It was slow, it was frustrating, then it was fun, it was exciting, it was excruciating, it was painful…..
The Braves, looking to take sole possession of first place, lost in the 13th and ended up taking a pounding from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols at Turner Field.
No question about it, as Freddi said in the post-game, 11-6 is much better than 5-0.
Gavin Floyd took on Garrett Richards for the Angels. Gavin was good through 5 but came untied in the 6th giving up successive homers to Trout and Pujols.
Richards essentially shut the Braves down, throwing shutout ball through 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits while pinging us for 10 strikeouts.
It was really dull for most of the game until Evan Gattis put the Braves on the board with a solo shot in the 8th. And then it all happened in the 9th….
The fun part: Floyd looked good before unravelling in the 6th. He ended up with 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 4 earned runs and striking out 4. Evan continues to produce with his solo shot in the 8th, his 15th and sporting a 14 game hit streak. The Braves battled back from a 5 run hole, scoring 4 in the 9th to tie the game 5-5 on a Freddie Freeman ground rule double. Josh Hamilton then put the Angels back ahead with a 10th inning single, scoring Pujols. The Bravos once again tied it up with an RBI single from JHey, scoring the Stellar.
JHey, Bupton, Gattis and LaStella all had 2+ hits, but it was Gattis with a 14-game hit streak starting to make us forget about Brian McCann.
BJ’s two run triple in the 9th. That was AWESOME.
Freddie, who has been in a deep hole, came up with a big hit just when he (and we) needed it most. Total of 31 combined hits, 17 runs — there was plenty of offense from both teams.
The sad part:
Another BJ error in the 8th cost a run. Justin robbed of what was surely a game winner in the 10th inning with the bases loaded. Watching….uhhm…. listening to the Angels score 5 runs on David Hale in the 13th.
The Really Pathetic:
Chris Johnson and Andrelton leading the league in GIDP. Johnson’s in the 11th and Andrelton’s in the 12th were disappointing just when I thought the Bravos were going to break it open. Jupton and Johnson were awful tonight going combined 0-12 with 3 strikeouts each. Justin almost redeemed himself when he was robbed in the 10th, but CJ? Really? You produce more outs than you have ABs?
Is there anything more disappointing than an inning ending, rally ending GIDP in extra innings? Okay, yes—having it happen twice!
In the end, the Braves battled back heroically, making it a fun game to watch from the 8th through the 13th. Our team takes a loss. We rank third in ERA at 3.18, but 28th in runs scored. FOX sports predicts a trade of either Floyd or Harang given that we need middle to late inning relief help. In the end we have to score more runs, but I’m not sure how or where you get another bat in the lineup. Would it be CJ who just signed a big extension? BJ who makes too much? Hmm… don’t know but we have to do better offensively.
I should probably add the fact that Mike Trout finished went 3 for 6 with the solo homer, a double, a walk, a stolen base and four RBIs, punctuating his performance with a 13th-inning double. He’s pretty much awesome.
BTW: I caught this one on the radio, which was a nice change. Took me back to the days of Ernie Johnson and Milo Hamilton on Braves Superstation 17.
I left at 5-1, missing the comebacks and the collapse. I’m happy we showed up though. If you did not know, Evan Gattis will probably do okay.
The most frustrating for me was the bottom 9 frame where we scored 4 to tie and had Freeman on 2nd with 0 out. Fundamental baseball wins the game, instead a K, an Ibb, and a DP takes it to the 10th.
Alex, I don’t know the fix either but upgrading the bench with Zobrist would be a hell of a way to start as he could be the LH compliment to both CJ and BJ (moving Heyward to CF, of course). There are guys that need rest on this club but Fredi doesn’t seem to trust any of his bench bats enough to rest them…and rightfully so. A loogy and Zobrist would be my shopping list, while trading one of Floyd, Harang, or Santana.
The Rays aren’t necessarily a sell-low kind of team so I’m not sure that would even work out.
This is your periodic reminder that we could have had Mike Trout had we just held on to Mark Teixeira instead of trading him to the Angels for a bag of balls.
carried over from previous thread…all problems solved
@110…
be bloody bold and resolute…
if it were done when ’tis done then ’twere well it were done quickly (approx)
we cannot introduce a new lead off man who can’t run…
here’s the fix, NOW..
Peraza(3B)
Stella
Heyward
Freeman
Gattis
JUpton
Simmons
BJ
please don’t talk about Minor League progression…look at his numbers/his speed/SBases..in this instance we have so little to lose..
Blazon, it’s necessary to read into Peraza’s stats a bit further: high batting average carried by a ridiculously high babip (.376) and his walk rate is atrocious (3.8%). I like peraza as a prospect just not as a solution to this years woes.
@3, if the Braves had had the 25th pick, they would probably not have picked Trout. Everyone in baseball screwed up on him. The Angels took Randal Grichuk one pick higher than him.
We should make a pact that if one of us gets to meet Wren, we have to ask him, “Would you have picked Trout?” Just to make sure.
It is mind-boggling to think about. We wouldn’t have traded for Bourn, I’d imagine. If Trout’s WAR translated to real wins, we probably avoid the Play-in Game of Horror. And no B.J. No B.J.!!!
Andrelton isn’t to blame for the double play. It was a scorching line drive that unfortunately happened to go right into the third baseman’s glove.
@fm
And the third baseman made a play on it too. Pure instinct reaction and he still almost didn’t get the glove out.
I like Blazon’s line-up. Does Peraza have the arm for third?
He’s a shortstop, so I’m sure he could make the throw from third. The much bigger question is, does he have the bat for third? His career minor league ISO is .084. This is is by far his best offensive performance, but he’s still got an ISO of just .113. He’s basically a slap singles hitter who rarely strikes out or walks and can leg out the occasional triple. If he keeps hitting as well as he has been, he’ll surely make it to Double-A before the year is out, but he’s still just a 20-year old in High-A. I don’t think he’s remotely ready to face major league pitching.
And, what everyone’s been waiting for: the updated Braves GIDP rates (stats through last night’s game). Calculated by dividing the number of double plays grounded into by the number of plate appearances with a runner on first and less than two outs.
MLB: 10.7%
Braves: 10.7%
Heyward: 3.1% (1/32)
J.Upton: 10.8% (4/37)
Freeman: 14.1% (9/64)
Gattis: 2.9% (1/34)
Johnson: 21.4% (12/56)
B.Upton: 7.3% (4/55)
La Stella: 8.3% (1/12)
Simmons: 21.7% (10/46)
Uggla: 10.0% (3/30)
Pena: 0% (0/19)
Doumit: 0% (0/9)
Laird: 0% (0/11)
Schafer: 16.7% (1/6)
I’ll be at the game tonight with my abacus to tally some more–hopefully I won’t get the chance.
Last night’s game was pretty fun to watch. The ending could’ve been better, but I was entertained.
I would like Gattis to get some reps at 1B. I’m tired of Fredi taking him out to rest him. He doesn’t have to catch every day, but he needs to play more than he’s been playing. And Freeman needs a day off every now and then. Problems solved.
@12 The results are great with the rest he is getting. No guarantee it wouldn’t wear him down.
On the plus side, him getting pulled for a runner yesterday means he can catch today.
@10
He’s basically a slap singles hitter who rarely strikes out or walks and can leg out the occasional triple.
So…. he’s Chris Johnson, with more aptitude of legging out a triple.
Game thread is up.
I’ve heard more talk about Peraza eventually moving to second or center than to third.