…up here in Reds territory rumors flow, despair may be at hand… conventional wisdom begins to suggest the best they can hope for is the second wild card (they’re 5 back of two hot teams)…Cueto’s health, Votto’s loss of power the big issues…meanwhile we’ve picked up some local gossip on our nemesis – Mr. Choo is believed by some to have attended a campus of the University of Tennessee with his younger brother Swallo…there they both became known, affectionately, as the Chattanooga Chew Choos…
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more realistically(?), their closer’s arm may merit our attention…
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we peer, with animosity
Aroldis, such precocity
from Cuba he may be
but lately don’t we see
diminishing velocity?
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Choo/Kimbrel
…revisit if you can the last two pitches of that AB last night…
much baggage here…was at GABP in April for the extraordinary finish to Game 2 which alone prevented sweep…Montechristo* had stunningly tied it up with a homer in the bottom of the ninth, crowd delirious…Choo comes up next, walk off back-to-back homer,crowd totally ape – can you blame ’em?
Braves fans, we’re stunned..God knows what CK was thinking…to their eternal credit when we reassembled the next afternoon the Braves won- in large part due to a G/Salami from our dear, departed friend…Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (* so named because he keeps a good Count)
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so the two protagonists met again, last night… top 9, 1 on, 1 out..after three pitches count is 1-2, Kimbrel has not thrown a fastball…that comes on the next pitch, high and tight, very tight, Choo loses his balance trying to get away from it, falls backwards to his knees(hard to do)…so 2 -2 and now the coup de grace – slider, outside corner, down, swinging strike 3…i would posit Choo was frightened by the previous pitch…lovely stuff from CK, that should shut him up a bit…
TO THE GAME…we can hit Arroyo, Medlen must forgo the 0-2 meatball…
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1st |
no worry about 0/2 counts, Medlen was rubbish, no command..BJ down and out…Joey T gets into the game, blessing in disguise? let’s try look for a positive…            REDS 3/0 |
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 Phillips playing AS directly behind bag…then back to normal to get RJ…JuP ground out 3rd…3up, 3 down… |
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2nd |
 Strike Out, Montecristo! CJ with good stop…Choo, need we say! |
| Freddie grounds out to SS directly behind bag, BMac and Dan fly out…Death where is thy sting, where grave thy victory?
And when the strife is fierce, the battle long Steals on the ear the distant triumph song and hearts are brave again but Medlen’s wrong                     (and arms are strong) Allelulia Alleluia |
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3rd |
 Always nice to see a real smile- Phillips again obliges after great grab by FF…Bruce 2 out double, stranded…Medlen 63 pitches.. |
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 CJ fly out..here’s Joey! smile please..don’t, again looks awful…ain’t he big tho? he looks overawed by the whole thing…HIT! by the Archvillain himself…told you we could hit Arroyo, all one of them… |
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4th |
 meatball, Cozart lead off double over Joey T…sensational news, 2 outs, Medlen strikes out Choo!…Reds file protest… |
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 J UP thrown out at second trying to stretch..FF flies out to Choo… |
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5th |
 Robinson l/off single…Votto doubles other way, 2nd and 3rd no outs…another rubbish fastball location…bullpen up..infield in..Phillips hpb…here we go again, bases loaded no outs…Medlen out after 90 pitches, Alex Wood in…so hard to equate this Medlen with the best pitcher in baseball the second half of last year…we got warnings in ST but he brushed them off dismissively -‘i’ll be ready’ he said…no he won’t..i think it’s fair to say if he can’t locate his fastball within 2 feet he is in big trouble and so are we…Bruce SF, Robinson scores and then, neatly, avoids running over the Braves logo on his way back to the dugout…ground out, can’t turn 2…BMac throws out Frazier for 3rd out…Decent job by Alex, brass balls, went after each batter…REDS 4/0 |
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 lousy news for Jordan, what luck…Uggla at his worst against Arroyo junk, second pop out… CJ s/out…Joey grd out..we’ve still got 12 outs to work with, let’s put them to some sort of use…now we hear Strasburg gave up 7 runs in 2 innings to the Marlins – Kris come back, all forgiven! i am so consistent… |
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6th |
 1,2,3…good for Alex… |
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 Alex line drive out…Andrelton line drive out LF…RJ baffled by three identical slow curves…Arroyo is ‘on’…if i had known that earlier………………..9 outs left… |
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7th |
 We get Choo, rather Alex does…Robinson grd out on full count…GREAT 3 pitch strikeout of Votto…1,2,3…this might be a watershed game for Alex’s confidence…now we need for the same thing to happen to Joey, he’s obviously going to get lots of playing time these next few weeks… |
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 Upton grounds out, hobbling…ye Gods! FF grounds out…that has to be unique, all 3 outfielders injured in a 24 hour period..bless Mac, cheers everyone up, solo HR on Medlenesque Arroyo fastball…                                                                                                                             REDS 4 BRAVES 1 |
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8th |
Alex to 50 pitches.. strikes out Bruce…Gattis 0 for 4 for Gwinnett…Le Cure up in Reds pen – he is the cure – believe me, WE CAN HIT THIS GUY!! Alex walks Frazier, gets lifted…3 2/3 innings, great effort, has to be a big boost for him…Ayala in…Jeez, Chip just stole my le cure line… |
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pity, Joet got a bit of that but not enough…2 out…Janis p/hitting, we are so thin now… |
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9th |
 Varvaro pitching…unimpressive, 2 walks alread…Choo on with fielders choice…did you know he’s a free agent this fall? he is a rental for the Reds…Votto up with 2 on 1 out…flies out… |
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 the Chapman coming…apparently he’s angry at something that was written about him earlier this evening…stand by for walks! i know we can hit this guy! but we may not have to…103, those words have hurt…AS flies out on full count…RJ grounds out..101, he’s flagging…Pastor looking strained..WALK, told you…FF up, whoa!! 104…HIT, RUN SCORES…TYING RUN TO PLATE…anti climax, Mac broken bat pop out to first…                                                              FINAL      REDS 4 BRAVES 2 |
xxxx  Â
there is pain tonight, it must be acknowledged…the score has become secondary, overtaken by the decimation of our squad…but still, ‘hearts are brave again and arms are strong’…no Kipling ra-ra tonight…we will allow ourselves this one brief indulgence, Keats again, he did love baseball…
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‘Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
   To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
       While thou art pounding forth thy hits abroad
               In such an ecstasy!
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Good night to all…
Lovely, Blazon. 🙂
Now let’s get healthy.
These outfield injuries remind one of the claim that the Chinese word for “Crisis” is the combined symbols for “danger” and “opportunity.” It’s not actually true, but it’s a good framework for explaining what confronts us here.
Gattis and Terdoslavich now have chances to establish themselves as long-term contributors to the team, and Reed and perhaps Constanza will get to demonstrate their skills for possible berths on the post-season roster (not to get too far ahead of ourselves) and the Braves of 2014.
First off, I hate to see anyone get hurt.
Secondly, I hope BJ Upton is just fine after a game or 12.
Thirdly, we all know BJ’s offensive struggles. But I don’t see where he’s been a huge defensive plus in CF. Not sure what the Sabremetrics tell us…but watching game in and game out, I am unimpressed. The play he was hurt on tonight was a play he should’ve made (IMO).
Constanza hitting empty .260 in AAA.
If he goes 4-10, will fans demand that needs to replace BJ or Heyward?
Oh yeah, that happened in 2011. And we know how that ended.
Hoping the starting OF heals quickly.
George probably won’t be up more than 2 games.
Are we on doomwatch yet?
Nah. We get Gattis back next weekend. El Oso Blanco cures many ills.
Silver lining: Constanza probably leads off the next 2 games with Reed batting 2nd, pushing Simmons down to 8th. Constanza at least has a career .362 OBP in the minors.
Possible lineup:
CF Constanza
RF R. Johnson
1b Freeman
C McCann
3b C. Johnson
2b Uggla
LF Terdoslavich
SS Simmons
That’s not too bad. In a 2 game sample size it might even hit well.
The bigger problem likely is Medlen. I’m concerned he’s now going to wear down as he approaches his career high IP. If the secret plan was also to send Teheran to the ‘pen at some point, who steps up along with Beachy? Alex Wood?
Are you kidding me?!? Our top 5 (!) outfielders are down with Reed Johnson the lone man standing.
We are DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!
the doomers with the dead depart
while some remain with stronger heart
the while we reconstruct
yes, all agree it sucked
what’s preconceived has come apart.
Piug can take Jupton place in All Star Game.
3 day vacation.
@5 We hope everyone is back after the break, but we do not know.
Good job, blazon.
Go Braves!
13 — Upton didn’t make the ASG.
Bowman says Wood is probably going down to make room.
@15 That is why I said 3 day vacation.
Wood pitched almost 4 inning. He pitched well. He can come back if needed 4 days after all star break ends.
@17 – Then how can Puig take his spot?
18- We may need him back afterward; we have a 4-day All-Star break with no game on Thursday, but after that our next off-day is three weeks later (Thursday, August 8).
@ On vacation. Jupton may have to rehab. Joke may have been bad.
Rest of pen will be rested after break.
I’ll be pretty surprised if Meds isn’t moved to the ‘pen when Beachy’s healthy. He hasn’t been great lately, he’s got plenty of experience (and success) out there, and, as noted above, limiting his innings a bit wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Kris Medlen in 2013 looks very similar to the Kris Medlen from 2010.
@2 Psych ward veteran? We gotta stick together; it’s a scary world out there.
Anyone else super excited to see Constanza back in the bigs? Dude’s the best
@3 His defense almost negates his bat WAR-wise. Outfielders benefit more from being fast than having great hands.
@26 Good to see George get a bonus. With SSS he may hit well for a few games.
Yep, at this point I think Medlen goes to the pen when Beachy returns. He simply hasn’t been very good this season. I thought for awhile that he had returned to form, but for the season he’s posting middling peripherals.
On another note, Alex Wood has been excellent in the pen. Frankly, he has been the team’s third best reliever (in terms of peripherals, not necessarily results) since being called up, and possibly 2nd. I still want to see what he can do as a starter, but it’s clear that he has a future in the majors even if he doesn’t pan out in the rotation. He could easily be an all-star caliber closer.
@3: Put it this way: B.J. is definitely the best CF we have on the roster, followed by Heyward, probably. He should have made the play last night, but it was by no means easy, and in fact a lesser CF might not even have the range to get to a place where the ball would go off his glove.
9- Actual lineup:
Constanza lf
Simmons ss
Freeman 1b
McCann c
Uggla 2b
CJohnson 3b
RJohnson cf
Terdoslavich rf
I gotta say I like your order better, but we’ll see.
BJ has a way of looking REALLY REALLY bad sometimes. It seems especially so on balls in front of him. There’s been a few WTF’s on line drives he has to come in on.
That, I think, weighs perceptions of him. He’s probably pretty good going gap-to-gap. But that’s harder to tell on TV.
I will say, he doesn’t shock me gap-to-gap like Michael Bourn did.
We need Freeman in pain like Custer needed more Indians.
Gotta say, I’d be pretty bummed paying Atlanta prices to watch a good chunk of Gwinnett play.
Fine work by Minor and CJ to get out of the jam.
It might be Mike’s lucky day.
Whew.
Time for some Pressure on the Defense.
A mere 28 pitches later, the Braves get to hit.
I would like to thank Chip Caray for using the words “pressure on the defense” to describe Georgie. That was awesome!
And Simmons with the Dumbass Dive into first.
Another headfirst slide into first. It’s an epidemic.
Now that was a bad time to slide at first.
Raise your hand if you hate Corky Miller.
This umpire is fucking terrible.
Oh, it’s cowboy Joe. Figures.
Yuck.
Mike’s getting squeezed, but he ain’t right.
We’re getting Homered so far.
Joe West is being ridiculous.
Georgie!
Pressure!
THANKS FOR SWINGING AT THE FIRST EFFING PITCH YOU SPACE CADET
To be fair, he did crush that pitch.
Yea, I don’t get the hatred of all first pitch swings. He hit it hard, that’s what you want. It was a hittable pitch and he squared it, just right at someone. That’s baseball.
@52 If you can’t get on base you have to provide value in other ways. Making the pitcher work is one of those ways. I’m not going to give a guy hitting as poorly as Simmons kudos for “smoking” a ball right to the shortstop, which is what he does every AB he doesn’t pop out.
MCCANN!
BMAC!!!!
Yeah bmac!
BMac, wow!
This is interesting
@mlbbowman: This move gives Wood a chance to make at least one Minor Lg. start and then possibly take a spot in Atlanta’s rotation after the break.
@58 Yeah they were talking about that in the booth too. Wonder what the deal is with that? You guys think they’ll deal someone?
CJ was safe!!!!!
Who did the Braves send down for Constanza?
Looked safe to me.
Ok I missed the posts
@61: Wood
@61 Wood to be stretched out
Boy how did we miss so bad on BJ Upton .. I didnt watch a whole lot of him with the Rays but dang his swing is long and swoopy and BAD .. would have loved if we had gotten Soo Choo to play CF .. our lineup would be good .. with BJ Upton , Uggla, J Upton SO every other at bat and the inconsistency of Heyward .. its amazing to me that we lead Nats right now .. but that cant last all season .. the worst part is we got 3 more years of this cause AINT NOBODY gonna trade with us for any of them.
YAAAAAAY!
MIKE!!
Take that, Homie.
Pressure on the defense! Works every time, except when it doesn’t.
That was the most perfect bunt I’ve ever seen.
Hilarious. It’s a shame Joe Simpson isn’t in the booth to enjoy the pressure.
Wherever Joe is, I imagine he felt a “disturbance” in the small-ball force.
Oh joy, the “productive out.” Chip’s happy.
Freeman doesn’t look right…not good
Come on Freedie u got get the ball in play there … after rally killer Simmons tapped it back to pitcher …
I’m pretty sure that is NOT the right guy, right spot, Murph.
Wow, it’s been a while since McCann’s thrown someone out. Great to see it.
Credit where it’s due: that was a nice play by Uggla. And a terrible jump by Bruce.
Great recovery for Minor after really tough first 2 innings.
Not saying its the 7th game of the WS but I’d I am Fredi I would be trying very hard to pick up a win today.
…
Pressure on the… oh wait, this is real production! Been a while since we had that from left field.
I’ll take it
Keep Calm.
Pressure on the Defense.
Never in doubt, jj. 🙂
constanza, can’t stand ya’
well, actually I can
oh and look at andrelton rally killing again, lol
@53, Screamer back to the mound! 😉
George had a Piugish start in 2011 before injury>
To be fair, he’s stung the ball twice, just right at people.
@82
Well, JUpton has an .893 OPS this month.
Rally killer Simmons again … he needs to learn how to hit or move him down to 8th .. 1st pitch swing again … I know he is young but when is he gonna learn .. some patience !!!
Don’t respond to trolls…don’t respond to trolls…don’t respond to trolls…
He may be a few weeks slow with the numbers. Too much hate, too little time.
Who needs the Upton’s and Heyward … we got Jordy and Jose and ??? well we got Jordy and Jose …
Hit for himself, then completed the following inning!
leads team in rbi’s for the day
This is the trouble with this lineup construction: susceptible to LOOGYs.
HIS NAME IS DAN UGGLA!!!
ooooh that looked nice.
He strikes out.
He walks.
AND HE HITS HOME RUNS!!!
IT’S DAN TIME!!!!
just a fly ball that carried
UGGLA! As long as he keeps doing that once a week, he’s pretty useful.
Wow, he leads the team in homers now.
And our scrub outfield is 7-for-10 on the day.
[obligatory remark about Chip’s attempt to work “Swingtown” into the broadcast]
Avilan walks such a tightrope. Holy crap that was close…
Well, that was exciting.
warning track power
That stat just shown is telling. Only thrice this year has the OF combined for six hits. Today they have combined for seven. Very SSS, but I like it.
Impressive for our 6th, 7th, and 8th outfielders. An indication that Wren did a fine job in assembling this roster.
down goes Frazier
@110 Posts like this make me wish there was a like button.
Frazier’s gotten bigger since I last saw him in the 98 Little League World Series.
That was a sweet win, especially considering how the game started out.
Ho-hum. Had ’em all the way.
@111 I like Kracken
Nice win. Good to see the scrubs step up. Hope Freddie’s not hurt in any lingering way. If so he needs to stay home from the AS Game and give his spot to Puig. Hugs!
Joey Terdoslavich: best 7th outfielder in baseball.
Wasn’t expecting to win this one, so yaaaaay!
recapped.