Afternoon baseball at Wrigley…and Jason’s back!! can’t be bad.
a thought about the bullpen before we get started…we’ve sprung a leak or two lately and it could have been seen to be on its way…the best bullpen in baseball goes AWOL for a time…here’s the prime offender…
there once was a hurler of heat
who landed on alternate feet
an unusual motion
which earned his promotion
to playoffs where he might get beat.
 here’s one for JHey, we hope he can see round that guard.
a slugger of whom we’re in awe
they’ve mended and guarded his jaw
no outfield collisions
requiring incisions
he says he will see what we saw. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jason should do well at Wrigley, both parents being Ivy Leaguers.
THE GAME.
1
uh oh, unknown pitcher with silly numbers… great 10 pitch at bat for Jason, strike out but a healthy looking one…Castro super play on JuP..FF flies out
Maholm decent opening frame, single..
2
Gattis pop out, Mac deep fly out, CJ line drive homer…now we hear flight from DC was a wild one, all pumped up..good                  BRAVES 1-0
Paul 1,2,3Â Â Â 8 pitches
3
Jason apparently said no to PH today…back to back walks, Freddie 3 run homer to center…Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â BRAVES 4-0
runner thrown out at 3rd-remember when CJ couldn’t apply a tag in April? Rizzo singles home a run,Dan poor range                      BRAVES 4-1
4
classic CJ lead off dbl..Dan sucks..Maholm rbi dbl to the ivy !!  Wrigley half full, supposedly averaging 32,000                                   BRAVES 5-1
5
Upton walks, Gattis 1 out dbl…Mac fails, CJ walked..Uggla, bases loaded, strikes out
Castro lead off homer .. Maholm tiring? retires next 3, 1 fortuitously !!                                                     BRAVES 5-2
6Â
good to see AS hit it hard to right center…Jason lifted, great first outing back..as per plan likely
Murphy l/off HR, Lake doubles…c’mon Fredi,no one warming? said he was tiring..1 out, Downs pitching..Sweeney,
phew!! deep fly, 2 out..check swing single Valabuena..Downs fails, leaves..Maholm 5.1/8/4/..Ayala in, Castro K’s..                             BRAVES 5-4
7
still worrying about our pen..Justin K’s, FF HBP, Gattis just misses,Mac HBP, CJ flies out to end inning
Avilan in, he worries me, poor control..lucky, 3-0 smash caught at the Ivy, 2 out..Avilan is cooked, something’s wrong,.
Navarro homers, game tied..Avilan stays in, gets third out…this has to be physical, surely?                                                                       BRAVES 5-CUBS 5
8
Uggla K’s..3 up, 3 down..we’ve gone flat again…Cubs have 23 pitchers available, they’re wearing us down!
Carpenter pitching, 3 up, 3 down…that’s what you call pitching late in relief…
9
Schafer lead off walk, moves to 2nd, 3rd with 2 out..scores on Mac’s single…CJ drives in Freddie..Dan just misses one,
he walks, bases loaded..Andrelton 2 run double..BJ restores sanity with his patented called strike 3, 2 runners on..                                    BRAVES 9 -5
Vavaro…no, Kimbrel!! single..Double Play Castro…fly out for 3rd out, BRAVES WIN!
Down to 1, oddball game…Avilan/Downs/Walden still a concern for me…they all seem to get behind these days as soon as they come on, repetitively…lovely to see Jason back and looking good – lefty starts tomorrow so we shall have to wait and see…CJ excellent day with the bat, 3 hits including a screaming homer…kudos to Navarro who like all good fat catchers deposited his homer across Sheffield.
Bullpen is definitely a concern heading into playoffs. How do you prepare the guys who seem tired? You want to give them rest, but they also need some momentum. I don’t think I want to see any of them pitching on 5 days rest when the playoffs come.
Eh, the bullpen is more a concern if Fredi’s leaving LOOGYs like Downs and Avilan in to face righties. We saw today why that’s a problem.
Nats up 8-0. Gonna clinch tomorrow I guess.
The Marlins are so worthless.
@4
I literally looked at the score just before leaving dinner and it was 0-0. I got back to my car 15 minutes later and turned the radio on and it was 7-0.
And the Pirates with a horrific blown save. Up 5-2 with two outs and one on, they’ve given up three runs and it’s now 5-5.
EDIT: This was in the ninth BTW, if that wasn’t obvious.
More importantly, MIL is on top of STL in the bottom of the 6th.
Kyle Farnsworth just gave up an opposite-field HR in the top of the tenth to Votto. Reds lead, 6-5.
Farnsworth has done something like that before, I seem to recall.
Yes, I am still bitter.
That is a brutal loss for the Pirates. Just about as bad as it gets. They have a ground ball to short that would’ve been the end of the game. Their shortstop throws the ball away with a three-run lead, and the Reds go on to win the game. Be interesting to see how they respond to it.
MLB.com headline:
“Red Sox clinch NL East”
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130920&content_id=61183508&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Were I a Pirates fan, I’d be frightened at the possibility of making the playoffs for the first time in 21 years … only to have it last one game, and one not even played at home, if they continue fading.
We all know how badly last year’s one-game farce felt. If that happens to the Pirates, I don’t blame their fans for subsequently questioning the baseball gods, their personal beliefs and the nature of existence.
Even worse if they had the lead going into the bottom of the ninth and lost on a walk-off single by a little-used player like Neftali Soto that allowed Corky Miller, the game-winning run, to slide in just ahead of Andrew McCutchen’s throw from the outfield.
Corky Miller???
Bring me the Pirates!
Dodgers lose again.
I’m gonna need the Braxton Miller photo explained to me.
@ajcbraves: “Braves lineup: Simmons 6, JUpton 9, Freeman 3, CJohnson 5, Gattis 7, Laird 2, Uggla 4, BUpton 8, Medlen 1
Good we have Medlen today for his bat.
Game thread is up.