Mike Foltynewicz and the Brewers’ Jimmy Nelson hooked up in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel. If you like fastballs, this was the game for you.
Folty was awesome, Nelson threw a lot more pitches but matched our boy goose egg for goose egg until the bottom of the sixth, when we managed to plate two.
Cameron Maybin singled to start our sixth. Freddie walked for the second time, and Neck also worked Nelson for a walk. AJP’s liner turned into a force at second; but instead of turning the play on Freeman at second, the Brewers tried to double up AJP at first. AJP beat the throw, and Freddie, who had been dead meat, moved to third. Andrelton ripped a single to left to score Freddie with what would be the winning run.
Folty started the eighth and would have completed it had Maybin not misplayed a wind-blown fly ball, allowing the Brewers run to score. Luis Avilan relieved Folty and struck out Gerardo Parra to end the eighth.
Jason Grilli dominated the ninth, striking out the side but providing a little drama with a two out walk.
Folty went 7-2/3, struck out seven, walked one, plunked one and was charged with a tainted earned run. The end result: your Atlanta Braves have a winning record far deeper into the season than most of us dreamed possible.
Go west, young men, and conquer.
We are 20-12 when the starting pitcher is not Cahill or Stults
Grantland on harang:
This next week is the most difficult part of our season. If we get through it in good shape…
Nice job, coop.
I love watching Foltynewicz pitch.
@1 – Interesting.
@3 – Surley you aren’t going to hope are you?
C’mon Hawks, let’s scrape up some dignity. Hold on…
We are two games back of the wild card, sports fans. Yes, it’s only May, but who cares?
Brett Anderson vs. Perez tomorrow night. A true David and Goliath story: one starting pitcher versus two.
I think we can all agree that Matthew Dellavadova should go home in a body bag.
Kershaw and Greinke? OK, chums, let’s do this!
This road trip could really steer the rudder on this season. Like someone mentioned, if we can go .500 on this trip, this could be a great test for a young team.
For Atlanta sports, I only cheer for the Braves. Sorry to all those Hawks fans out there. This is brutal.
I’m with Rob – I’m not a fan of the Hawks or Falcons. But it does strike me that Dellavadova is one of those players you love if he’s on your team and loathe if he isn’t.
I am really not seeing a whole lot of difference between the World Series-winning 2011 St. Louis Cardinals and the 2015/2016 Atlanta Braves. The Cards definitely had more power, which we could add by 2016 (and we are in a sunken offensive environment), but that team had a strong starting rotation, a decent bullpen, strong infield defense, and a high contact rate. Like I’ve mentioned before, they did not have a player who struck out more than 100 times in that season. Mix and match correctly with Cunningham/KJ/Callaspo/CJohnson/AJ/Bethancourt/Peraza and we could have an offense that could compliment strong defense and starting pitching.
And good gosh, let’s get some of our TJ-recoveries and PED-users back and let’s have a ball club.
It’s been awhile since the Braves have seen a left-hander.
Dellavadova is as dirty as they come in today’s NBA. He intentionally tries to hurt opposing players and antagonize them into getting Ts and flagrants. Bud should send Austin Daye out to start Game 4 with two jobs. 1)Dellavadova’s face/head, and 2) Lebron’s knees. If it’s okay to roll up on Korver and Horford like that, surely it’s okay to take out his Majesty’s ankles and knees too, right?
This road trip’s making me a little antsy. The Braves have been playing well recently, but they’ve also been playing a lot of terrible teams, and it’s not like they’ve been crushing those terrible teams. If you can barely scrape by the Brewers, it doesn’t bode well for your chances against the Dodgers or Giants.
If they’re still above .500 when they get back from this road trip it’ll be nothing short of amazing.
With Sunday’s victory over the Brewer’s Fredi Gonzalez has the most wins of any Atlanta Braves manager not named Cox. Number 380 put Fredi past Luman Harris for 2nd place on the Atlanta list, and 6th place on the all-time franchise list. Harris, who managed Atlanta 1968-71 and 2/3 of the’72 season lost almost as many games as he won 379-373, but he was pilot in ’69 when the Braves captured the Western Division pennant in its first year. (Of course Tom Terrific and the Miracle Mets take care of business in the first playoff).
The 4 managers between Fredi and Bobby on the all-time win list did their work in Boston.
Great recap, coop.
The Braves have had the easiest schedule in the majors so far this season, and they’re one game above .500. While the record sans Cahill and Stults is pretty impressive, I refuse to hope. I’m liking this whole “it’s better to be surprised than disappointed” thing. In that vein, I firmly expect the Braves to go 0-6 this week against Kershaw, Greinke, MadBum, Hudson, et al. With those expectations, I’ll enjoy every run the Braves score and every lead they hold. If they come east even having gone 1-5, they will have surpassed my expectations, and I’ll be happy, not bemoaning what could have been.
I still stand by my pre-season prediction that if the platoons are played correctly this team could win the World Series. But I’m going to pay zero attention to the standings until September, and then just take a peek to get my bearings. Until then, I’m just along for the ride, enjoying baseball.
Yeah, Dellavedova is about the worst kind of player there is. Does something dirty and then turns around and pulls the “who, me? why I would never!” act. People acting like it’s normal to throw a rolling body block at Korver’s legs instead of merely diving for the ball are idiots.
So you have that and the fact that LeBron James is about the whiniest, most attention-hogging guy in a long history of those types…and the fact that he has this team that’s, at this point, basically the freaking Knicks with LeBron at the helm thinking they’re a good team and you have a completely infuriating concoction. If Golden State lets this team win the NBA championship, I’m gonna freaking spew.
Here’s an interesting stat:
Cox Atl Won-Loss Percentage: .577
Fredi w/ Atlanta: .555
Fredi has also presided over Atlanta at a time where the GM was fired, whereas Bobby presided over the team during a period where his pitching coach was considered the best in the game, and the GM held his job for 17 years. And of course, Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz. Considering the difference in their won-loss records is the equivalent of 1 more win every 40 games, why is Bobby a HoFer and Fredi is, in some eyes, terrible and at best slightly above-average?
Bobby didn’t become a HOF in the fans’ eyes really until after Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz left the rotation and the Braves kept winning.
Considering the difference in their won-loss records is the equivalent of 1 more win every 40 games, why is Bobby a HoFer and Fredi is, in some eyes, terrible and at best slightly above-average?
Mostly because we’re currently in the “Bobby’s first go-around with Atlanta” (1978-81) phase with Fredi. Or maybe Fredi’s span with the Braves now is his “Bobby in Toronto” years (1982-85.) And no one seems to be able to maintain even the slightest sense of proportion and balance re: Fredi around Braves Country.
@20 That is interesting. There was plenty of griping and complaining about Bobby’s in-game tactics around these parts when he was manager (especially surrounding the handling of the bullpen). I really don’t feel like the complaints about Fredi are much more in number, but they are different in style. When complaints about Bobby occurred, they were done with a more respectful attitude (such as “this part of this managerial style drives me nuts, but he attracts good players to Atlanta, so I’ll give him that.”). When Fredi leaves a pitcher in one batter too long, I still find myself thinking “come on, take him out Bobby!” before I catch myself, and Fredi’s been around forever. I think a big thing Bobby has going for him in being viewed as a HOF manager is the fact he is no longer managing, and those small decisions that drove you nuts have faded into oblivion. We still get to see them on a daily basis with Fredi, though.
If you take away from Fredi because of the collapses, you’ve gotta give him some credit for this overachieving bunch too.
Fredi hasn’t had the teams Bobby did — at least we assume that’s what WAR totals or pythags or whatever say, right? — and when the margin for error is less or perceived as less, your mistakes become magnified. Even if you’re not, or no longer, making mistakes more than other managers.
@23
Exactly. Once Fredi is done with his career, the annoying managerial decisions (that are only deemed right-or-wrong based on their outcome: re: Folty in the 8th yesterday) will be less magnified.
If you consider the end of the Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz era to be when Maddux left (2004), Cox never even got back to the NLCS. In fact, Cox only had two more playoff appearances after Maddux left. And even more importantly, after Maddux left, Cox’s won-loss percentage was .516.
I contend that if Fredi makes it to the World Series within the next few years, then the popular opinion of him will change. But Cox had a very similar won-loss record with what most would argue to be better pieces around him, and I don’t remember people calling for Bobby to be fired the way people call for Fredi to be fired.
Smitty, I’m looking at you, brotha.
I’m with ‘Rissa. All of the complaints about Fredi are in-game complaints, and I don’t remember anyone (including me) ever think Bobby was more than an adequate in-game manager. What he did during games is support his players and let Pat Corrales and Leo Mazzone do game stuff as far as I remember.
By the way, the replay rule pretty much guarantees that Bobby’s ejection record will never be approached.
To be clear, I do think Bobby’s clearly better than Fredi, and obviously so much more deserving of the HOF, it’s not even funny. Especially when you consider what Bobby did before the Braves’ run and that he was, in a real way, a big architect of our domination, much moreso than your run-of-the-mill manager. When we don’t have great tools to evaluate managers’ performances, that everybody agrees Bobby was great at his job counts for as much as anything else.
We’ll see if Fredi can keep this up for another decade with basically the same product on the field.
26,
The complaints about Fredi are not all in-game complaints.
Specifically, he has lost the team on at least two separate occasions, which Bobby at his most infuriating never did.
It’s nice of the Dodgers to start early enough for us old codgers to watch at least part of today’s game. Let’s hope our boys win one for the oldies.
Bobby was a good manager when he came back to Atlanta (he had a .550 winning percentage in Toronto). By 1990, Glavine and Smoltz were both on their way to being established major leaguers (and Smoltz was an All-Star in ’89), and by the next season, they had established themselves as future HoFers. So I don’t think Bobby gets really any credit for them. If anything, Mazzone gets the credit for keeping them healthy. In Bobby’s 4th year, Maddux joins the team, and then they start rattling off World Series appearances. It would seem to me that by the 4th or 5th season, Bobby was developing a reputation of being an elite manager (with Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz having a huge role in that). The Big Three’s continued dominance through the rest of the ’90s and into the ’00s, in my opinion, solidified Bobby as a HoF manager.
Fredi has not been given those resources. While McDowell appears to be an excellent pitching coach, he’s certainly not regarded the way Mazzone is. But Fredi has largely been able to retain a staff the way Cox was able to, lending to the thought that Fredi possesses much of the same people management qualities that Cox possessed. Another credential that Fredi possesses is the seal of approval from Bobby himself. If Bobby is a HoF manager, then he should be able to identify fellow quality managers. It’s not like a player’s frequent inability to evaluate other talented players; it’s a completely different skillset.
My point for bringing up this discussion is to question the disparity of perception of Bobby and Fredi when the data doesn’t suggest they are all that different.
@31 You’re not giving Bobby any credit for his work as a general manager (1986-1990) when he was essentially built the juggernaut that he won with in the 1990s (with a tip of the cap to Ted Turner’s checkbook, providing a payroll advantage Bobby had that Fredi clearly doesn’t enjoy). During his stint as GM, Bobby brought in Glavine, Smoltz, Avery, Justice, Lopez, and Chipper.
Bobby Cox was the Joe Maddon of his time. Almost every player that played for him loved him, and people that didn’t play for him, wish they had. When the team is winning and the players speak highly of their manager, that’s all it takes…and really, that’s all it should take.
@32
Very fair. I conveniently forgot that he was the GM after Toronto and before managing.
Well here we go.
Way to go Jace.
Somehow, got out of that. Don’t like Bethancourt behind the plate.
Seriously? We’ve got two runners on with two outs, and we have some fat fella who’s had about 6 ABs in the last 5 years. Yep, this is way better than having the DH. #strategy #strategery #gentlemansgame #imtoodumbtogetit
@mlbbowman: Sounds like Callaspo’s days (or hours) with the #Braves might be numbered. But Daniel Castro is not coming up from Gwinnett.
@39 – interesting
Damn Jace.That was Andreltonian.
Jace!
High pitch count for Perez, but then that’s only 29 for each of them so far.
Bailed out again.
I do love those double plays.
Several tweats about Callaspo’s imminent departure. I wonder if it’s a release or trade.
Those Dodger uniforms are butt-ugly.
@46 CJ is supposed to be starting a rehab stint today, but I would imagine Adonis Garcia would be the odd man out upon CJ’s return.
May want to stop trying to steal bases for a day or two, gentlemen.
A lead! And it would have been two had Jace not run into an out. Fun!
@46 – can’t imagine who would want him, but odd to pull a guy so close to game time otherwise.
Listening to Vin Scully reminds you of so many things, and none of them are Chip or Joe.
Two more fine starts from Perez.
It’s almost like a different guy went out there for the 4-6 innings.
Well this doesn’t look good.
Luis Avilan’s May Magic seems to have worn off.
Walks’ll kill you.
Well, that could have been much worse. Could have been better. But could have been worse.
@53 yeah they deserved better from Avilan.
That was fun while it lasted. But all good things must come to an end.
Seen enough of Masset. Who’s next?
48 — Garcia got sent down the day that Wood was scratched from his start. I think that Callaspo is DFA’d when Chris Johnson is activated.
Bad beat coming.
Mr. Masset is not an asset.
That’s insult to injury. At least I can go to bed now confident in the outcome.
Get lost, Masset. A 1.71 WHIP the last two years doesn’t get you a spot in a major league bullpen — or even Atlanta’s.
Well, at least Los Perez looked good.
What an awesome bullpen we have. Is Johnson unavailable?
Cahill, Stults, EY Jr, Callaspo, and Masset could all be DFA’d after the game. Whoever replaces them would be an upgrade
@69
Fine by me. Play the kids.
@69 Incredibly depressing that 1/5 of our roster is so incompetent when the other 4/5 are so fun to watch and root for.
So Fredi confirmed we are trying to trade Callaspo. That’s strange for him to say.
It means we’ve beat down every team’s door already and are getting ready to just cut him.
recap up.