Well, he’s famous. A lot more famous than his results dictate. Ankiel was the #1 prospect in baseball at one point, a hard-throwing lefthanded pitcher. He made it up to the majors briefly with the Cardinals as a 19-year-old, and at 20 went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA, 194 strikeouts in 175 innings. And then, he lost it. Leading 6-0 in the first game of the 2000 NLDS against the Braves, Ankiel suffered a sudden and total loss of pitching ability, throwing four walks and five wild pitches in the third inning. And he never recovered. He showed some flashes in the lower levels of the minors, but his control was utterly shot and eventually he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2003. After five games in relief in 2004, the Cardinals threw up their hands and converted him to an outfielder.
He showed some pop, slugging .515 (17 HR/21 2B) in 2005 in A and AA. The Cards planned to bring him up as a spare outfielder in 2006, but he blew out his knee and missed the season. In 2007, he led the PCL in homers with 32, slugging .568, and then hit .285/.328/.535 in a 47-game callup. In 2008, he stayed on the major league roster, hitting 25 homers, but pitchers were starting to figure him out and over the last couple of years his production has faded. He also got caught up in an HGH dragnet; he says that the drug was prescribed to him. He may have even been telling the truth, and, once again, there’s no evidence that HGH does anything to aid athletic performance. The Cards let him go after last season and he was picked up by the Royals. He’s missed much of this season with various injuries, and has really become an all-or-nothing player, a guy with poor on-base skills but some power.
Ankiel’s major league OBP is .311, .315 since he was converted from the mound. He has obvious tools, but lost too much development time as a pitcher to really learn how to hit. He’s a good defensive corner outfielder who can be stretched to center, like most of the Braves’ outfielders. The assumption is that he will play center at least part of the time with the Braves, and can’t really be any worse than Melky.
Rick Ankiel Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com.
Optimism defined.
Today’s lineup!
1. Conrad 3B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Infante 2B, 4. McCann C, 5. Hinske 1B, 6. Gonzalez SS, 7. Ankiel CF, 8. Cabrera LF 9. Hanson
Yeah!!
Damn.
@2
screw that lineup. give matt diaz the bats he deserves.
I hate Melky.
Nice write up of Ankiel. I’m very much looking forward to the Farnz write up.
What an awful lineup. Guess that whole “winning series” thing isn’t as important when you’re in first after the break.
Wilkin Ramirez was a decent prospect not too long ago. Does that mean we should be worried about the PTBNL?
My main concern would be Minor which would be a terrible trade, but would explain why it had to be PTBNL.
I just don’t think the Tigers give away Ramirez for nothing.
seriously, what the hell is wrong with bobby. i’ve seen some stupid shit in his time, but continuously running melky out there day after day, especially after we pick up a replacement for his chubby ass, is unforgivable.
I really hope Ankiel and Melky in the outfield on the same day doesn’t become a usual thing.
Resting Glaus against the RHP is a good idea.
The lineup isn’t great but no surpise really except for Chipper having his day off. Of course Bobby being Bobby, having Melky in the lineup after his debacle yesterday, i guess…
I see no one responded to my Minor comment and after waking up a little I realize there’s no way it’s Minor.
@10
i agree, but not giving a hot diaz the start, righty or not, is pure madness.
here are diaz’s numbers since coming off of the dl:
.333 BA
1.079 OPS
6 doubles 5 hr 14 rbi
After watching Diaz’s PA’s against the righty yesterday, I can understand the lack of confidence.
but I agree anyone but Melky.
edit: check out Melky’s splits over at BR. Offensively he has been excellent the last month. 2nd half performance excellent.
@15
after watching diaz for the last 4 years, how can you read into anything concerning his at-bats? even in his good at-bats he looks awful.
Last 28 days
.302/.375/.508 .883
Had to make sure I was looking at the right Cabrera.
I understand what Bobby’s trying to do. Put the best 9 out there even if it hurts the team defensively. But man o man Melky is NOT a cf.
@16 – Good point.
that’s the emptiest .800 ops i’ve ever seen. he has 0 hrs, only 2 rbi’s, and 4 runs. i know it’s not a repeatable skill, but he’s been horrendous for us in clutch situations. for the year, he has a .569 ops with RISP and a .282 ops with a runner at 3rd. YIKES!
Most of Melky’s double are bloopers hit in just the right place. He’s been lucky, that’s all.
They need to bring back Diaz’s Captain Caveman nickname, tbqh.
Man I miss Boog. =(
might i also add that he’s been intentionally walked 4 times since the all star break.
I’ve already started hydrating and stretching.
Wilkin Ramirez was DFA’d by the Tigers a few days ago, they aren’t getting anything of value in return.
Jim Bunning thinks Stephen Strasburg is a wimp
As Strasburg started to warm up, he noticed some soreness. The National’s manager, Jim Riggleman, scratched him. The team has made no secret of its desire to coddle their rookie fireballer, who is seen as the core of a future contending team.
Poppycock. That, in a nutshell, is Bunning’s answer to the Nationals’ decision.
The senator told Politico he has seen Strasburg four times (Tuesday was supposed to be Strasburg’s 10th start).
“My arm!” Bunning pretended to cry, clutching his shoulder as he spoke to a reporter in the United States Capitol.
“Five hundred twenty starts, I never refused the ball,” Bunning said. “What a joke!”
The new kid is rapidly losing the respect of the Hall of Famer.
“He was in the top one percentile,” Bunning was quoted as saying, pinching his thumb and index finger together. Now, the senator huffed, he is more like the 50th percentile.
#19 all looks the same on the scoreboard.
Shows how tight our budget is. Kearns was acquired for cash.
The Cards trade of Ludwick is strange. I get that they wanted a starter but specifically Jake Westbrooke?
#19 – If the game was like the last 2 you’re gonna run 8 miles.
I don’t know why everyone is complaining. All Hanson has to do is not give up any fly balls except to right field and he will be fine. That’s easy, isn’t it? I think it’s good they are giving Glaus a day off; he has been awful.
It’s surprising to me that an organization that once brought in Bream and Pendleton specifically to help the defense seems to put so little weight on outfield defense. Melky may be the worst major league CF I have ever seen.
However, to keep things in perspective, the Braves did have a winning record in July (13-11) and did stretch their lead. And the Phillies are struggling on the road as well (lost 13 of 17 on the road). But looking at the Giants, I am worried about the wild card as a safety net. I think the Braves are virtually tied with the Giants in terms of record, so it is no sure thing they would be the wild card if they lost the division. Hopefully, going home will rejuventate them.
Considering Jim Bunning is a crazy man, I don’ think I would put much stock in his comments.
If you have Tommy on your fantasy team, are you starting him today?
Answer and I will consider sharing my $35 worth of winnings with you 😉
I am, but only because I’ve got all the pitching stats locked up for this week except for strikeouts. Even an exceptionally bad game from him doesn’t lose me any of the other stats.
Anything is better than seeing Hinske next to Melky in the outfield. I really hope to never see that again.
Jerome Jurenovich thinks Ankiel has been in the AL for “a couple of years.”
Melky can hit righties or lefties, he cant play a defensive position above average. There’s no excuse starting him over anyone.
put Chipper at 3B, Conrad at 2B, and Infante in LF if you have no faith in Diaz against RHP.
Just saw both ankiel and farnsworth interviewed on pre-game. Neither seemed thrilled to be in Atlanta.
Kinda surprised. To go from the hapless royals to a 1st place team is something I would welcome.
Did Mac’s pessimism get to them too?
@33: Don’t take those interviews so seriously. They just arrived at the park after being uprooted from their homes and families to go play baseball in a new city. They’re professionals. I wouldn’t expect them to be exactly busting out of their pants about it.
Jerome had to bring up Ankiel’s storied career path. What an idiot. The man’s gotta be sick of it by now.
Blanco and Chavez are where they deserve to be (along with many other ex-Braves.) If only Francoeur would hurry up and join them in Royal blue.
Sdp
Not taking it serious. But they aren’t entirely worthless
As far as being uprooted goes, Farnsworth should be more than used to it.
Wow. Just catching up and saw the lineup. I’m surprised Ross isn’t hitting clean-up.
I love seeing the braves leaving guys at 3rd with 1 out
and there you go, a batter too late
SIGH.
World Series calibre teams don’t give up chances like those.
We’re doomed.
“We’re doomed.”
“If you have Tommy on your fantasy team, are you starting him today?”
Sadly, yes, as it’s a weekly and I started him for his two starts. He’s a nightmare to have on your team, too. I see the singles have already started…
My issue with this lineup is that Volquez is wild. The way to get to him is to take pitches. Instead, we’ve run out there the least patient lineup we can field on the one day our ancient corner infielders should both be in there.
Ironically, according to GameDay, it was Heyward who swung at the pitch furthest outside the strike zone and thus grounded out instead of walking.
Hanson has been better on the road and I like his chances today.
15 of his 21 starts have been 2ER or less, he’s a safe play almost every week in fantasy
are Volquez and Cueto twins?
AAG!
AAG!!
AAG!!! (That’s a good thing.)
A homerun from the starting shortstop?!
Agony!
finally
AAAAAAAAAAAG!
Who else has Ankiel fever? Just me. OK.
Ankiel with the old school knee highs.
Not a fan.
Really? I love that look.
a walk… we are rubbing off already
I like the look
YES! Take that statistical likelihoods!! It’s Ankiel’s world. We just live in it!
Volquez is so wild our lack of patient hitters might not matter.
2nd HR from the SS position this yr
Career Walk percentages:
Prado: 7.1%
Ankiel: 7.5%
showing my age but the flat brimmed hat thing looks stupid
I don’t like the flat brims either.
is chad cordero the 1st guy you remember wearing that on the mound? is for me…
I don’t like the flat brims either, but I don’t like the extreme bend that Lowe has. Gotta have a happy medium.
66 – I think you are right.
Loving Volquez’ Jheri curl.
at what point does management come in and say “Eddie… can I call you Eddie? .. No? OK. Edinson.. we noticed that each day you look more and more like the Predator. We can’t have that.”
3BB thru 2IP…gotta have more runs on the board
I like the name Edinson. Original
McCann and now Heyward have struck out on fastballs way out of the zone.
Braves’ inability to hit (or even make productive outs) with runners in scoring position has reached and passed the point of ridiculousness. Oy vey.
Ryan Howard left the Phillies game with an apparent injury to his knee.
the 2 called strikes on Heyward looked kinda low but …
Oswalt cant cure that, I dont believe
does anyone throw a screwball anymore?
This team might be susceptible to the high fastball.
Bethany, run faster!!!
Love Joe Simpson talking as if he ever robbed someone of a home run.
heyward’s being too patient again.
She needs to pace herself, it’s just the second inning.
wow, nasty pitch.
#75 darn it.
the slider that got bruce was nastier.
Heyward might be pressing to drive in runs with the big guns sitting.
Astros just gave Brett Myers an extension
SUNDAY, 12:51am: The Astros and Myers have agreed to an extension that is guaranteed through 2012, per a team release. The contract includes a club option for 2013 that could vest based on Myers’ performance in 2012. The extension guarantees the right-hander at least $21MM, and could earn him up to $29.5MM, including the option and performance incentives
another reason for their fans to be pissed
should omar infante be a regular? say next season prado 3b infante 2b? just asking?
Omar the All-Star.
I dont know, but Id like to see them add another year or two on his current contract
cmon BMac
Just logging on now. Why in God’s name is fat, loser, Melky back in the lineup. Good lord. Is Diaz SO hopeless against righties that we couldn’t have sat Melky’s fat, useless ass on the bench today after that embarrassing smirky performance yesterday?
This is what pisses me off so much about Cox. Melky’s fat ass should be glued to the bench.
hinske with a very audible “f*ck”.
Suspension, please?
Tommy needs to pay these guys back….Medlen, Jurrjens, and now AAG
Attention Braves: Stop swinging at pitches over your head. That is all.
No warning, no ejection.
That’s why I want Rage to be Hinske’s nickname.
And the way Volquez has that hat looks so damn stupid.
Volquez doesn’t know where the ball is going. First season back from Tommy John.
Wow, our newest Braves looks deadly up there. SIGH.
so a walk and a K and you’ve made up your mind?
alex, you used to not be this negative all the time.
Six runners stranded through three innings. Good to see that some things never change.
some others here are rubbing off on him
Volquez up this inning. Tommy should drop him.
That HBP wasn’t intentional.
I seem to remember things getting pretty hairy the last time someone called out Volquez on his appearance…
http://movieclips.com/watch/predator-1987/what-the-hell-are-you/
The Reds announcers REALLY like the RBI stat.
cant walk the pitcher Tommy
I really really hate watching Melky throw balls back to the infield
That’s an unsatisfying way to send him to first.
Hanson making Votto look bad
@107 neither was Venters but he got ejected
Melky sucks.
102 and 103:
I’m negative because Ankiel is an injury prone guy who’s done next to nothing these last 2 seasons. If Ankiel starts to rake, fine, I’ll be mr. happy.
yeah sure am glad Diaz doesnt get any of these AB’s over Melky
I will gladly take Ankiel in there over Melky and far angrier today to see Mekly back in the lineup. I’m developing a Lockhart-ian type of hatred anytime I see Melky’s fat, stupid face.
i dont remember melky ever getting a hit.
csg-
Exactly….Diaz deserves a chance to be in there. Cox is being so rigid by keeping Melky out there.
@114
One stupid umpiring decision does not justify another one later. He’s missed in the same spot hi hit AAG 10 times today. The other nine happened to be to LH hitters.
can Matt Young or Willie Cabrera play CF? just wondering
brandon phillips is a human highlight reel.
Howard has a sprained left ankle and is going for X-rays.
Yeah, Phillips is great.
I hope he doesn’t lose his speed.
sprains can be worse than breaks
@121. I didn’t say I thought it was intentional but neither was Venters plunk of big baby Fielder.
Anything hit near Phillips is an out.
Hanson is sharp today.
Hanson’s really on the ball this afternoon, isn’t he?
And he’s not nibbling!
infante is up to .345 on the year.
washington just tied it up 2-2
Jurrjens was sharp yesterday. None of it matters if the offense can’t get the runners on base home.
Maybe we could, uhhh, give Tommy some runs please?
make him throw a strike
3hits, 5BB and we arent thru 5…only 1 run
Right–these moments, with a couple guys on and the pitcher struggling to throw strikes, is where we need to pounce. And we haven’t for awhile.
this is unbelievably bad
Good grief we can’t get runners home.
WTF Hinske?
At least we’re getting baserunners.
eight stranded through four.
8 runners stranded. damn
And Volzquez is not throwing well today. Only 1 run is more a reflection on just how ineffective our offense is. I expect us to lose 3-1 today. This is just depressing.
It’s weird to see Dusty Baker protecting a young pitcher.
Roachy has 2 3R HR today
Heyward doesnt dive and the run doesnt score
Terrible defense.
And more terrible defense.
And now the lack of run support for Tommy and 8 runners left on base finally catches up with us. A halfway decent lineup right now would be leading 4 or 5-1.
We’re just not hitting with RISP. I tend to subscribe that to luck more than anything. It’s frustrating to watch, but it happens when you have guys avoiding outs.
Volquez looked like an idiot and I don’t think it was a coincidence that the guy he happened to hit was the guy who hit a home run. Edinson needed to be plunked after Meds and JJ.
And, that’s what happens when you waste opportunities.
garbage
Yunel makes that play.
Great defense. Just great.
Well, that didn’t take long to fall apart, did it?
rookie mistake.
our defensive ss blows it.
Rafael Ramirez and Andres Thomas make that play. It was amazingly routine.
Ugh.
Weldon, Volquez looks like an idiot with the stupid way he wears that hat.
Everybody makes that play.
Vloquez may get the win now
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!
This series has been so frustrating. And it had to happen against the Reds, who I loathe. Probably a result of living in Kentucky and having to watch two decades of crappy Reds baseball. I might actually hate reds more than Joe McCarthey.
lets hold em, maybe we rally
How long until the first-place masquerade is over?
Oh well, at least the clubhouse chemistry is solid.
Soon.
Well there ya go….we put tons of runners on base through 5 and get nothing out of it and give the lead away with crap defense.
Phillies tied 2-2 in the 5th.
We leave 8 runners on base, and we go after the best defender on the field and the one who homered earlier. Yeah, keep those “chemistry” jokes comin’!
Hewyard doesnt dive and theres runners at first and third…AAG makes the routine play and we’d be thru 5 up 1-0
Yunel Lovers Club of Atlanta, UNITE!!!
Melky Rules.
Wow Chief, that’s pithy. Way to go!
Melky still sucks.
btw, Yunel 0-3 with an error today
Hey, at least we didn’t leave any runners on base that inning!
Melky haters club, UNITE!! I have a feeling that is a much bigger club than Yunel’s.
td, I would like an officer position in the Melky haters club.
I can’t believe Melky is still out there. Also, Heyward’s diving attempt was so stupid–it was the key play in that inning.
Yeah, we’ve never seen yunel make a mistake on a routine play. He probably would have forgotten how many outs there were and tried to get phillips out at home.
I’m disgusted.
I want Scott Rolen just so we can call him Rawhide.
You know how Lou Gehrig was the Iron Horse? Melky’s new nickname is the River Horse.
The Hippo.
Its not right when the guy who’s been the much, much better starter today (Hanson) is losing heading to inning 7. Volquez deserves to be down 5 runs and instead still in position to get the win. Just HATE our lineup and offense right now.
we go after the best defender on the field and the one who homered earlier. Yeah, keep those “chemistry” jokes comin’!
Yeah. he can hear you out there in Cincinnati, so keep it down you guys.
.255/.321/.373 + Chemistry=Profit!
Heyward needs to get a good jump on this pitcher
Just HATE our lineup and offense right now.
How is this possible after The Trade That Won The Division(tm)?
yeah Yunels numbers were much much better
Washington up 4-2 now
So our only chance of scoring in any given inning is by drawing four walks.
Chipper has been awful from the right side lately….time to change that
Our fav Nats, Desmond and Dunn, cross the plate. 4-2 Nats.
missed two fastballs in the middle of the plate
@169, As I’ve repeated countless times, it’s when and for whom they traded him. Thinking AAG’s HR’s were going to translate to Turner was lunacy, and inserting a guy with a .296 OBP at the time into the 6 spot in our lineup was even dumber. But since you bring it up, .333/.356/.474 is Yuni’s current line. Wren has managed to take the one thing ATL could do well, get on base, and plug in a couple of guys that are terrible at that skill. The result has been, and will be quite predictable.
10 runners on base! This is fun.
This offense is inept.
Yunel would be Mendoza friendly right now if we hadn’t made that deal. Not that Gonzalez has done much (and right now, his defense is responsible for a loss if this score holds) but Yunel wasn’t doing anything. The trade is a non-factor.
its laughable to continue to think that Yunel wouldve done the same in Atl that he’s doing in TOR, but its your opinion
Spike, we got it, you don’t like the trade. Are you going to let us know every time Gonzalez does something wrong?
Feels like April again to me. If the Braves give up two runs, mark it down in the Loss column…
It’s not inept at all. It’s doing exactly what you would think when you run Conrad, Gonzalez, Ankiel and a pitcher out there. All 3 on the sunny side of thirty, with a clear track record of making lots and lots of outs.
I don’t care if Yunel had quit in Atlanta and was boning Frank Wren’s wife, you don’t trade him for Alex freaking Gonzalez and two fringe prospects.
What’s our record since the trade, anyway?
Tommy has inherited KK’s run support
Spike, Yunel wasn’t doing anything and pissing off the entire clubhouse in the process. He wouldn’t have woken up in the 2nd half because if the trade never happens, he’d still be pulling the same crap.
Gonzalez isn’t doing much, but again, the fairest argument is that neither would be worth much at SS in Atlanta. If Chipper was actually still a decent offensive player and we had a good outfield, Infante should now be the everyday SS.
As long as you feel the need to express dismay at impugning our clubhouse chemistry, yes. I really can’t describe how depressed and angry I am at the almost willful effort to make this team worse, at a time when they were on the cusp of really being good. It’s pretty obvious to the dullest observer that as currently constructed, there is very little chance for advancement in the postseason, should it even get that far. If you want happy talk, feel free to scroll on.
Spike, you simply can’t argue it made this team worse because Yunel was useless. You do NOT have the #s to back that up.
@205, at the risk of repeating myself, I DON”T CARE THAT WE TRADED YUNEL. TRADING HIM AT THE BOTTOM OF HIS VALUE FOR AN OBVIOUS OUT MACHINE IS WHAT WAS SO STUPID.
Spike’s point isn’t that Yunel would be doing better (we can’t know that, obviously). It’s that Wren has undermined the strength of the lineup by bringing in guys who can’t get on base. Even amidst his awful season, this year, Yunel had a league-average OBP.
By the way, speaking of Yunel: he just homered.
Chip and Joe talking stats makes me want to scream.
Spike, THEY’RE BOTH OUT MACHINES.
Alex R,
Yunel was worth more than Gonzalez. That’s what this boils down to. The Rays were reportedly very interested in Yunel but the Braves were already enamored with Agony, which is just awful.
‘Infante should now be the everyday SS.’
Well, all the baseball professionals in Atlanta disagree with you.
If we still had Escobar we’d still be struggling offensively. Although when he was good he was really good.
Still no matter how you slice and dice it its just weird for a contender to trade a better player for a lesser one. Maybe it was for Yunel’s safety. Glaus is a big boy. If he wanted to kick Escobars ass it could have gotten ugly.
Happy talk me to death please! I need it.
And a waffle house patty melt please.
It’s the same story we’ve seen for the last few years. This team is woefully underpowered. It has coincided with chipper’s decline at a traditional power position.
The problem is that it’s hard to see where they can improve. Heyward might be a legitimate power threat, but he’s still only 20. Freeman, I presume, will be the firstbaseman next year and it is unrealistic to expect him to provide a true power bat as a rookie. That really only leaves left field, and we would need a Ryan Braun or Manny Ramirez type to really help things.
No, the bottomline if Yunel was still a Brave, we’d be forced to make Infante the everyday SS. With Gonzalez, Infante should be the everyday SS when prado returns. I’m not defending Gonzalez. I don’t like either player.
@211, so what on earth is the point of acquiring Gonzalez?
Woooooo Melky
yeah, Diaz has no shot of being better than Melky
Hopefully Melky will find a good seat on the bench from tomorrow on.
@211
Uh, no. For their careers:
Escobar (1907 PAs): .368 OBP
Gonzalez (5180 PAs): .294 OBP
They’re not both out-machines. One of them is. Just for fun, check out Francoeur’s career OBP. Ok fine, I’ll tell you. It’s .309.
Tommy about to have a complete game loss….second of the season
Because at least Gonzalez was semi productive with some power in half #1 and we’re competing for a shot at the WS. Yunel got on base more but couldn’t hit and was hurting the clubhouse. What’s the point of still having this argument, Spike? You think your way and I disagree. Do I wish we could have gotten a better player? Yes. But I have no beef with trading Yunel. He wasn’t doing anything and pissing off the entire clubhouse in the process. I am glad he’s gone.
The worst part about the Yunel trade is the front office’s apparent belief that Alex Gonzalez and his sub .300 OBP could help the team.
Phillies just tied the game.
Well, at least Bobby can’t put in Chavez.
just have to get Venters in there today
In that pinch at bat Chipper just looked old. I’m a huge Chipper fan but dang he looked checked out. I know its not true but…
Poor Tommy.
Id have rather seen Diaz in that PH AB
Mid-market teams can’t afford to mess up the way the Braves did with Escobar. They either need to work it out and hope he gets better, or get more for him in return. It’s that simple. They have too small a margin of error to lose a guy who provided them with 8 wins above replacement over the past two years.
For comparison’s sake, look at the guys who produced at about Escobar’s level last season. Brian McCann, Robinson Cano, Victor Martinez, Joey Votto, Kendry Morales, and so on. You all would flip had your team traded one of these guys for Alex Gonzalez and change. Sure, Escobar wasn’t producing like that this season, but it was one bad half and, again, as a mid-market team the Braves simply can’t afford to punt on a guy who projects to be one of their three or four best position players for the next few years. They sold low, and it will hurt for the next couple years.
Diaz will pinch-hit for the pitcher leading off the 9th.
id still rather have seen him hitting w/ RISP against the LH over Chipper
#230 – pinch hit chipper because he is a switch hitter. diaz would have brought in a righty reliever.
Hopefully Cordero’s arm will fall off today.
Matt Diaz 1-8 4K’s vs Cordero
#234 – true, good point
chip just crapped on himself
@231 – you forget 1 thing. We are sitting in first place in the middle of a penant race. You don’t have the luxury of sitting around hoping that he will get over himself and play to expectations. He was given half a year to work things out for crying out loud. Everyone was begging for frenchy to be gone long before then.
I cannot believe that we are going to lose this game.
JHEY…
Jayson stop sliding head first
Don’t see that everyday.
Now we just need Jesus Heyward to steal 3rd and home, so we can lose it in walk-off fashion.
Terrible.
ugh
Ouch.
dammit. how may runners did we leave on?
blech
what a game to lose…
its sad…1 defensive miscue can cost this team a game. Offense is weak back to where it was in April
Well, I’ll be rooting hard for the Cardinals the rest of the year (when not playing the braves, of course).
Reds can bite me.
wonder what Bobby sees in Melky
Braves hit .190 (16-for-84) w/ RISP while going 3-6 during this trip.
But hey don’t worry guys. We’re in first place so we don’t have to be bothered with how bad we’re playing because we’re in first place.
I am glad he’s gone.
You can spend the entire postseason enoying yourself while watching someone else win the WS.
When the boat started taking on water, we grabbed a couple of anvils.
Thing is, with a collective 5 feet of luck Braves sweep that series.
Bruce’s ground ball just a little more left yesterday gets Jair out of the inning with lead intact.
Heyward’s arm grows by 12 inches and catches the ball today.
Heyward doesn’t dive and who knows Braves win 1-0. Its baseball.
Horrid display of offensive ineptness!! Just a really crappy road trip.
Recapped.