St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – September 12, 2010 – ESPN.
Wall, meet Tim Hudson. Tim, meet wall.
Hudson lasted only five innings, allowing six runs, all of them “earned”, and needed 102 pitches just to get that far. After getting a break in the first inning when the Cards lost a baserunner on a strikeout-throwout DP, Albert Pujols, who would be a Braves-killer if he didn’t kill everyone else, too, hit a long homer to center to make it 1-0.
After Jason Heyward in the first hit a one-out double, only to be stranded, and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-out single in the second after Nate McLouth was robbed of a home run by a Colby Rasmus catch in center, the Cards got their second run on the ever-popular three consecutive singles with two out in the third. Heyward actually scored after his second double of the night, Martin Prado singling him home to make it 2-1, and Brian McCann followed with another single, but Derrek Lee struck out. The Braves’ last chance to make a game of it came after a one-out double by Gonzalez in the fourth, but he was, of course, stranded, and then the roof caved in. Pujols’ second homer made it 3-1, and then a single, a HBP, a single, and a triple made it 6-1, drive hom safely.
Bobby for some reason used three relievers to get through the sixth, down five runs, and gave up a run anyway. They got it back in the bottom of the inning, big whoop, McLouth doubling and coming home on an AAG single. McLouth hit a homer in the eighth to make it 7-3. He does seem to be playing like an actual major league baseball player, Melky.
From previous thread:
Ten days ago, I thought the Braves were pretty much a lock to at least make the playoffs. After last night, I was pretty much ready to give up, but things still are not as bad they appear. They have 18 games left, 9 at home, 9 on the road. If they go .500, they end up with 91 wins, which might make it or might not (but likely would not win the division). If they play the way they have all year on the road, they will win, maybe 4 games. That means, if they win 6 of the next nine at home, they still end up with 92. The Giants would need to go 11-7 to get to 92 and the Rockies 13-6. I don’t know the Rockies schedule but they are bound to go on the road where they don’t play as well. The Giants are playing much better and Lincecum seems to be rounding into form, but I still have a hard time believing the Giants won’t hit a slump.
There, that’s as optimistic as I can be.
The weird thing is that the teams in the NL with the best run differentials (Braves and Padres) are the teams that are stuggling, which does give on pause about what run differential means as a predictive tool. September is often the time when teams that have been “punching above their weight” (I hate to say it but I saw that in the AJC) have problems. Obviously, the Phillies run differential probably doesn’t reflect the quality of the team at this moment because they are a much better team with Oswalt. Unfortunately, the Phillies appear to be better in all phases (except, possibly, the bullpen) than the Braves now that Hamels is pitching well again. I wouldn’t be surprised if McCann managed to get the first game of the WS in Philadelphia. ):
Also, since Heyward is no longer a drag on the offense, my Joe Morgan-like analysis is that the Braves current right fielder seems to be better than their previous right fielder. Of course, he’s probably not as good in the clubhouse.
If we can get through the next three games, we get the Mets! We are saved!
Here is another good article on Heyward:
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/6618/jason-heywards-chase-for-400
Regardless of how the season wraps up (obviously, we are DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!), we have a lot of reasons to be excited for the future too. I am still holding out hope, but it is getting harder to do so as the level of play gets more & more inconsistent. Hopefully they have one more good burst in them…
Not that I expect much more from Karl Ravech, but this piece about Derek Jeter is simply moronic.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/notebook/_/page/bbtn100913/baseball-tonight-clubhouse
I think we should skip Minor’s next start after the one agianst the Nationals. We would get the Phillies with Hanson, JJ and Hudson. I am sure that is what we will do.
The Phillies also have a problem with LHP though, particularly Howard. So it might actually benefit to have a LH ready to face them, since that is going to be a crucial series.
With the off day this week, all the pitchers should get an extra day of rest. Hopefully that will refresh them.
“Wall, meet Tim Hudson. Tim, meet wall.”
I love you Mac.
I am so happy for Nate. I really want him to do well. Why on earth is Bobby playing Melky everyday? Is Matty hurt or something?
I would like to see Bobby try the following lineup just once sometime during the remainder of the season:
1. Prado, 3B
2. McLouth, CF
3. Infante, 2B
4. Heyward, RF
5. McCann, C
6. Lee/Glaus, 1B (or Freeman, but I doubt he starts more than 5 games the rest of the season)
7. Hinske/Diaz, LF
8. Gonzalez, SS
9. P
McLouth is hitting well lately and should have better results than he has. I would like to see what he could do back on top of the lineup and possibly on the basepaths if Bobby were to let him steal a couple of times. Put him behind Prado because he seems to be hitting the ball pretty far as well, so maybe he could drive in Prado with some long singles or doubles.
Infante could be moved down to 5th with Heyward and McCann going 3-4, but that just puts 3 LH hitters in a row, and I’m not sure that’s smart given our overall struggles against LHP. It just sets up 3 potentially easy outs in a row in what’s supposed the be the heart of the lineup.
McLouth didn’t seem to have his act together at AAA so while everything seems great now, I wonder if he will soon hit another dry spell and be nothing but an out maker that Bobby won’t get out the lineup.
Who cares if Nate starts struggling again, there is no one with more upside sitting. Ankiel, Melky, and Hinske are all awful. Bobby needs to start rotating in some 1B guys and let Diaz, Nate, and Heyward control the OF. The worst thing about Melky is that he tries to be a switch hitter and he cant hit from either side. Bobby hasnt noticed that and continues to play him. Oh yeah, his defensive skills are awful too
Infante
Heyward
Prado
Bmac
Lee/Glaus or Diaz if you give Freeman a shot
Nate
AAG
Diaz or Freeman – see above
I am trapped in a
Glass case of emotion and
Amateur poems.
I agree that it is time to move Heyward down to give him a chance to drive in more runs. The Braves are really struggling in the middle of the order. I’m not really sure there is that much difference between 3-4-5 so you might have Heyward at 3 and McCann at 5 or vice versa. Of course, having Lee in the middle of the order at this point is problematic anyway. Also, moving Heyward down possibly reduces the value of him getting on base but his walks aren’t helping if the guys behind him aren’t doing anything. Not to take anything away from Prado, and I realize he has hit some home runs, but I would like to see more of a power threat at number 3.
melky august line – .238/.307/.388/.694
september line – .200/.237/.229/.465
He also has more AB’s than any of our OF’rs not named Heyward.
I might never recover from this season. I feel like the past two weeks have had a profound impact on my psyche.
The Nats are sending something called Yunesky Maya to the mound tonight. Sounds made up.
@14
that is just stupid bad.
The first image that comes up if you Google “Melky”.
@16
That’s terrifying. On any given night the Braves’ offensive production is inversely related to how “big” the name of the opposing pitcher is. Given that “Yunesky Maya” may not even exist, it is possible that the Braves may actually score negative runs tonight.
Then again, the Braves’ offensive production is also inversely related to the skill of the pitcher on the mound for them (with the exception of Kenshin Kawakami. See Appendix III). With Derek Lowe on the mound for the Braves, it’s possible that they may score 15 runs or more.
With these two facts in mind, I expect the Braves to score 4 runs tonight. Heaven forbid however that Roy Halladay should ever pitch for the Braves against someone like Yunesky Maya. It would be the same as dividing by zero and the very fabric of the universe may become ripped right in Turner Field.
I don’t know the Rockies schedule but they are bound to go on the road where they don’t play as well.
The Rockies close with four in St.Louis. So root for the Cards to at least stay within striking distance of the Reds so they are still trying at that point.
The Rockies have three at home with the Padres (which will probably sink the Pads for good), then a road trip to LA and Arizona (two teams playing out the string), back home for three with the Giants that will probably decide the west and then the Dodgers again. Finally at the Cards.
I would expect a lot of Rockies wins from that schedule. We are going to need some W’s to stay ahead of both the Giants and Rocks.
A) The universe exploding thing made me laugh… in a sad way.
B) With the schedule this week, we SHOULD go into the Phillies series next week with at least a piece of first place. DAGNABIT
Regarding the Eagles game and the suckiness of Andy Reid:
“Why were Kolb and Bradley allowed to return to the game after the head injuries?
‘They were fine. All of the questions that they answered with the doctors registered well, but as it went on, they weren’t feeling well, so we took them out.'”
So, to him, concussed = fine.
New thread.