Atlanta Braves vs. Colorado Rockies – Box Score – August 24, 2010 – ESPN.
The story, once again, was defense; the Braves committed two errors, or were “charged” with two “errors”, as the case may be, but they were just sloppy all night. The Rockies, on the other hand, turned four double plays. Who do you think is going to win that game?
After Martin Prado hit into the first of those double plays in the first inning, Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer for the Rockies to give them the lead. The Braves cut that in half in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer by Alex Gonzalez, but after that didn’t do much to threaten to tie, and when they did get a baserunner they would just hit into another double play.
The Rockies got it to 3-1 with a homer in the sixth, so of course the Braves got one run in the seventh, with AAG driving home Matt Diaz from second with a two-out single. But that was it. And Saito gave up two runs in the eighth when he struck out a hitter only to see him reached on a passed ball (McCann was crossed up, it appeared) and the next man singled. After that, the ninth was pro forma.
We never play well on Colorado. Hate that place.
Come on Astros!
still dont think McCann was crossed up
This junk is going to catch up with the Braves.
Tommy Manzella is really terrible. I guess he’s good with the glove?
Rollins-to-Utley-to-Howard
That makes my skin crawl.
i hope they play 25 innings
Because I don’t want to talk about the game, I’ll note that the current poll might be the most even result of any that Mac has ever posted.
@8 Which only means their levels of suckness are about the same. That I would agree.
utley up, gotta bad feeling
Maybe Howard will get the Golden Sombrero.
They don’t play well in Colorado but they really ought to score more runs in Coors Field. But the overall sloppiness has become troubling. They aren’t really playing solid ball even when they win on a regular basis. The pitching gives them a chance to win every night.
Howard strikes out on a checked swing and is ejected for chucking his bat away in anger — he then runs toward the ump, his teammates have to restrain him. Phillies out of players, they’ll have to bring in a pitcher to play the field.
LOL Ryan Howard…Good luck Sillies with a pitcher playing the field
If I were an umpire, I wouldn’t want Howard running at me.
Mark “the Machine” Melancon continues to dominate. And by dominate, I mean walk guys, throw wild pitches, and eventually squeak out of the inning.
good, 0-6 with 4K’s and he gets tossed
It’s funny. Ryan Howard gets tons of RBIs and hits home runs all the time. He’s the premier power hitter in the league.
Despite this, I was totally glad when Utley walked and he came up to bat. The ejection is icing.
14- Even better, the Phils’ bullpen is also depleted. It’ll be a starting pitcher out there.
Edit: The Phillies’ new left fielder, Roy Oswalt.
Just realized something pretty shocking
Prado – .317 avg, 14 hrs, 47 RBIs, .849 OPS (470 AB)
Utley – .274 avg, 11 hrs, 39 RBIs, .828 OPS (292 AB)
If someone would have told me that Prado would have a higher OPS than Utley at this time of the year I would have assumed they were on drugs.
Roy Oswalt is going to left field, Ibanez in to play first base.
another umpire baiting a player. i like howard and he seems like a good guy, but my hate for the phillies wins, so good job ump.
OSWALT IN LEFT FIELD!!!
I propose we call him “Resop” Oswalt from now on.
Hey, we had Resop play left for a batter, so no throwing stones.
hit it to left!
And, of course, the very first pitch is hit out to left field… Oswalt takes about one step in, squeezes, and gets a standing ovation.
You know, I hate the Phillies, but I kinda like Oswalt. He’s a gamer.
nevermind
The second pitch of the inning is popped toward left… Oswalt gives chase and it lands about three rows into the stands.
@26, I must be on a huge delay. I read your comment right before I saw it, so you had time to see it and type it before it mlb.tv got it to me.
Oh, by the way, Wandy Rodriguez is at the plate. He just grounded out.
God, I wish Kyle Farnsworth was a Phillie right now.
Michael Bourn tries a drag bunt to first, but bunts it too hard, and Raul Ibanez manages to dive to first base just before Bourn’s headfirst dive.
that is just insane.
WHY WOULD YOU BUNT WITH A PITCHER IN THE OUTFIELD?
Because a senior citizen with bad legs is at first base.
Ibanez lofts it deep to left field… Hunter Pence runs back, back, to the track… and catches it just in front of the wall.
why does hunter pence look like such a spaz with everything he does?
what did Gload get ejected for?
Pence does throw like a girl.
Victorino is intentionally walked to get to the pitcher, David Herndon, a rookie who is 0 for 1 in his professional career — he’s had one at-bat this year, after never coming to bat in the minors.
rick camp’s name being brought up on the telecast.
@38
have you ever seen him run?
LET’S GO ASTROS!
Gload got ejected for sympathetically yelling his head off after Howard got tossed and started running like a maniac towards the 3rd base ump. Gload’s on the DL, so it didn’t matter.
And Herndon strikes out. So now he’s 0 for 2.
that’ll be a huge fine on Gload I believe
This game is epic. As it continues, I want the Astros to win more and more.
What is it with the Astros and endless games?
FLY BALLS TO LF – all these grounders are killing me
This is the Astros’ longest game since July 6, 2008. Against us.
Hunter Pence reaches first with a little Baltimore Chop to shortstop.
The ump, miraculously, didn’t ring up Brett Wallace on strike 3. Used to be, the umps would call all the close ones so everyone could go home quicker. Nice of them not to do it in this case.
need to go to bed…but cant.
Wallace HBP
After Wallace fouled off a bunch, many on hit-and-run plays with Pence running, Herndon winds up plunking Wallace. Pence is probably gassed. Good thing everyone came to the mound to ask Herndon if he still knows where the plate is.
Wild pitch… men on 2nd and 3rd, just one out, Jason Michaels at the plate. 1-1 count.
And they’ll intentionally walk Michaels to get to Chris Johnson.
love the walk here to load the bases for a hot chris johnson.
Johnson is like their best hitter right now.
Yeahhhh…
Infield single for Chris Johnson, bases still loaded, 3-2 Astros!
Dropped ball at first on a would-be double play, now it’s 4-2 Stros, two outs, first and third.
Makes losing to the Colorado Fockies even worse…
like I said, dont hit ANYTHING in the air
And here comes another intentional walk. SS Tommy Manzella loads the bases again. RP Jeff Fulchino comes to the plate. He’s 1 for 3 in his major league career.
The Astros have had eleven different guys in the 9th spot in the batting order. Obviously, not all of them actually hit, but that’s still impressive.
Just hang on, Houston. Make this one hurt.
And Fulchino strikes out. 4-2 Stros, coming to the bottom of the 16th. Fulchino will now get to close it out.
Grounder to second, Angel Sanchez to Brett Wallace on the putout.
Jimmy Rollins strikes out on three pitches, the last two of them big curveballs in the dirt.
Polanco’s at bat, Utley on deck… and Roy Oswalt in the hole.
Last out.
Polanco walked.
Polanco fights back from a 1-2 count and draws a walk. Chase Utley at the plate, Resop Oswalt on deck. Of course, they’re intentionally walking Utley to get to Oswalt.
Utley was born for these situations. We’re looking at THE INFINITE BALLGAME.
Oh, wait, IBB. This could end here.
Utley’s being IBB even with a runner on 1st to get to Oswalt
PHUCK ‘EM!!
0-2 right away. Last strike (again).
Pretty bizarre finish. But… still 2.5 games difference.
Interesting matchup tomorrow: Happ vs Halladay.
Gotta win tomorrow, boys.
It’s over. The Phillies managed to match our ineptitude. Uh, yay?
Ballgame!
Grounder to third, Chris Johnson to Brett Wallace, and the game is actually, finally, over.
I’m not saying I’m ready to forgive them. But I’m getting closer. Thank you, Houston.
houston bullpen
10IP 5H 1ER 7BB 9K
Houston wasn’t going to have to face Oswalt this series. They actually drug the game out just so he’d take the field.
Boxscore, lol
Ryan Howard went 0-7, had 5 Ks, and was ejected. lol
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=300824122
Kind of a weird reprieve tonight. But FWIW, I think their loss hurts more than ours.
Wish we weren’t so lame on the road this year.
Why didn’t Chris Johnson just step on the bag instead of throwing to first? Oh well, worked out okay.
Astros: Hey, Roy, come out and play with us.
Oswalt: Not this time, guys. Sorry.
Astros: Please? Just one at-bat. We miss you. We’re still your friends.
Oswalt: Yeah, I know. It’s not you. I pitched right before you came to town. I’m pitching right after. It’s just luck, that’s all.
Astros: Please?
Oswalt: No, sorry. Can’t happen.
Astros: What if we have a really really long game where you guys use up all of your hitters and all of your bullpen, then someone gets injured or kicked out? Would you play then?
Oswalt: Yeah, sure. Whatever.
Astros: YAY!
I think, at that point of the game, they’d reached “Take the out, stupid” territory. Rollins had already screwed up one play by going to second, where the guy running from first managed to beat the throw, and everyone would up being safe.
escobar: 3hr 12 rbi 17 runs .762ops in 31 games
aag: 4hr 21 rbi 21 runs .788ops in 36 games
i’ll take the venezuelan!
Might want to check those fielding stats before you say that.
Gonzalez has 8 DRS with the Braves. Escobar has 9 DRS with the Jays. Since I don’t watch Jays games and have no idea how he’s performing by eye, I only have numbers, and the difference looks small. They are both good shortstops.
So far, they’re pretty equal both ways. The larger questions are whether they’ll still be equal next year and what we’re going to do for SS two years from now when we would still have Yunel under control.
So far, though, the swap is a wash.
God, Joe West has got a fat ass.
Charlie Manuel: “I’ve never seen Howard get throwed out of the game before.”
Gonzalez has more errors (again in an absurdly small sample size) and to my eye, he ain’t no Yuni, goofball or not.
No, he ain’t. But he isn’t making all of the errors; he’s had plenty of help. It’s a miracle we’re still in first place, winning more than we’re losing, with all the balls we’re kicking around the field.
Let’s pray for that trend to continue Current signs are definitely ominous.
And the magic number drops to 35. The Phils really couldn’t afford to go 16 innings tonight given that they are in the middle of a stretch of 24 games in 23 days including their big West Coast road trip for the season. They probably had to leave for San Diego right after the game for three their, three in LA, and then a makeup in Colorado on what should have been their off day. Then it’s a weekend series against Milwaukee at home, then four against the Marlins with a double header on Monday. That is brutal.
You know, Bobby is Bobby, but this is just bs.
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/08/24/cox-kawakami-to-the-pen-in-september/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog
Bobby must have been at Pearl Harbor.
Peanut says that AAG is…silencing his critics!
If we can get McCann and Lee going, we will be ok.
@97, that’s true in my case. I didn’t like the trade because I thought it was a downgrade for this year, next year, and the year after.
Turns out they’ve been playing roughly equally well, and Gonzalez has played more games, so we’ve come out slightly ahead this year so far.
Now, are the five extra games played worth changing out the arbitration savings on Yunel’s age 28 and age 29 seasons for an inexpensive option on Gonzalez’ age 34 season and a couple of prospects? Probably not.
However, to date, we’ve come out slightly ahead, which is better than I expected when the trade was made.
@96,
Smitty,
Remember that Bobby was at Pearl Harbor and tipped his hat to those Japanese bombers–they did a hell of a job, we’ll get ’em tomorrow.
Is the glass half empty or half full; are we glad the Phillies didn’t take advantage or upset that the Braves didn’t take advantage? Arguably, the Phillies should be more upset because they are playing the Astros at home while the Braves are playing the Rockies in Denver. And, even with Utley and Howard back, the Phillies aren’t hitting much.
As an aside, in their last 214 games (starting last year when they were 34-40), the Braves are 125-89, .584, works out to 94 wins over 162 games. I’m not sure how they are doing it (well, it’s mostly pitching I guess), but, like the Padres, the Braves have been one of the better teams in baseball for the last year and a half. Now, if they can continue to be one for the next 8 weeks or so.
@95 – “We still need him, in case someone’s sick or whatever.”
Now that’s what I’d like to see on my performance review.
@101, I know! That’s such a dick thing to say.
that is complete BS….you know lets dont release him so other Japanese players will still continue to come here. KK has probably called everyone in that league saying “stay away from ATL”. Sad thing is he’s actually useful
That’s just Bobby being Bobby. What he meant was, “Although I mostly see him as providing critical relief innings down the stretch, it’s good that he’s building his endurance back in the minors so he can provide an emergency start if necessary. Having a swing man of his quality is a rare luxury; on most teams he would be forced into a starting role.”
It came out as: “‘He’ll pitch out of the ‘pen,’ Cox said. ‘We still need him, in case someone’s sick or whatever. Now he’s used to starting [again].'”
OK before y’all start throwing rocks, I agree that KK is a useful player. But everyone else is better on the starting staff and his one relief appearance didn’t go well. Maybe he played/complained his way into the dog house? I dunno, just saying.
Spike, no kidding!
KK has no trade value now.
I’m not really surprised to hear this.
@90
A couple of years ago, Manuel got into a heated exchange with some Philly media people during a press conference. One of the reporters told him to “grow up.” His brilliant retort?
“I done growed up.”
Game thread.
#81
i know. i have howard in fantasy and that crap turd of a game makes me hate him even more.