Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets – Box Score – August 06, 2011 – ESPN.
The Braves. Sigh.
Jair Jurrjens is on the DL, and now Tommy Hanson has gone completely Albie on us. Hanson was charged with seven runs in three and a third, and allowed four homers. In the first, he allowed a solo homer to Justin Turner, just his third of the season, then a single and a double to make it 2-0. He somehow got out of a second-and-third, none-out situation in the second.
In the third, the Braves batted around for five runs, getting singles from Bourn, Freeman, Uggla, Ross, and AAG and a walk by Prado. And Hanson immediately gave two runs back, giving up a two-out homer to Jason Bay in the bottom of the inning. In the fourth, Michael Bourn singled leading off… then got caught stealing in front of Martin Prado‘s triple, and Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla struck out.
As I’ve said before, nobody knows why Fredi does much of what he does. For instance, he just sat there and let Hanson lose the game. Josh Thole hit the third homer off of Hanson leading off the fourth. Jose Reyes walked, stole second, and stole third, but it wasn’t until Turner doubled his home run count for the year to make it 7-5 that Fredi finally went to Cristhian Martinez.
The Braves had lots of chances to get back even — second and third, one out in the fifth, no runs. They got one run on an Alex Gonzalez groundout with two on in the sixth. But Fredi, in his mystical way, brought in George Sherrill in the bottom of the inning to relieve Anthony Varvaro with a runner on second and one out. By the time Sherrill finished, it was 10-6. Scott Proctor, because he is Scott Proctor, added a run in the eighth; Uggla hit a solo shot in the ninth to get the last run. This team needs a righthanded reliever. And a new manager. And a new training staff.
By the way, Uggla and Heyward now have the same batting average, and virtually the same OPS.
That is a frightening observation….
JC’d from last thread:
For everybody bitching about minor things Fredi did, this loss is 100 percent Tommy Hanson’s fault. Fredi’s seriously not supposed to let Hanson go out for the fourth freaking inning? Give me a break. After we got the 5-2 lead, it was Hanson’s job to figure out how to get that game to O’Ventbrel, and he failed in the most miserable manner imaginable. Not gonna get into whether or not he’s overrated. But he single-handedly blew this game, and people being a little bit upset with him tonight isn’t absurd.
Arizona lost (Cards creeped a little closer, though) and we’re one day closer to McCann’s return. Hope Minor has it working tomorrow.
BTW, since a 4-game losing streak in early June, the Phils are a tidy 40-15. Yikes.
I’m disappointed too. And I’m not going to get worked up over this, but “Francouerian” levels of hate? More like landogardnerian (or whatever that guy’s name was) levels of irrational singling out. Tommy Hanson is slumping. Most players slump at some point. And I realize that this blog is kind of an emotional history of the Braves, at least as far as the comments go. But the word “hate” shouldn’t even enter the picture on this one.
“Not gonna get into whether or not he’s overrated. But he single-handedly blew this game, and people being a little bit upset with him tonight isn’t absurd.”
Well, since the charge of absurdity had to do with the Hanson “hate” and the multiple charges that he is overrated – by whom I’m not sure, but let’s leave that aside right now – I think it’s somewhat odd to be defensive. Because everybody is at least “a little bit upset with him tonight.” Who wouldn’t be upset about this debacle of a performance?
Now, is it absurd to generalize from this performance, or even the last few weeks of performances? Yes, yes it is. More to the point, has this level of animosity materialized before, in some cases (and among certain people) long before the recent bad stretch? Yes, yes it has. And it is, indeed, absurd. I’m not going to go copy and paste the comments in particular, but tonight at least the hysteria reached a clichéd fervor. It’s one game.
re: Fredi, yes he probably should have taken his pitcher out after he surrendered two home runs and four runs in three innings. That’s why Martinez is in the bullpen – everyobody could plainly see that Hanson was awful. But hell, that’s hindsight, and I was cooking at the time, and I honestly can’t claim I had the foresight. My main point was, and remains, that Fredi should have gotten Hanson when he gave up his 3rd home run and 5th run. I was a bit shocked when Hanson stayed in the game after that, and unsurprised by the 4th home run. As for the usual theatrics with the bullpen and baserunning, I suppose some here have gotten so used to it that it seems normal. But normal or not, those decision are still stupid. Usually not game-loser type stupid, but stupid nonetheless.
I hate his delivery, I hate his beard, I hate his inability to bunt, I hate his tendency to make opposing pitchers look like Babe Ruth. I’m allowed to pick and choose what I hate. I’m not expecting anyone to agree.
@7- “I’m allowed to pick and choose what I hate.” Could not agree more. I do not personally agree with your opinion on Hanson but I recognize that’s what it is, your opinion. I do not see a need to make rational arguments why you should not feel that way because hate is, to my mind, a personal, irrational thing.
If we didn’t care about the Braves, we wouldn’t be reading Mac’s amazing site and posting our own thoughts/feelings. Even when my opinions don’t align with others, I am grateful to them for their passion- and to this forum for being an outlet for it.
Peanut says that Hanson wouldn’t use his shoulder as an excuse but he didn’t deny that he’s not healthy. If he’s going to pitch like this we’d be better off putting him on the DL and seeing what the problem is, and bringing up Teheran.
Yes, it’s a shame that these guys think they can pitch through some apparently pretty severe pains. That’s the great thing about this team, losing a guy for a few starts isn’t that devastating.
It’s odd that a guy who freely admits to loving Justin Bieber would hide shoulder pain but there you have it.
At the end of the day, it’s a game played by human. Hanson has been rather healthy in the past, and i have predicted he should be experiencing health problem this year. He may not know how to deal with injury. It’s the same learning experience Heyward is working through. Perhaps Freeman would experience the same thing next year. Who knows? Let’s hope Lowe can find his September magic touch (which is quite unlikely), we will be relying on both Minor AND Teheran very soon.
I love Huddy.
@7 & 8 – Yeah, totally. I don’t agree with the Hanson hatred, in fact I really, really like him, maybe because of his ruddy, sweaty beard and tendency to be either lights-out brilliant (16 Ks against Houston right?) or godawful (tonight, some CIN start last year or other), but irrational hatred or love (like mine of Heyward) is what being a fan is about. Matt Diaz was at no point as good as I gave him credit for being, nor was Greg Norton as bad. Feeling both ways, and occasionally forcing myself through the mental gymnastics of defending said feelings against all available proof, enriched my baseball experience.
Also, Kawakami gave up 4 runs in 1 inning of work in the gulf coast league game today. How incredibly sad is that? This is the same guy who, in 2009, beat Blue Jay Roy Halladay in a fantastic duel and gutted out a crucial win against the Dodgers that included a bases loaded, 1 out situation from which he escaped unharmed in the 7th and (his) final inning (that’s how I remember it anyway). He was/seemed like a really legitimate pitcher, and now he’s getting knocked around by the lowest of the lowly. That’s just a baseball tragedy.
@14 Too many miles in his arm when he came. Japanese pitchers tend to throw awful lots during high school. Hope the Braves will learn from this experience and stay away from old Japanese starting pitchers, unless we are talking about relief pichers.
#6,
This may be playing dirty pool, but I recall about a week-long stretch of “McCann sucks”, “How come no one is noticing that McCann is useless this year”, etc-type comments from a poster with your handle earlier this season.
I thought Varvaro pitched well. He might be becoming the RH reliever we need.
ububba is right, the Cards scare me.
@15
I played for a club team in yokohama when I was in high school. We would throw hours of batting practice to ourselves. One station was all fastballs, one station all forkballs. I blew my arm about the second weekend with the club.
@13 “Matt Diaz was at no point as good as I gave him credit for being”
True.
“nor was Greg Norton as bad.”
False.
@13
I don’t know what you gave Matt Diaz credit for but by all accounts he was a solid defensive left fielder and a career .815 OPS player with the Braves. So, he’s basically the best hitting OF we’ve had in the last 8 years.
Wait, so Hanson’s shoulder problem is lingering? Awesome. Just awesome.
I wonder how bad Jurrjens’ knee must be for him to get the DL treatment, if the Braves are willing to let Hanson go out, be ineffective, and risk serious injury.
Hanson’s fine. He just needs to stop being a puss and play better
This year’s Francouer would be our best outfielder (by far). I think that pretty much sums things up.
Surprised Minor isn’t batting 6th given today’s lineup. AAG, Constanza, Boscan, Minor – ewwww. I’m continually amazed that we’re in solid playoff contention.
@7 Bethany, I agree completely
Damn. I had this post all typed out…
“OK, two can play at this game. For a one-game trial period, I hate Jason Heyward. I hate that he’s such an overhyped, injury-prone wuss. I hate his stupid swing. I hate his nicknames, his earning potential compared to my own, his shoelaces, his earlobes. I hate him so much that I just have to subject Braves fans to the full force of my hate on Braves blog! Free Constanza!!!”
Stupid Heyward, homering like a jerk.
Wow, I can see again why we didn’t trade Minor. That hanging curve ball sure is some pitch
Ugh
Whee! This is fun. People are watching this, right?
What are the odds of AAG and Constanza going back to back? I think I’ve now seen it all.
IBB the catcher to get to the 1B with two outs? Risky.
David Wright – better shortstop than Jeter?
My favorite part of every game where it happens is watching Venters pitch.
Chipper <3 The Mets