Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – May 10, 2011 – ESPN.
What’s the point of a comeback if you aren’t going to come back all the way? Aren’t you really just wasting everyone’s time and energy?
The Braves fell behind 7-1 through five thanks largely to totally inept defense. You know I’m not much for the idea of “unearned” runs, but the first four (of all seven) runs that Tim Hudson gave up were scored unearned, and two were extremely unearned. In the first, Freddie Freeman botched a ground ball by the leadoff hitter, allowing him to reach. He stole second, then Diory Hernandez botched another ground ball, which was scored a hit, no doubt due to the powerful pro-Diory Hernandez lobby that got another error turned into a hit on Sunday. The lead runner scored on a double play.
The defense was just getting warmed up. It was still 1-0 with two out and nobody one in the fourth when Freeman committed another error allowing Adam LaRoche to reach, then Nate McLouth out and out dropped a fly ball to make it second and third. Hudson allowed a homer to the next batter, whose run is scored as unearned even though that makes no sense and it was 4-0.
Martin Prado homered in the bottom of the inning, breaking up a perfect game by Jason Marquis, because why not, but the Braves couldn’t get a hit after Chipper and McCann walked, then the Nats got three “earned” runs on a Jayson Werth homer in the fifth to seemingly put it away.
But in the eighth, the Braves got five runs. Prado singled (after Cristhian Martinez was allowed to hit leading off — Fredi had given up) and then Eric Hinske, who had entered the game for Jason Heyward because, apparently, Heyward was just stinking up the joint, doubled him home. Chipper singled to make it 7-3, then McCann walked, and Dan Uggla finally did something, hitting a three-run homer to cut it to a one-run game. But they couldn’t get the last run; Brooks Conrad came close with a drive in the ninth but it was caught at the warning track.
A few more of those and do we call it a Diory (formerly known as a Prado)?
Agreed on the comeback sentiment;might as well have saved that for tomorrow. Btw, the pro-freeman lobby overturned that second error on him and got it turned into a single.
Oh, and yes, Heyward is stinking up the joint, he’s now hitting around .070 in May. Let’s see the braves send him back to AA for a couple of days a la francoueur.
heyward looks lost up there.
Diory Hernandez has mastered the ‘Prado.’
so I finally get to watch an entire game and the team plays like this?
oh, of course, heyward is hurt: numbness on shoulder for the last 7-10 days, he’s going to get an MRI…
gonna start calling him glass man soon >:(
Heyward’s shoulder has been hurting for about ten games and led to his exit tonight, according to Fredi in the post game comments just now. Not that I’m happy for an injury, but some explanation other than just total loss of skill is heartening.
Why in the hell has he played the last 7-10 games then?
csg, he actually says it has been an issue since spring training. terrible atlanta medical staff is terrible…
hopefully this won’t be another Schafer situation.
How much of the issue is the medical staff?
Don’t many major leaguers feel like they have to tough it out and be out there all the time (even if they’re obviously not right)?
Non-rhetorical question: When the manager makes the lineup, is he more likely to listen to the player or the med staff on whether the player’s good to go on a nagging injury?
Dear Fredi Gonzalez,
By having the pitcher bat in the bottom of the 8th instead of a pinch hitter, you showed that you had given up on your players. If a pinch hitter would’ve gotten on base, then the Braves would have tied the game after being behind by 6 runs. Don’t ever show that you have given up on a game like that again, this is BRAVES COUNTRY and we don’t give up!
Just to add to the topic.
Terrible news on Heyward. So, does Prado move to right for the time being? Bringing in Hinske to play left might be good for the offense, but bringing in Hinske to play right can’t be good for anybody.
Not fair to Prado to move him. Would you call up Schafer and move Louth to RF? Knowing the Braves, it’ll probably be Mather…
Wait, Heyward has numbness creeping up his arm? His right hand went numb, and now he’s feeling the pain in his forearm? And it’s been hurting since SPRING TRAINING?
Oh good. Another bang-up job by our crack medical team.
I’m certainly no expert, but I’m guessing that it is a compressed nerve.
Not a good day. Ugly game and bad news on Heyward. Who is going to play RF should he be out?
It’s the player’s job to insist he can play through an injury, it’s the job of the medical staff to see through the bullshit and overrule the player.
Ours doesn’t understand that. They’re awful.
Heyward’s career in ATL seems like it’s going to be marked with injury. Such a disappointment.
I think they’d been saving up all the bad defense for the whole year to put on display for Huddy tonight. Wowsers.
I imagine they’ll have Mather play RF tomorrow. Because I guess he serves a role on this team?
And I’ll echo everyone else’s sentiments on this thread and decide that Heyward’s career in Atlanta will be a HUGE disappointment because he’s had a couple of nagging injuries. I mean, everyone else who’s been hear but missed time on a semi-consistent basis has been a major disappointment after all.
What’s the point of the comeback? It gives me a save by Storen. Yes Mac, I am evil.
I think we are slowly treating Heyward like how we treated Andruw.
Sure, it’s only been 2 years in the Majors for Heyward but he was hurt every year in the Minors as well. He seems as fragile as a leg lamp.
Well now I am concerned and relieved at the same time. Concerned that Heyward’s injury may be more than minor and leaves us with Joe Mather in right field. Relieved because there for a while I was wondering if the NL had figured out Jason and he couldn’t adjust. At least the nagging injury explains his poor performance of late.
Before jumping on the medical staff, does anyone even know if Heyward made them aware of his shoulder? Maybe he did, but it’s not clear from the comments when he made them aware of the injury.
Re letting Martinez hit in the 8th–just awful. Even if no rally occurs, there would be no harm having Linebrink or Sherrill pitch the 9th, especially since neither pitched Sunday and Monday was an off day.
I wonder if the pain in Heyward’s shoulder is causing his bat to slow some and allowing him to get owned on the inner half?
@25 I love him, but Heyward would probably tell them if he had a hangnail.
Everyone keeps harping on the inside pitches to Heyward. Its the outside curveballs that he’s swinging over the top of. Any 2 strike count and its predictable, offspeed away.
If Heyward missed time we would probably be looking at a Hinske/Mather platoon.
Now might be the time to find an Infante type player on the trade market.
Of all things the dang shoulder. It could take a long time for that to heal and if he needs surgery ………
The Heyward – Cliff Floyd comparison looks pretty accurate right now.
If Heyward goes to the DL, I guess we’ll see if Mather has anything of value to contribute to this club. Then Wren will probably cycle through the rest of the AAA options before exploring the trade market.
We have other AAA options?
@34 ****ing success, of course.
Anyone see the segment on the Daily show regarding Gloria Aldred and Roger McDowell.
He got on ol’ Gloria’s case pretty good. It was funny.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/ (3rd segment)
The 4th segment with Will Ferrell continues the bit. It is awesome.
Schafer, Constanza, Mather, Young, Gartrell, Wilkin…None of these guys should be considered options for this team. Miss squad doenst look any better either.
@25
It’s not like the medical staff has a track record of success and catching injuries early. They come off as lazy at best, and totally incompetent at worst.
The symptoms sound like a bulging cervical disc compressing a nerve, as Mac said. Which is treatable with physical therapy, unless the disc is herniated, in which case they’ll have to remove it and replace it with a fragment of bone likely taken from his hip. I have had this done. It. Sucks.
As to Heyward being injury-prone, isn’t the simplest explanation that he’s 21 years old and has added, what, 40 pounds of muscle in the last four years? I’m going to withhold judgment on that one.
Its probably just a sore shoulder. If this was a major injury, partial tear or nerve issue, we wouldve seen signs from him either throwing or swinging that it was truly hurting. There’s no way he’d be sliding head first and swinging for the fences if it was a major issue.
edit: playing with it hurt since Spring Training has probably turned it into a potential major injury now though. The numbness in the arm/hand isnt good news.
Didn’t he just injure his thumb last year? That has more to do with him sliding head first than actually being injury prone. Unless I’m forgetting something, this recent injury could just have easily been his first in the bigs.
Going forward, it would be nice to see the medical staff treat the future super star of the franchise with kid gloves. I dunno, maybe you don’t let a 20/21 year old decide whether or not he’s able to play through an injury ever year. At this point I’d be giving him an MRI every time he strikes out more than twice a game.
Well, two years ago he was forced to leave the fall league with a lower back strain. He has missed time in ATL with thumb and groin injuries. He did miss time in Spring Training with a different back injury. Now it appears the same will happen with a shoulder injury.
Id say its safe to say he’s injury prone.
The thing about a nerve issue is that it crops up in odd ways. For instance, when I had a pinched nerve I could still lift a beer keg, but holding my hands in the 10-and-2 position while driving was beyond excruciating.
He’s 21 and growing. It’s been a bunch of different things, never anything major. I don’t think it’s fair, at all, to label him injury-prone.
Sansho1, you’re correct. Ive got a shoulder issue right now that needs to be checked out. I work out 5 times a week and can do any exercise except for incline press or shoulder press. Any movement lifting above my head sends pain shooting down my arm. However, swinging a softball bat and throwing doesnt effect me at all. Go figure…
Better get it looked at soon, csg. If I’d waited a couple more weeks to get surgery, the doc said the nerve would have died and I’d have lost feeling and strength in my right arm permanently.
I’m not worried about Heyward. It isn’t a big deal yet.
I hope Uggla is about to start dominating.
Nobody’s fault. It’s sports. Happens.
Let’s just hope the rest of the lineup can pick up the slack.
There’ll be a Joe Mather sighting tonight, guaranteed…
Ok, so maybe Heyward’s not injury prone. Would the term be “growing-pain” prone? Whatever it is, he’s missed quite a bit of time in his professional career.
Jeff Fiorentino, the guy we just picked up from the Orioles, might be the next best outfielder in the organization if Heyward has to go to the DL.
Jeff Fiorentino, the guy we just picked up from the Orioles, might be the next best outfielder in the organization
That’s quite the indictment.
Really, I might be most interested in seeing Constanza. None of these guys are great hitters, but Constanza has wheels.
@54
That can’t be legal in the major leagues. What’s next? Rocket shoes?
@55 Miniature ponies. THEN rocket shoes