging Bautista loses when he leaves the Rogers Centre.
Looking over MLBTR’s front page… Who aren’t the Astros trading away??
David O’Brien
July 31st, 2010
9:24 am
We’ll let you know as soon as we hear an update on Prado, not sure when he’s seeing doc but expect it will be early this morning. X-rays on his injured right pinky after game were inconclusive, so he’s seeing doc for further evaluation and, I’d expect, an MRI if necessary.
83 – Hunter Pence and suprisingly they dont want to move Brett Myers. Explain that one
I am completely befuzzled and grateful that I am not an Astros fan.
Ill take Wandy Rodriguez if they are paying his salary too
“Befuzzled”? I don’t know if that was on purpose or not, but that is straight up adorable.
“Befuzzled” is always on purpose. Sort of a mixture between “baffled” “bewildered” and “frazzled”.
MLBTR says Ross may be off the market. That sounds like a ploy to drive up the price.
What in the world is going on here? Why are the Diamondbacks and Pirates trading ANYONE with eachother? Especially major leaguers with major league contracts?
Chris Snyder for Bobby Crosby and Ryan Church? That can’t be. Maybe AZ is about to move Drew or KJ plus an OF. But even so… Why would they move another useable piece to get MAJOR LEAGUERS to keep the spots warm?
@91,
I would think KJ, but maybe Drew. NOt sure if they even got Crosby to be a starter.
where is Cameron Maybin? If he’s in AAA why wouldnt the Marlins move Ross? They’ll DFA him at the end of the season
csg,
I don’t care what anyone says. I will be shocked if Ross isn’t moved today
I vote we add “befuzzled” to the Glossary.
So it’s probably time to reacquire KJ, or is the FO so insecure they’re unwilling to admit they made a mistake in non tendering him by reacquiring him?
they didnt make a mistake non tendering him
Dammit Wren, DO SOMETHING!
Yeah, I have no idea how they’d get a 122 OPS+ into the line up. Would’ve been disastrous to have that guy under contract for $3.5 million.
@99 You’d rather have Kelly than Prado? Really?
Braves left fielders — .255/.304/.408
Braves center fielders — .229/.324/.325
Kelly Johnson can play the outfield. There was plenty of room on the team for both Prado and KJ.
yeah, we’d keep Prado on the bench for someone who was awful. I can understand your logic, or lack thereof, here
I suppose if you assume Hinske can play left, Kelly could, but…
.224/.303/.389/.692
That’s what Kelly gave us last year. They couldn’t assume he’d be having a comeback player of the year type season.
@100 The choice isn’t necessarily between KJ and Prado. KJ could play LF, or play 2B while Prado fills in for Chipper, etc. But the thing is: the Braves already had fine reserves in Hinske and Infante. Paying Kelly Johnson $3.5 million to be yet another reserve is a questionable use of resources, at best. And more importantly, check out his numbers away from Arizona’s friendly confines:
Home: 1031 OPS (137 OPS+)
Away: 696 OPS (62 OPS+, or exactly what KJ did for Atlanta in 2009)
Sure they could, if you looked at all you’d see the only fundamental difference between KJ in ’09 and KJ ’05-’08 was a few singles. Walk rate, strikeout rate, ISO was all the same. Same guy. Kelly Johnson is exactly the type of player you can reasonably expect to rebound.
Adam, that 696 away OPS is probably Frank Wren’s fault, too.
KJ hasn’t played the outdield in a long time. I think Prado has a better glove. I really think we should upgrade center or first.
on a budget strapped team, they couldnt take the chance of KJ bouncing back and playing left field. Plus Diaz showed at the end of last year that he could probably handle LF himself. Id take Diaz/Hinske over KJ out there
I thought KJ would bounce back, but there was no way you could justify paying him $3.5-4 through arb after his disappointing season
If “a few” means about 30 singles he magically got robbed of, then yeah, totally.
KJ got 3.5 million dollars.
Diaz was expected to be in LF, at 2.5 million. McLouth was expected to be in CF for 4.5 million. Prado was expected to play 2b for 440,000.
We got our STARTING FIRST BASEMAN for 1.75 million guaranteed, and his insurance policy, Hinske, for 1 million. The rest of the bench, where Johnson could have hung out until someone failed, Infante was under contract already at 2.15 million. We went out and acquired Hinske for 1 mill, and we gave that lost spot on the bench for Conrad for 400,000.
The only problem that KJ would have stepped right in to was CF, replacing a guy who was already under contract, that we couldn’t have gotten out from under anyway. Also, thats the only position mentioned that HE’S NEVER EVEN PLAYED.
Being wrong isn’t the same thing as making a mistake. You already know that.
It’s true, Johnson’s BABIP was really low last year, and when coupled with the move to the more lefty-friendly park, he was primed for a bounce-back year. His defense at 2B has also been very good this season. All told, he has been the most valuable player on the D’Backs, and will probably be worth over five wins for them this year (which is remarkable, really).
The big concern with KJ is putting him back into a park like Turner Field. His power will definitely suffer. Which is to say that I can’t imagine him posting a .371 wOBA in Atlanta the rest of the way, like he’s projected to do in Phoenix. If Prado is seriously hurt, then looking at him would be smart–if only because the D’Backs seem to have lost their minds and don’t value talent the way they should. Really, though, CF should be the focus.
I can live with Infante playing second
Manny might be availible
109,
No player that’s good enough to play in MLB has a fundamental sub-.250 BABIP. Kelly Johnson is clearly good enough to play in MLB. The difference between last year and this year is a few lucky bounces, ground balls finding holes, bloops, et cetera. Sometimes performance is good and results are bad. Entropy exists.
110,
The choice is KJ and (insert organizational outfielder that costs $400,000 here) versus Melky and Conrad. I’d rather have KJ and, say, Blanco or Clevlen, than Melky and Conrad. You may see it differently, but that’s what the debate is, not KJ versus Diaz or KJ versus Prado.
111,
I’ll buy that.
As an aside, just looking through the D’Backs lineup underscores how silly their freakout has been these last couple weeks. Johnson, Young, and Upton have all been really productive players for them, while Drew, Reynolds, and Montero have been better-than-average players despite all having down years. The bullpen really is the culprit there, as well as perhaps some luck-related struggles in the rotation. Dumping Haren was so, so stupid.
guess Blanco isnt the answer
Infante
Heyward
Jones
Bmac
Glaus
Hinske
AAG
Melkdud
“The Nationals are getting late interest in Dunn from new teams and longshots are being explored, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.”
Please be us.
Peter, I’m a little surprised by the KJ fetish from you. Look at those splits. His production is a function of playing home games in Arizona’s tiny little park.
I liked Kelly Johnson as much as anyone, but he played himself out of Atlanta last year, just like McLouth is playing himself out this year. And there’s no reason at all for the Braves to look to acquire him at the deadline (unless, god forbid, Prado is seriously hurt.) He can’t play CF, none of the other LF options can play CF, and you don’t move Heyward to CF just to create at bats for a guy OPS’ing 690 when he’s not playing at the BOB.
This sounds like a “favorite player” thing more than a rational evaluation thing.
Padres in deep talks for Ryan Ludwick
118,
Looking at splits just cuts your useful data in half. Don’t do that. Park adjusting all the data is the way to go.
116 — Blanco probably hasn’t arrived yet.
Game thread.