Lets see…where do we begin. Not a single Braves runner reached second base until the 6th inning. We just could not get a timely hit all night. Jarred Cozart was really good and shut us out for 8 innings, scattering a few singles along the way.
Aaron Harang was typical tonite. 5.2 innings, 7 hits, 3 BBs. Really that’s pretty much Aarons game line.
Donovan Solano was a thorn in the side as he started the game off with a home run to left. He singled in the third and again in the fifth. Christian Yellich scored in the third and again in the fifth. Salty scored the last fish run in the sixth.
3 Brave errors in the 8th, but no runs scored. At least the 8th was interesting as La Stella, Jupon and Heyward all singled, but
it was to no avail as Andrelton whiffed and Freddie grounded out.
The Braves got 9 hits, but with 3 double plays were never really in the game. Jason Heyward had 3, Freddie, Justin, Evan, Chris, La Stella and BJ had one apiece.
The last 14 games the Braves are 10 – 5. We are one back in the wildcard race behind San
Fran. St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
My deep condolences to anyone who actually watched that game. The Marlins are PURE EVIL, remember.
UGA looks like a beast after one game. They are four or five deep at RB. If the defense from the last three quarters shows up regularly Athens may have a special team this year.
Two weeks to prepare for SC is a good thing.
SC is going to be the big test for Georgia – another win and they are good to go until mid-November. Auburn is looking tough though – they have a very real deep passing game this year to go with another first rate group of runners. We’ll know more after the KSU game, but alma mater looks really good again this season.
There are few joys in college football like nutsacking the “Ole Head Ball Coach.” Here’s to upping the thrashing A&M put on them.
Who’s coming up tomorrow?
Far be it from me to ever under-enjoy a Spurrier stomping, but I’ll take a road win any way we can get it. To quote Tre Mason’s father, stakes is high: A win there makes another trip down the Atlanta Highway that much more possible.
I agree that the schedule may look relatively manageable post-USC/pre-Auburn; still, I wouldn’t sleep on the game in the other Columbia this fall either. Missouri still runs that annoying offense.
Usually, I’d be happy about hosting Auburn (after 2 years on the road), but it should be noted that the road team wins that game a lot. And, looking waaaaay ahead, it could be a lotta fun to play them twice.
If Auburn plays Georgia twice, fans of both teams would count the season a success regardless of outcome
Oh God. The unforeseen consequence of a lousy Braves team: Bravesjournal turns its collective eyes to amateur football even earlier.
Sigh. Even when the braves are 10-5 it feels like they’re 5-10.
#9
Amateur?
Truth be told, we’d be talking SEC football if the Braves were 136-0.
Saturday was a good TV day. Kicked off with Everton-Chelsea on NBC. Then flipped over to the GSU-NC State game. Then the first half of Alabama-WV, until UGA-Clemson got started at 5:30. Shift Pale Lager in the can as the day’s session beer. Didn’t even think about how bad the offense was, really.
Today’s lineup:
Heyward RF
Gosselin 3B
Freeman 1B
J. Upton LF
Gattis C
La Stella 2B
Simmons SS
B.J. CF
Wood P
I guess Fredi is still waiting on the right matchup to start Bonifacio again.
#12
Leffe Blonde Belgian Ale for me, with a glass of Prosecco to celebrate the great Gurleymen victory.
The Braves were just a silent iPad partner yesterday.
Tecate and bloodys – man that’s a great combo. Going to tonight’s game so I guess Sweetwater IPA.
I only make it down to Turner Field from Oregon about once every two years. But today I’m in section 223L, row 7 if any posters are in the area. Expecting a great Alex Wood start and a Braves win!
I think that’s about the filthiest pitch I’ve seen Alex Wood throw.
Through two Wood is dealing. And that should have been an error on TLS, not ruled a hit. El Oso Blanco!
Would it be possible for Joe to shut the hell up about the damned shadow? We get it! Yeesh!
Good gracious. The last couple months, Alex Wood has been pitching like Teheran pitched last year.
This has a really good chance to be the best start of Wood’s career. No mean feat, given what he did in the hard-luck loss against these same Marlins and Jose Fernandez in April.
Could be another hard-luck loss. When you frequently go through 14-to-28-inning stretches with only one run, that tends to happen.
Of course, letting the pitcher get on base doesn’t help.
Way to hunker down, Alex!
From behind home plate that looked awful close to ball 4. Also the metal detectors blow. Solid 30m wait to get in even after game was in 2nd.
Have yourself a great game, Mr. Wood.
Alex Wood has pitched an amazing game, but he has thrown 93 pitches.
Why is he leading off the bottom of the 7th inning?
It makes no sense whatsoever. Isn’t this the same scenario from his last start that ended in him losing the lead in the next inning?
@13 Vs. Hamels, Bonifacio is 7-for-21 and BJ is 0-for-17. Is that a right enough matchup for Fredi, do you think? Should we begin taking bets on who starts in CF tomorrow?
Doesn’t look like Wood’s lost a thing. He’s a strike-throwing machine today.
Although I still do not agree with leaving Alex in to bat for himself in the bottom of the 7th, he sure did pitch one heck of an 8th inning there.
Great job!!!
Alex Wood is a monster.
BJ ends Woods’ night.
It’s always something
B.J. has two hits in a game. He just bought himself at least 5 starts in a row. I guess we might as well prepare for it.
Upton gets a hit the one time you don’t want him to.
Teheran-Wood-Santana is no Kershaw-Greinke-Ryu, but I think it matches up pretty well with Fister-Zimmermann-Strasburg, and is better than the Giants’, Brewers’, Pirates’, or Cardinals’ front three.
33: I think Wood was finished regardless.
I’d take two lefties, any lefties
That was a nice play by Regression. He’s made some good ones recently.
Sweet, another series win.
Good couple of days for Dawgs present and past.
Tehran Wood Minor Santana Harang. Who would have thought this would be the strength of the team before the start of the season.
There’s a chance of a Yankee/Red Sox-free MLB postseason. That would be nice. When is the last time both those teams failed to make the playoffs in the same year?
1994, which doesn’t count. But 1993.
Trust me, the Yanks ain’t making it. I’m a season-ticket holder & when I got the post-season invoice recently, I just laughed. No intention of paying it.
If we look at the breakdown of wins and losses between us and the Natpos, the biggest differences are our inability to at least win half of our games against the teams in NL West and AL. We actually have better records than the Natpos on games against NL East and Central.
Considering the schedule of both teams, I think we still have a slight chance in catching them. But of course, we are doomed as always.
If the Braves managed to go 18-7 for the remainder of the season, they’d still need the Nats to go 13-14, just to tie them. We ain’t catching the Nats.
@43 I said “slight”. I am definitely not saying we have a great chance. The guys definitely need to hit first to even have a slightest chance.
Nats went 11-15 in May.
I completely forgot George is still in our organization…Constanza I mean…
@43 They play each other 6 times, so they could make this happen.
Jim, why aren’t you a Mets season ticket holder? You’d think the access to more Braves games would be better.
@9, @11
That’s precisely why this is the best blog on the internet: we go from talking Braves baseball to college football in a very seamless transition. And since Florida is going to go 12-1 this year, I’ll have a lot to talk about.
I tried to watch some Florida football last night. After 3 1/2 hours of rain and lightning and hanging out in the tunnel at The Swamp, they unceremoniously called it after one, albeit incredibly exciting, play.
Good weekend for the Braves and, relative to last year, great weekend for the Gators!
I kid.
But seriously, great game by Wood. It’s a shame the offense didn’t do anything, (or that The Offense hasn’t done anything in what seems like a month) but I’ll take 2 of three against the Marlins any day.
I was joking with a buddy in my office who’s a Nats fan about how they’d managed to build a lead that was greater than 6 games, which is probably what they’d need to secure the division. Well, now it’s like 6.5. I would be surprised if the Braves swept the last six vs. the Nats, but it’s not like 5-1 doesn’t have precedent. And whatever. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that the Red Sox and some other team that I can’t remember had massive September collapses with leads that would dwarf what the Nats currently have?
#48
Why? Simple. My Met friends never have the guts to buy a season package, not even in the good years. If they did, I’d probably see more Met games, might’ve even bought in with them. Fact is, you don’t need a season package to see the Braves (or any other club, really). I go to all the Braves/Mets games I want anyway. Never a problem getting tickets.
My best baseball pals here are longtime Yankee fans & we go to the games just to have games to go to—if that makes any sense. For them, it’s also about getting playoff tickets with no fuss; for me, it’s more about a night out with the boys, but I don’t mind seeing post-season baseball either. I’ve seen some memorable Octobers over the years, some more painful than others.
In a way, it’s less conflicting than going to Mets games because it’s AL baseball & I really don’t care who wins. As long as the Pinstripers don’t win their very last game, I’m fine with it.
It’s a relief to see this years’s team at seven games above .500 at the end of August.
If they add a few more to that in Sept., I like their chances for a playoff spot.
Won’t ask more than that from this bunch.
Go Braves!
BTW, the Labor Day game vs. Pha is being shown on ESPN at 1 pm.
Mike Minor ranks 8th for the Braves in offensive fWAR.
@51 We have been playing .500 from June to August (one game over .500 to be precise). Fredi’s Braves teams have never finished strong, and I hope this season would be a reversal from the past three seasons. Finish strong and do well in the playoff for once.
Hey the upside to this is that if we get on a roll, we’ll have some real momentum going into the postseason.
If we don’t, then we won’t see the postseason.
I’m really tired of making it but not really having a chance to win.
Tehran/Wood/Minor makes it interesting, given the way they’ve pitched lately.
@53 – Sounds about right.