Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Box Score – April 21, 2012 – ESPN.
So the Braves can win the close ones, too. Tommy Hanson had his best outing of the year, going seven innings, striking out seven, and allowing just two runs. Meanwhile, the bullpen was impervious.
All the runs came early. The Braves should have gotten more than one run in the first, scoring on a bases-loaded walk by Chipper (hitting sixth) But that was all they got. Hanson allowed a single and a double in the first, then a groundout to tie it.
Martin Prado hit a single to score Jack Wilson in the second, then the D-Backs tied it with a homer in the bottom of the inning. Dan Uggla countered with a homer of his own in the third, and that was it for the scoring.
The D-Backs got a couple on in the third, but couldn’t score, and Hanson shut them out from there. Jonny Venters struck out the side in the eighth, then Craig Kimbrel did in the ninth. It’ll work.
That was one hell of a dominant performance by Venters and Kimbrel.
And Hanson from the 4th through the 7th was pretty good as well.
Fredi says it’s no certainty that Delgado goes down when Hudson returns, but could send him to the bullpen. It didn’t sound like they’d even discussed the possibility of DLing or sending Jurrjens down (who still has options).
One good thing: Next week might be the end of Durbin. I’m sure the Braves will put him on waivers and pray to the Gods that someone is stupid enough to pick him up. If not, surely he’d accept the assignment to AAA considering he’d still be getting paid big league dough.
Like everyone else from SoCal, I guess Hanson can’t be bothered to show up until the 4th 🙂
Hanson’s Yahoo ownership actually went down 1%. justhank must be playing in a lot of leagues this year.
McCain has justhank. Jones has Tad. Who will be our resident Freeman hater?
Next week might be the end of Durbin. I’m sure the Braves will put him on waivers and pray to the Gods that someone is stupid enough to pick him up. If not, surely he’d accept the assignment to AAA considering he’d still be getting paid big league dough.
I’d say something appropriately Tad-like to Durbin to motivate him: “Look, you got a really great contract, far better than someone at this stage of your career can expect. But it’s time now to start thinking of the team. Do yo really want to hobble the team’s chance at success for your own vanity and ego? Aren’t there higher aspirations for someone like you than being an overly-paid anchor in the payroll just playing out the string? We’re gonna try and do right by you, but maybe you could try and do right by basic human decency and just walk out on top.”
Whatcha think?
Needs more ellipses.
It’s Sunday, ya’ll.
Bourn cf
Prado lf
Freeman 1b
McCann c
Uggla 2b
Hinkse rf
Francisco 3b
Wilson ss
Delgado p
McCann and not Ross? Well he didn’t totally punt.
You guys don’t care, but I have to say that I’ve never lived in a place where the people were as unlikable as they are in Boston. I’ve been here 3 months and haven’t met anyone worth getting to know better.
Another day without word of a longer term deal for Heyward or Freeman, another day I chew off a fingernail.
Hinske in RF today, according to DOB. Funtimes.
(I’m starting Ian Kennedy today. I have no choice. Outside parentheses, I will be rooting for the Braves. Inside, I will tell you I am filled with utter dread for Mr. Kennedy. Utter dread.)
Worse than Baltimore, Bethany?
Look, I know all you morons just loooove Freddie Freeman because he had a couple good games against a couple terrible pitchers. Whoopee. Apparently you all forgot that he started the season 4-for-21 or that he batted .251/.307/.385 in August and September last year. Maybe if our slugging first baseman had actually hit down the stretch we would have made the playoffs.
Look, I have nothing against the guy. He just isn’t ready for the big leagues. Albert Pujols was available on the free agent market. Prince Fielder was available. Jim Thome was available. And Frank Genius Wren decided to hand the job to the guy who choked away the season in September.
Hope you liked watching that ohfer of his yesterday. Better get used to it.
That work for you, Dan?
Not sure if serious…
@12 Bravo, Alex.
@11 Fewer crazy people than Baltimore, but everyone is a selfish jerk and a huge gossip. People who pick on old southern ladies and call them gossips haven’t been to Massachusetts.
Bethany, everywhere sucks. It’s the nature of existentially fallen man. On the upside, you get decent mass transit and cheap seafood.
#15: Thanks for pointing out the picking on old southern ladies. That’s a pet peeve of mine. Every stereotype has merit, but people lean on that one a little too hard.
Why the rest for Heyward? Guy’s hot and young. Seems he wouldn’t need to be rested 2 out of the first 16 games.
I do assume that Fredi is eyeing Hinske’s small sample size success against Ian Kennedy: 4 for 12, 2 doubles.
Whatever. We’ll see if it works.
I don’t have any problem giving Heyward, our second most injury-prone position player, days off.
@16 The transit is awesome, I’m not a seafood fan so that perk is lost on me. Did I mention the TMI problem? Because I know WAY more about everyone I’ve met than I care to.
Thank you, thank you.
Look…Fredi Freeman is justas good at baseball as Fredi Gonzalez…who didnt even make it out of double-a lololol!
The Diamondbacks’ Kennedy should not have won the 2011 NL Cy Young award, Simpson.
Are we going to call Francisco El Gordo?
They are definitely making this pitcher work.
Ugh.
That is inexcusable…not one pitch was close
Oh, for Lord’s sake, Randall. You don’t walk the flipping pitcher.
Wow. WTF?
I wonder how many intentional walks will have to fail before Fredi realized that they’re a terrible idea.
Delgado deserved that and just pitched his way back to AAA when Hudson returns
Why didn’t they go after the 8 hole hitter?!!
Well, that pretty much guarantees Jurrjens’ roster spot.
Oh my god.
Enjoy the bullpen or AAA, Delgado.
And so starts the beginning of the 4 game losing streak
I’ve seen some wheels fall off in my day, but damn…
They didn’t go after the 8 hole hitter because Delgado got to a 2-0 count. So rather than try to get him to groove one to get a strike, they decided to just attack the pitcher.
Unfortunately, Delgado couldn’t find the strike zone.
Yeah, when you IBB the #8 hitter with two outs, you deserve that.
If Delgado can’t fix his control problems I don’t want him in the bullpen either.
That was a fat pitch to Parra. Wow, things escalated quickly.
Why didn’t they go after the 8 hole hitter?!! – joelk
You have to be careful with a guy hitting .167/.244/.411. Thats why!
This isn’t Fredi’s fault, it’s Delgado’s fault for being unable to throw a single strike to the PITCHER.
Wow. I think I’ve found someone slower than McCann, and that is Delgado. How in the world did he not beat that high chop grounder?
Never forget that Parra kills us. .328 .379 .475. And while that’s his first grand slam, he was a .417 career hitter with the bases loaded.
The intentional walk was exactly the right move, in this very specific situation.
#42 – He also couldnt get one over the plate to McDonald either.
Nice job Martin
WOOOO! Chipping away.
Go Prado. Go Braves. (It hurts. It hurts.)
Hey, a rally. (This does not look good.)
If Chip and Joe say anything else about Kennedy being robbed of the 2011 Cy Young I’m going to face palm myself into oblivion.
@46 very true.
Ah hell
“If Chip and Joe say anything else about Kennedy being robbed of the 2011 Cy Young I’m going to face palm myself into oblivion.”
But he won 21 games!
(The 2003 Ortiz argument.)
Really mad at McCann for not going for the sac fly.
Wooo! Martin!
42—It’s never 100% anyone’s fault. But you can absolutely assign some fault to Fredi for the decision; he exacerbated the big inning with a stupid managerial decision. He does this often.
Agreed, Bethany. He should have tried to get under it. Martin Prado, however, is an American hero.
Stu, on a 2-0 count, it’s not outlandish to try to face the pitcher. Generally speaking, an IBB is only warranted when the OBP of the next batter is lower than the BA of the batter you’re trying to walk, and since it was the pitcher, that criterion was definitely satisfied. Battling back from a 2-0 count would have risked hanging a fat pitch to a guy who’s actually paid to hit. If he had just thrown a single strike to the pitcher, instead of a meatball to Parra, it would almost certainly have been a moot point.
What was that?
Oof, bad move.
58—Giving a free base to a guy who can’t hit, when there are two outs, is never sound strategy.
And no one is saying Delgado did anything other than fail in Kennedy’s PA.
Down 3 and trying to stretch a clear single into a double. Not smart, Dan. Looks like today is the day the streak is broken if this kind of play keeps up.
Stu, I agree!
Yeah, doesn’t feel like our day.
Dang, Bourne. I should talk crap about him more often.
Why do second-base umpires hate Michael Bourn?
awesome job with the call ump.
Jeez. What a joke.
Terrible call.
Bobby would have argued that, I bet. We would have gotten two runs out of Freddie’s hit!
Cost us a freaking run!
Chip away. Chip away.
Last year I woulda thought this game was over. We do have some ability to battle back. Which is nice
We could be tied if McCann had a better approach in the 3rd and second base umpires around the world didn’t hate Bourne. We are still in it.
Yeah — what is up with second base umps and Bourn? Are his feet just too quick for human eyesight?
It looked like the ump didn’t know what to call and called him out on instinct. There was a guilty pause.
MLB should adopt a NFL type replay challenge system. On plays like that, Fredi should have the option to challenge and go to replay in New York and get the call right.
Of course trusting Fredi to challenge the right calls is another matter all together.
Fredi may not even know a ballgame is being played. Fredi get up to argue a call? Cmon…
Meanwhile, in the NBA, Metta World Peace was just ejected for elbowing James Harden.
oh my god why are we bringing out chad durbin????
Get pumped, everybody…IT’S DURBIN TIME
Well he did so well in this scenario the other night, right?
80—Showcase. Gonna flip him to Arizona for Parra.
Great, the white flag.
Really Fredi, Durbin? Medlen and LISP were warming up last inning.
Medlen hasn’t pitched since Thursday, right?
Then isn’t this the perfect place for him to pitch two or three innings?
*exhale*
Durbin isn’t so much a groundball or a flyball pitcher as a line drive pitcher.
They should let him throw BP when our bats next to into a funk.
Ooh, or Uggla could sleep with him, since he’s got to be the ultimate slump-buster.
Makes you dream about the Kolb days
Dangit.
Durbin has pitched more innings than OFlaherty now.
Hack, hack, hack.
Remember when our offense was awesome?
That was cool.
There’s the death blow.
So Durbin Poison was more effective today than the Lisp.
@94: 3 runs off Kennedy in 7 innings is an accomplishment. He’s pretty good.
@61: No, you are mixing up can’t hit with can’t hit well. McDonald can’t hit well. Kennedy can’t hit. The decision to walk with a 2-0 count was the right one.
McDonald *can* field pretty well, though. My goodness.
When John McDonald was a Blue Jay, he may have been the best defensive shortstop in the league. But he couldn’t hit. He’s sort of like an AL Jack Wilson.
@99: Well, I’m sure in some universe it’s a good idea to pitch down two balls to the guy with a .600 OPS over a fresh count to the guy with a .427.
David, I’m not sure why you think we would be opposing managers. Here’s what I wrote above, at comment 58:
@101: My bad. Sorry also for the ninja edit as your comment now doesn’t make sense to anyone but the two of us. I erased it precisely because I realized you weren’t taking a position.
Francisco is on a little bit of a roll.
100—I wonder if, in that universe, five runs scored in the second inning.
Maybe JJ can lower that 8.10 ERA tomorrow. Id advise him to pitch around Kemp and Ethier.
Oh well. Still a very good series.
Bummer. You figure if Delgado just doesn’t walk the pitcher and the 2B ump gets the call right on Bourne it’s a completely different game.
Still, can’t complain too much right now the way the Braves are playing.
FWIW, I had no problem with the IBB. It was the right call in that situation.
@104, probably not. But in that universe, Kang is president and Kodos is vice president.
Recapped.
@108: Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.