Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets – Box Score – August 12, 2012 – ESPN.
The problem is that as well as the Braves have been playing, the teams they’re competing with are also playing well, so even winning two out of three, which is normally what you aim for, especially on the road, doesn’t seem like enough. Ben Sheets had a rough outing, and the Braves’ ninth inning comeback fell short.
The Braves got the first two on in the first, but couldn’t score. Sheets gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning on two singles and a double. Freddie Freeman cut the lead in half with a homer in the second, but the Mets got the run back in the second with an infield single and sacrifice followed by a standard single. Sheets gave up another run in the fourth and a homer leading off the sixth, and it went to 6-1 when Cristhian Martinez gave up a run in the eighth.
In the ninth, the Braves suddenly started drawing walks. Chipper Jones walked, and Freeman was hit by a pitch. Dan Uggla struck out and Brian McCann flew out, then Paul Janish walked to load the bases. A reliever came in and walked Juan Francisco to score a run, then Michael Bourn. Martin Prado doubled… but Bourn couldn’t score from first to tie the game. Then Jason Heyward, who had a bad game, struck out for the third time to end it.
It was nice to see signs of life last night. Until that ninth inning, it was one of our more agonizing games in recent memory. And on national TV no less.
And I vote for a new poll!
Should we have a new poll?
A = Yes
B = No
I’m satisfied.
Thanks, Stu, for your excellent 6-man rotation in the previous thread. It took away from my worries about Hudson’s ankle and Sheet’s history and where Hanson might be Friday night.
Here’s something that will certainly make us feel better.
Sorry I can’t imbed it properly:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/ten-things-i-didnt-know-about-starting-rotations/
You know, if the Braves are going to lose to IWOTM, at least they lost while giving every Mets fan a heart attack.
“And I vote for a new poll!”
But that ‘F’ has been steadily rising. A day or so after that trade was first made, F was around 2%. Then the season started, people here saw Francisco, and now it’s at 13%.
IWOTM?
Okay, I did a new poll.
They should make the Wild Card showdown at least.
“They should make the Wild Card showdown at least.”
2011 Braves “should” have too.
csg, It Was Only The Mets. Should be added to the Glossary.
Greetings from Atlantic City…
Two days here & I’ve only seen one Phillies jersey, compared to about 27 items of Eagles-wear. Guess those folks have really hopped off the bandwagon.
Does “Make the playoffs” include losing in the wild card game?
‘Cause as much as I sometimes think the Braves are one of the best teams in the NL, I often think they’ll lose in that play-in game.
@14
Exactly
A one-game playoff is another well-intentioned, poorly-thought-out Seligism. If you don’t have a Verlander or Strasburg, you have little chance of advancing.
It will have the effect of watering down the regular season.
Reduce the regular season to 154 games and let the WCs play a best 2-of-3.
Ten out of thirty teams getting in is a little high. Cheapens the regular season.
While the Expos are playing a big leauge team, we get to beat up on a AA team for four days.
This seems like a goo time to gain some ground.
However, the Braves of the recent past would split this week with the Padres.
It will have the effect of watering down the regular season.
Ten out of thirty teams getting in is a little high. Cheapens the regular season.
Hmm, I think I don’t agree. It keeps more teams in contention longer, the division title becomes so much more important, and 10 out of 30 is still the lowest ratio in all mayor sports.
It will have the effect of watering down the regular season.
Ten out of thirty teams getting in is a little high. Cheapens the regular season.
Hmm, I think I don’t agree. It keeps more teams in contention longer, the division title becomes so much more important, and 10 out of 30 is still the lowest ratio in all major sports.
Seriously, where has that f***ing edit button gone?
14 – That “play-in game” is pretty close to a coin flip. However, the odds tilt in your favor the better your ace compares to your opponent’s ace.
So. I can’t say I am that optimistic in that scenario.
Well, it all depends on that pitching matchup. What if the Verlander or Strasburg has to throw on the 162nd game?
The play-in game is great. It punishes the WC teams and it will create some extra strategy and drama during the last week – do you line up your rotation so that your ace is ready to go in the play-in game? Do you even have that luxury if you are still contending for the division, or if the WC spots are up for grabs between 3 or more teams?
19 & 20. I totally agree, so it was worth saying twice.
Strangely, the 5th playoff team raises the value of winning your Division in the regular season while engaging more teams in the playoff race.
The more I think of it, this is a pretty good enhancement by Bud and Company.
And what if the Strasburg gets shut down after the 135th game?
We would probably be playing Pittsburgh or St. Louis. So we are talking about James McDonald or AJ Burnett or Adam Wainwright or Kyle Lohse.
#26 – Then the Braves should win the division.
Back when there was only a World Series then the LCS, the league was much smaller. So I don’t think expanding the playoffs does that much damage since there are 30 teams in the league.
@26
Someone will get fired.
Seriously, how do you ever try and sell another season ticket if the one year you could win it all, you shut down your ace? Washington is kind of having everything break its way this year with Philly being down. I suppose the argument would be that they are hoping to ensure a sustained run and they have the young talent to do so possibly, but for a franchise with so little success in their history, I can’t believe they will actually shut him down, though they keep saying they will.
Tom, my understanding is that the edit button disappeared when the person who developed the plugin decided that they didn’t want it to be free any more.
@31
I am sure they will set it up so we see John Lannon three more times and get dominated.
“Tom, my understanding is that the edit button disappeared when the person who developed the plugin decided that they didn’t want it to be free any more.”
How much do they want?
I see, thanks Alex.
Or it may have had something to do with a new update of the plugin screwing up the formatting, I’m not quite sure. Sorry!
Are they going to have a game tonight? It’s raining pretty hard here in NW Ga.
DOB said the tarp is on the field so the game probably won’t start on time.
The MLB Network scroll reported that Fredi said they’ll use a 6-man rotation through Aug. 30th.
Anymore news on the status of this game? I’m in KS so the idea of it raining sounds completely foreign to me!
@39
DOB confirmed the 6 man rotation for the rest of the month
Start time pushed back to 7:35.
Thanks braves14.
Thanks for the out.
The Braves are making another guy look like Sandy Koufax in the first. Wake up, bats. MiMi will need a run or seven.
That looked routine, Chipper.
I’m guessing “Denorfia doubled to shortstop” was a high bloop that fell in between SS and the OF?
Chipper booted a backhand.
Eric Stults is huge in Japan.
Mike’s showing some Minor improvement today despite a Minor offensive blackout. (Puns, the bane of his existence.)
Oy!
Good one, Mikey!
Should have been an error.
Now that was definitely a hit.
Uh-oh.
A few runs wouldn’t hurt.
This game is not proceeding as I hoped. Minor’s keeping us in the game, but tonight our offense is, well, offensive.
Agreed. Otherwise, it’s abandonment of a Minor. That won’t go over well if this here town.
Oh, well, perhaps the Giants will bet the Natspos.
On the bright side, it’s nice to watch Dempster getting shat upon once again.
Ryan Dempster, in 3 starts since the Rangers-Cubs trade: 7.27(!) ERA. That’s regression to the mean in a huge way.
I don’t understand why 10 teams making the playoffs, in this format, cheapens the regular season. Under the old rules, the wild-card team was guaranteed three games in the playoffs. In the new setting, the wild card teams pretty much have to use their ace in the play-in game, have to travel to their next game, and are guaranteed only 1 playoff game. This helps the division winners even more than before, I feel.
I pull up the scores and see the Braves with only one hit through five. I mutter to myself, “Must be some nondescript lefthander.” Click on this Stultz guy and find that yes, yes he is.
If I were a GM for a Braves opponent I would walk on down to my local Leftorium, grab literally anyone browsing around and then have them toe the rubber against this team.
Concur, desert.
This is pathetic.
Braves still sleeping from getting in at 5 am this morning ………..
@62, In other news, the Nationals announced that they signed Ned Flanders to take Strasburg’s place in September.
Ah Chad. I’d almost forgotten you existed. Thanks ever so much for reminding me. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.)
I would like for us to keep Prado in left and trade for Chase Headley if at all possible this offseason.
Speaking of regression to the mean…see Bourn and Prado.
Bleagh.
Thanks, Martin.
Heyward got carved up
Jason disappoints this time.
Give Washington hell, Giants. Good night, all.
Pretty Piss Poor
Just checked the box score.
LOL.
As down of a year as it has been for our SP, we still are a better pitching team than hitting team.
Minor league quality rag armed left handers are krytonite to the Braves…
Boy I dunno – 1st in walks, second in RS and 3rd in OBP. Overall pitching and starter stats are pretty middle of the pack.
Offense is down across the league the last couple of years, which skews the perspective. Relative to current norms, we have an excellent offense.
Looks like Washington will win again tonight.
Yeah up 10-0 in the 4th, it looks pretty safe to say.
The Nationals are the better team. I am coming to peace with this.
@83, If record means anything, they’re the best team in baseball, and not by a small margin either.
This is the best possible setup for the series against the Nationals:
“Tim Hudson, Paul Maholm and Medlen will pitch against the Nationals” (ajc)
Padres have been playing good ball for a while. This could get ugly.
Let’s say the Braves get in as one of the two wild cards. One game series to get in the NLDS, if Medlen and Hanson are your only two options to start, who do you give the ball to?
Couple of Braves fans I have asked this shout out Medlen without even pausing. I agree with them. What say you guys?
87- Agreed. It has to be Medlen unless Hanson’s back improves miraculously between now and October.
If Hanson was healthy I would stil choose him, however his velocity keeps dropping and he cant throw strikes. As of this moment Id choose Medlen.
@87
It will probably be Hudson or Sheets. We have three off days in September, There is no excuse for us not to have are roataion set to have Hudson or Sheets ready for the playoff game.
The only reason Hudson doesn’t start is if we have to win the last game to get in.
Medlen…I would start Medlen in front of anybody besides Hudson at this point
I think you have to look at who is likely to get out of the first few innings unscathed and I think it’s Medlen. It doesn’t really matter how many innings you get because it’s going to be all hands on board anyway. But you can’t get behind early. Hanson, even when he is pitching well, often has trouble early.
Frankly, I might go with Maholm if he is stil pitching well. I know people say the “hot hand” is illusory but, given that there is no clearly superior starter in the rotation, why wouldn’t you go with the guy that is pitching the best if he is available?
I’m not convinced Sheets will be effective down the stretch. He seems to have been lucky in recent starts and did not pitch well Sunday. I’m not sure he has much left.
The ESPN guys used the term “dead arm” a few times in reference to Sheets. Definitely made me uneasy.
In Sheets frist few outings, there wasn’t much of a scouting report on him. Now that he has pitched a few times, teams know a little morea about him.
That can’t help
Braves 0-1 since the new poll has gone up.
Another problem with setting up to win the 1 game wildcard playoff is that you burn your best starter. The winning team then has to take on the real playoffs.
@97
I can’t decide whether I consider that a drawback of the new system or not. I’m okay with the division winner having some advantage over the wild card in the NLDS series, but whether that advantage should be via hamstringing the WC team’s roster, I dunno.
But if the WC team takes one of the first two games, then they have a bigger advantage with their one going against the other team’s three.
It really hurts the WC if there is a game five.
Say we do win a WC berth and the play-in game…is there still a rule in place that would prevent us from playing Washington in the first round since we’re in the same division?
100 — No.
I thought it was interesting how quickly everyone answered Medlen that I talked to so I posed the question.
100 – no the ‘not playing the champ from your division’ rule has gone away. WC will probably see them in the 1st round.
BTW, the WC winner opens the best-of-5 Division Series at home vs the club with the best record.
Due to the late addition of the WC game—it was done after the season schedules were already drawn up—it’s a 2-3 format (as opposed to 2-2-1) this year only.
Washington can throw 3 lefties at us if they want to. Whether Strasburg pitches or not is probably irrelevant. We don’t match up well with them at all. I was hoping there’d be a way for them to play someone else in the first round. Looks unlikely at best that they won’t finish with the best record in the NL.
So if Washington has the best record, we would matchup with them if we won the play-in game?
Washington leads Cincy by 2.5 games, I wouldn’t hand them the overall #1 spot just yet. Also Washington’s remaining opponents have a .491 winning % while Cincy’s have a .464. (Atl .490) Also, there’s the Strasburg factor.
I think the Nationals are bound to go through a struggle sometime before the end of the year. They won’t keep playing like this for the last 50 games. The question is whether the Braves have enough to do anything about it. They damn well better win these next couple of games. If they come to Washington 5 or 6 games out, I think they are pretty much done as far as the division.
Recapped. Sorry for the delay. I fell back asleep!