Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds — Box Score — May 22, 2012 — ESPN
Well, Michael Bourn tried his best, but not much additional offense showed up to help him, and Great American Smallpark got to Brandon Beachy a bit.
Beachy pitched pretty well, allowing only seven baserunners and striking out five in his seven innings of work, but he gave up three homers to the Reds’ middle-infield duo, and that was enough to beat a Braves lineup that, apart from Bourn (three hits, 10 total bases), managed only three singles and one RBI double (from Jason Heyward, in the only run-scoring play in this game that wasn’t a home run).
While Mat Latos, unlike Mike Leake, is a good pitcher, it’s still frustrating to watch the Reds continue to tee off while the Braves offense mostly just sputters. They’ll look to Tommy Hanson to try to salvage the final game of the series right the ship tomorrow; surely, they can at least hit Bronson Arroyo.
There are two more games in the series, I believe.
Yep 2 left
Chip – “tip your cap.”
You don’t say…
Maybe we should look into canceling the fourth game.
Instead of going on about the game, I’m just going to take my animosity out on Chip Caray who makes listening to Braves baseball so painstaking that I’d rather watch on mute. Thanks Chip for using your family’s name to bolster a career in broadcasting that’s not deserved.
Look on the bright side: We haven’t seen Hoover yet.
True…bad thing is Ive seen enough of Fransisco.
@8 Let’s hope Chipper can play tomorrow. Geez, the guy can’t retire. It seems like the offense can’t live without him.
Did anyone else hear Chip talk about Pastornicky and Uggla “scissoring” with each other last night? I was excited to welcome a new member to the Hall of Chip’s Most Awful Exclamations, joining “fisted” and “hot smash,” which made an appearance tonight itself.
David O’Brien @ajcbraves
#Reds 2B Phillips credited pregame tip from #Braves Chipper, who told him, “You have great hands, you need to use them.”
David O’Brien @ajcbraves
#Reds Phillips hadn’t homered since April 24 before hitting back-to-back homers in his first at-bats tonight
Umm…why are we helping the other team? His homeruns were the difference in the ballgame.
@11 Another prove that Chipper will be a great hitting coach. Yes, Chipper should have told Phillips after the last game of the series!
Perfect, Evan Gattis is on DL.
I don’t think Chipper will want to be a full time hitting coach.
Bethany,
Would you mind re-posting your link. I want to see what all the excitement is about.
Thanks!
And I, too, would love to see Hamilton in a Braves uni. But it will never happen. Whoever signs him needs to give him a series of one-year contracts that make him the highest paid player for that particular year.
Best for him. Best for the team.
What’s wrong with Gattis?
Players talk to each other before games. They talk about hitting. They talk about pitching. They talk about fielding. They talk about the best strip clubs to go to and pick up a nice piece of ass after the game. It’s what they do.
There’s a photo of Adam Morrison floating around (in front of a Brooklyn Nets banner) that is a must see. Can’t find it at the moment, but it’s worth a search.
@15 http://eephusleague.com/magazine
@16 Gattis hurt his hand, not sure how.
Phillips’ last home run was a GABP special-just a fly ball that went out in a band box. Several of the others were like that too, I think. But you can’t score 4 runs in two games there and expect to win.
Gattis was hit by a pitch.
Is it my imagination, or does Bourn often have his best games when nobody else is doing anything?
“I guess you’ve got to tip your hat to their starting pitching.” – Fredi
“Got to tip your hat last night to Mike [Leake], same thing tonight with Mat [Latos].” – Heyward
You should only be allowed to tip your cap one time during a series.
I think the Braves will come out tonight without their hats so they don’t have to waste time tipping them.
Good point. Heyward seems to be missing a lot of hittable pitches lately.
Good job, Stu!
Check out the Google homepage, today. Awesome.
@26 My coworkers have all been playing with that all morning. With their speakers all the way up.
Oh wow:
@InsideEdgeScout: Edge Note: Martin Prado has swung and missed just 1 fastball this month and 4 all season.
Wow @ 28. Where does someone find those numbers?
I bet Heyward missed 4 last night.
@29 I’m not entirely sure, here’s their website, they provide scouting services and seem to have a lot of pitch tracking tech.
Heyward has very good plate discipline and has some great at bats, but he seems to have a significant hole in his swing that pitchers can exploit. If he can’t hit (high) fastballs at 22, that’s a concern.
In the near future, I hope that there’s enough advancement in science to splice the Heyward/Freeman gene pool and make a super-human baseball player. It seems like both players could benefit by taking a bit of each other’s approach at the plate.
Credit where its due, good job Fredi.
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/05/22/braves-manager-not-amused-by-franciscos-actions-after-homer/
But no one can hit high fastballs. Pitchers have been busting hitters up and in for a hundred years because that pitch is right at eye level, it looks deceptively easy to hit, and it’s completely impossible to catch up, especially if you have any kind of uppercut. The key for Heyward will be for him to lay off it, not to learn how to hit it.
Interesting fact: of all of Heyward’s strikes, this year, far more are swinging and more are foul balls, far fewer are looking, than in past years.
2010: 33% looking, 15% swinging, 26% foul, 26% in play
2011: 27% looking, 18% swinging, 27% foul, 28% in play
2012: 22% looking, 23% swinging, 28% foul, 26% in play
League average: 28% looking, 15% swinging, 27% foul, 30% in play
@35 It’s the swinging and missing that I am worried about.
If anyone cares, Jim Bowden thinks that the Braves could trade for Zach Grienke (who is a free agent after the season).
@33: As long as you can control the process. Otherwise you’ll end up with a player with the selectivity of Jeff Francoeur, the power of Jack Wilson, and the attitude of Yunel Escobar….
Me too, Bethany. Believe me. But I am encouraged by all those long at-bats we’ve seen him have, where he spoils pitch after pitch. And his strikeout rate really isn’t that problematic. What worries me is that his walk rate is actually lower than it was last year, and much lower than it was in his amazing 2010.
@34, “They know him. I don’t think the kid did it maliciously. He said, ‘That’s just the way I do things.’ I said, you’ve got 10 home runs in the big leagues, what do you mean that’s the way you do things?”
great take . . . and in light of that, I take back 2 things that I’ve said about Fredi over the past 6 months. But only two.
@39 Definitely agree about the ABs. That’s what is keeping me from freaking out. Because right now I want to freak out.
Grienke? Yes. Win one for the Chipper. I think this is a great year to make a big move that might not make long term sense, but it helps a ton in the immediate future.
Heywards BB’s are down, K’s are up, and his OPS has dropped .102 this month. Its early, but Im concerned with the amount of hittable pitches that he’s missing.
He doesnt seem to be hitting those weak grounders anymore so thats a plus.
#34: All teams should be so cognizant of their players worst tendencies, and proactive in dealing with them before other teams do it for them. Good for Fredi.
#41: I’m all of “winning one for the Chipper” (I like the sound of that), but isn’t Grienke a major-league asshole?
Drew Sutton went 2-4 in his debut with the Rays.
@44
Sutton would have proven to be an obvious offensive upgrade over Pastornicky, and sadly, a defensive upgrade.
@37
Wonder if Minor and a lottery ticket would get it done?
Drew Sutton is batting cleanup for the Rays today. He’s 1-1 with a double, driving in leadoff hitter Carlos Pena. Explain that.
DOB on twitter seems to think that Dempster would be a better target.
@48
As a short-term rental, I think I agree.
FWIW, Twins DFA’d Jason Marquis
#26/27
Welcome to my world.
I only found out last year that it rhymes with “rogue,” not “Boog.”
@48
He would be cheaper
MLB Trade rumors agrees with me
Chipper’s STILL out.
Bourn 8
Prado 7
Freeman 3
Uggla 4
McCann 2
Hinske 9
Pastornicky 6
Francisco 5
Hanson 1
Francisco must be in the dog house
Id much rather see Prado at 3B and any combination of Heyward/Hinske/Diaz
@56
I’d much rather see Prado at SS. I’m not thoroughly convinced he’d be any worse defensively than Pastornicky.
I got my haircut today. My barber says next month the following deal is going down:
ATL gets: Grienke and Loe
Mil gets: Minor, Todd Redmond and Pastornicky
Simmons to the show
Pastornicky is -13 in runs saved so far, so no I dont think he could be THAT much worse.
To my eye, he’s no worse than -12.
Carlos Pena gets on base. So far this year, that’s his only skill. Batting him leadoff is actually one of those SABRy things that makes some folks all wet in the pants for Joe Maddon.
So is the fact that the Rays have made the playoffs in three of the past four seasons despite playing in the same division as the richest team in baseball.
There are far more undeserving people to get weak-kneed for.
Sorry, the same division as the TWO richest teams in baseball.
Who currently share last place, I believe.
Tee-hee.
(I know it won’t last, but it’s still fun.)
Heck, Bethany – that’s outstanding!
Bronson Arroyo’s hair is a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Damn it, Freddie. Get it in the air.
That wasn’t tremendously easy, but Freddie should have made that pick.
It seems like Freddie’s scooping skills have dropped off significantly this year.
Pastornicky continues to impress.
I think you mean depress, Coop.
McCann was apparently scratched with flu-like symptoms for the second day in a row.
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/05/23/chipper-mccann-out-of-lineup-reds-arroyo-must-be-thankful/
That’s some bender.
Good inning, Tommy. Please don’t torture us tonight.
I’ll be damned if Cracker Jack “surprises” are the biggest letdown in the world.
aren’t*
Hinske’s a gazelle out there. Two good innings in a row.
Oh Danny Boy!
UGGLA!
No one’s going to yell UGGLAAAAAAAAAAAA? Geez.
That’s what a real home run looks like, Cincinnati!
That’s what we should be doing to Arroyo, even without Heyward, McCann, or Chipper.
I miss Skip Caray
BMFT
Hanson has a really great curveball.
C’mon, boys, let’s pile on some runs. It’s Bronson Freaking Arroyo for crying out loud. It’s not like his Mike Leake or somebody…
I feel like complaining, so….the CGI in that Tim Hudson cornhole spot is the worst I’ve ever seen.
Complain about how bad the offense is right now.
Got to love DOB:
“McCann, who was 9-for-8 with four homers off Arroyo, was in the original lineup but was scratched before batting practice for the second day in a row with flu-like symptoms.”
I’d like to complain about the mental image the phrase “Tim Hudson cornhole spot” gave me.
Hanson might be having his usual third-time-through-the-lineup issues, but this one’s all on the offense.
What annoys me the most about that commercial is that all four of them are celebrating. I mean, shouldn’t Ross and one of Medlen/Moylan be pissed off that he made that shot?
Gah.
I feel lucky that we escaped with a tie.
Doggies.
What a crappy call by the ump.
Nooooooooooooooooooo.
I’m sorry, did I miss the time when Michael Bourn knifed Joe West at home plate? I didn’t? Then why does he get so many bad calls?
Urrrgh. Fredi’s brain cell musta died overnight.
Chad Durb?
“DatDudeBP” is an irritating shit.
This does not appear to be our series.
Incidentally, it’s Angel Hernandez behind the plate tonight, and that was a Livan strike. Not even close.
Not entirely sure what that had to do with Fredi.
Well done. Let’s score some runs and make Chad a winner.
Angel Hernandez once got in a fight with Ty Cobb
@103 It’s like Andruw. It’s all Fredi’s fault.
We escaped. And our season’s supply of miracles decreases by one.
Well there was a good play by Pastornicky!
I am really enjoying the Chipper Jones fishing pole tour. It is fun to see what all of these teams give him. I like what the Reds have done with the bases
Don’t you know Durbin is a great pitcher when he doesn’t pitch?
Just a hypothetical question: For how long would Durbin have to continue pitching like he has this month before anyone acknowledged that it was happening?
Nick, Durbin had an ERA of 4.05 in May coming into this game. So he’s been average at best. At worst, we haven’t forgotten April’s 9.00 ERA so easily. So he may be able to be a decent last guy in the pen, but you’d be a fool to count on it.
@111 It’s like asking when did we finally accept that Andruw would never be another Willie Mays and we should just appreciate what Andruw did.
If anyone has the game DVR’d, take a look sometime at Hudson’s path to secondbase and his slide approach. In his defense, he is a pitcher, not an everyday player expected to have honed his base-running craft. Rather than a “shortest distance to a point is a straight line” approach, he approached the base as if to be rounding toward third.That, plus his adjustment to a “slide mode”, cost him at least 2 steps, the margin by which he was out. Surely, Fredi had someone on the bench faster and more base-running savvy than Huddy in a crucial situation as this.
Dammit Jonny
111- Of course, if Venters keep pitching like this, I may have to reconsider.
Venters is quickly becoming my least favorite pitcher to watch.
Gotta charge those Jonny.
Fair enough. Let’s get Bruce.
Atta baby Eric!
Nice!
Woo!
As Al Pacino would say,”Hoooo-aaahhhh!!!
Eric for the 4-6-3.
I’ll assume we’re waiting to pinch-hit Diaz for Francisco.
…or not.
Honestly, how the hell do we let 2 LH platoon hitters face Chapman in that inning? Even I don’t have a devil’s advocate defense of Fredi on that one.
No one was going to do anything against Chapman.
God dammit
Ugh. Well, I should’ve known we wouldn’t get out of here without one of those.
Screw this park.
Lisp for the loss.
As Jim Leyland would say, “Horseshit!”
What a fucking joke.
Tale of the tape on Frazier’s homer:
355 feet.
Yeah.
That was a damn popup.
That said, the joke ball park makes the Braves’ 5 runs in 3 games even worse.
I’ll be there in person tomorrow to help salvage the series. It would only be fitting if the only pitcher they beat was Cueto, right?
What a joke. Still think Heyward had a chance to catch that. This offense without Chipper is lifeless.
As soon as Chip said “nothing has been decided, we are still tied at 1 in the 9th”, I looked at my wife and said ballgame….2 pitches later I was unfortunately correct. That clown would talk about a no-hitter with the pitcher throwing it if given the chance.
@136
It’s not that hard to figure out. We’re swinging for the fences, completely abandoning our good approach all season. Meanwhile, the Reds know the truth of the matter: Just play like normal and a medium fly ball winds up as a home run. Swing from your heels and you won’t even make contact.
I appreciate the calibre of individuals on this site, the ONLY blog site of ANY type I go on. Is it the “when on the road, play for two, etc.,” logic,or why would Fredi not do as Baker did and go with Kimbrell as Dusty did with Chapman?
As Mac would say: Recrapped.