167 thoughts on “Sparkly. Sept. 22, Braves at Phillies”

  1. I don’t really have a man-crush on Melky, though I imagine I could be man-crushed by him if he sat on me or something.

  2. He can’t even make it to first base without huffing and puffing – it’s gross and unattractive. I need more stamina.

  3. Same as last night

    Infante – 4
    Heyward – 9
    Prado – 5
    McCann – 2
    Lee – 3
    McLouth – 7
    Gonzalez – 6
    Ankiel – 8
    Hanson – 1

  4. Here’s the one we have to win. Being tied for the wild card going into Nats and Marlins series does not sit well with me.

  5. This one is my favorite:

    Mr. Francoeur is well-liked among his teammates. Mr. Manuel said Sunday that he wanted to keep playing Mr. Francoeur “as much as possible, bringing those intangibles.”

    “Yes, this poison I’m drinking does strip away the membranes protecting my esophagus and dissolve my organs,” said Mr. Manuel, “but it’s got a very pleasant, oaky nose.”

  6. Well, it’s important for a team to have a guy that has such a bright smile that he just lights up the room! That’s probably worth two runs a game.

  7. At least we have a starter who is one of the 25 best pitchers in the league pitching tonight instead of a rookie fill-in.

  8. I’m not buying into all the gloom and doom, not just yet. A nice little run to secure the wild card would probably bring everyone back from the brink. Hanson has pitched well lately, and I think he can give us a good shot tonite. If we get to the WC, I think all bets are off, our Starting three of Hudson/Hanson/Lowe, plus our ability to shorten the game with our bullpen, whose major members (Wagner especially) hasnt been really overworked ( with the exception of last night), we could be strong in a best of 5 series. I refuse to give up on this team, I remember the 80’s!

  9. san diego, just like us, are 5-5 over their last 10 games. colorado is 6-4. if current trends continue, we win the wild card by 1 game.

  10. without clinching early and being able to rest someone, how can we lineup our best three starters for the playoffs?

  11. A win tonight and a loss by our closest WC competitors would go a long way towards lifting the gloom.

    I hate to think about what losing the WC lead would do to this team.

    And why in the hell is Melky in the lineup instead of Diaz?

    Sigh. I miss Kelly Johnson and his 22 homeruns. (Btw, if you’re going to say that KJ’s homers were park-influenced, wouldn’t you have to say that about Utley, Howard, etc.?)
    ———————-

    Sure wish the UK v. Gaytor game was in Lexington. Just got a feeling … (probably heartburn)

  12. looking at our final games, how would you set up the pitching matchups?

    22 – Hanson at Philly
    23 – off
    24 – Huddy @ Wash
    25 – Lowe @ Wash
    26 – JJ @ Wash
    27 – Hanson vs Fla
    28 – Beachy/Minor/Lisp vs Fla
    29 – Huddy vs Fla
    30 – off
    1st – Lowe vs Phi
    2nd – JJ vs Phi
    3rd – Hanson vs Phi
    4th – off
    5th -off
    6th – playoffs start

    that look about right?

  13. DOB tweets that Bobby said the Braves will consider starting Beachy instead of Minor next time. Cox was concerned that Minor recently said he was tired.

    Also Prado is playing with a sore groin

  14. FWIW, one NLDS series will start on Oct. 7, the other Oct. 6.

    Looking merrily forward, if the Braves make the post-season, their 2 NLDS home games would be Saturday/Sunday, Oct 9-10.

  15. out of respect to the blog, i’ve erased two 2011 roster ideas. i cant help being doom and gloom right now and looking forward to 2011 helps me cope. go braves, i guess.

  16. Serious question: Is Conrad in good health? We haven’t seen much of him lately.

    Less serious: That’s an approproiate series for the Braves right now- our bats are in eclipse, our pitchers are breaking dawn (er, down), and our season is in its twilight. We’re meyered in mediocrity.

  17. He better stop or he’ll need lasix surgery like BMac, or at least thats what the nuns at my catholic school used to tell me.

  18. Marc, from the last thread: I was honestly not commenting on your point. I agree with it. I was trying to make fun of espn–to suggest that someone there would actually and sincerely say something like “The Braves lack speed, power, and defense. Other than that, they are a perfect team.”

    Sorry for the confusion.

  19. I didn’t know our pitchers could have six-pitch innings! I thought there was a league rule against it or something.

  20. Infante must have just been avoiding the nine-pitch, three-strikeout embarrassment. Honestly, just the word “bunt” makes me clench my teeth of late.

  21. I wonder how long it’s going to take Omar to realize this bunting for a hit thing isn’t working.

  22. This is one of those old school, (Smoltz, Maddux, Glavine) then David Justice hit a 2 run homer in the 8th. Type of games

  23. The ice got thin and cracked a lot, but at least Hanson didn’t get wet. Now, let’s score a run or two. Please?

  24. #63, I know. I keep going to Gameday to check where the pitches actually are.

    For the record, the strikeout pitch to Howard was belt high, and almost down the pipe, too good of a strike to be honest.

  25. Dobbs sucks. Bobby’s likely figuring that putting in the LHP would mean Manuel would pull him and hit a better RH hitter against the LHP.

  26. @93

    I think the ball was coming out anyways, but Ruiz still grabbed at Prado’s glove arm. Based on intent, that was a total Fick-head move.

  27. praying to the baseball gods because i’m pretty sure that the real god doesnt care if the braves win or not.

  28. Hasn’t given up an earned run in a save opportunity in nearly a month. Magic eight-ball says: outlook not so good.

  29. The Phillies are the beat team in at least the NL. We played then tough, but they are just better. We make small mistakes, they don’t make any and they jump on ours.

    IF we play like this the rest of the way, we will be fine.

  30. “IF we play like this the rest of the way, we will be fine.”

    With bad defense and no hitting? Probably not. There is no silver lining when you get swept, especially in a series like this one. The Braves should be embarrassed. I sure am.

  31. Rockies leading 4-0 in the 1st with Ubaldo on the mound. I think we can probably write that one off now.

  32. Tommy pitched great (again), we have basically no one after the 4 spot that can remotely be considered a threat to get on base. Venters has been trotted out night after night in pressure situations. At least our baby Braves (Jason, Venters, Kimbrel, Freddie all looked good in this series). I desperately want to make the playoffs, but at this juncture I’m not sure why, because I really can’t believe we could win a game with what we try to pass off as a line-up. Before anyone jumps me for being negative, I remember the Pat Rockett, Sugar Bear Blanks, Rod Gilbreath days, yeah, this is loads better, but we just don’t have major league caliber players to put in the line-up at LF and CF. I’m amazed Bobby’s gotten us to 86 wins.

  33. I don’t think we get to 90 wins. Prado playing hurt is killing us, but apparently we have nobody else that can play 3rd and hit 3rd (because that’s where the 3rd baseman has to hit, right Bobby?).

    Remember back in the good old days when Hinske played some LF? I guess he’s retired now.

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