I guess the theme for this year will be quotes and statements from the famous, the infamous, and, occasionally, the barely known.

Today’s quote to summarize our game last night comes from a noted American philosopher of the late 20th century. He rose from humble beginnings to be known and loved by millions. His name is Richard Pryor.

In one of his famous comedy routines (NONE are so famous or so oft repeated by those near my age than “Little Tiny Feet” in which Richard appears as Mudbones and describes an encounter with a voodoo priestess, but I digress), Richard describes the process of Vietnamese refugees being trained to be “good Americans.” They are being led in how to state a most famous racial epithet. Eventually their “drill sergeant” says “If you get your ass kicked, you know you made it.” Such was Monday April 2, 2018 for the Atlanta Braves.

For 3 years we have known that command and control would be the issue for Sean Newcomb. This spring, he seemed to cut down the walks and place the pitches a little closer to ideal spots. Well, at this point in the season, he hasn’t done that so well in the games that count. I definitely am heartened that this is the first bad start the Braves have had this year. But 4 and a third with 4 walks won’t cut it. Down 6 to 1 after 5 doesn’t often turn into a win (unless Gabe Kapler is the opposing manager).

Meanwhile, another barely tolerable Major League starter once again showed his dominance of the Braves lineup. Tanner Roark pitched 7 innings (really. Is that possible?) He got 6 strikeouts and gave up 1 walk and 4 hits. You reckon that might be enough to win a game? Obviously there were no offensive stars in such a game.

After Newcomb the pen did fairly well until Jose Ramirez poured napalm upon the mound and began striking matches to see what would happen. Sam Freeman closed the door to keep it at 8 to 1.