Mike Foltynewicz went 7 innings, allowing 3 hits and the run, while walking 3, and striking out 7, leading the Braves in salvaging a game from the 3 game set.  The Braves are 30 – 21 and regain a 1/2 game lead in the NL East, as the Phillies lost to Toronto.
Tyler Flowers gave Foltzie all he needed with a 3 run homer in the 3rd, and Freddie Freeman added a 2 run double as part of a 3 run 5th, driving Chris Sale from the game. Kurt Suzuki added 3 hits.
Ronald Acuna left the game in the 7th after his knee bent into a most unnatural position while coming to a stop after an infield single. Acuna was able to walk off under his own power, and the Braves PR department described his condition as “knee and lower back pain.”
Acuna is undergoing an MRI; let’s see what that department has to say.
The Mets come to town for a Memorial Day day-night double header, and the Braves don’t have a day off until June 7th, so it was great to see Foltynewicz last 7 innings. His ERA drops to 2.55 as well.
Game 1 starts at 1:10.
Folty pitched wonderfully after the third. Acuna’s injury looked gruesome, but I hope he’s just banged up and not broken.
Tomorrow will be a long day.
Great recap, Rusty. Since blazon can’t do it, I’ll also commend your timeliness.
So…. I just watched that video of Acuna’s injury. Maybe it’s just me, but seems like he should have been paying more attention to the process of running through the bag and stopping, and less on trying to signal ‘safe’ to the umpire.
@2, That’s what it seemed to me, too. Gotta run through the bag. Your foot absolutely has to come into contact with it, which changes so many dynamics of your gait that until you get your balance back you shouldn’t be thinking of anything else. You can react once you’ve run through it and get your balance. He’s trying to do too many things, which is defensible because he’s an exuberant kid who is trying to win the game, which is why that element of coaching is so important so these kids don’t hurt themselves.
(See also: sliding into first; headfirst slides…)
@2 I mentioned that in the last thread. He needs to remember that he’s allowed to slow down gradually going to 1B. No base hit is worth that kind of injury. Too much natural exuberance.
That was definitely a Willis McGahee flashback.
Thanks Coop, I don’t know if I’m getting faster or if I’m getting lazier. I do like to leave blazon up until the post game comments die down, though.
Kris Medlen has retired.
If anyone hears anything on Acuna, please post.
Might not get both games in tomorrow with the tropical storm coming.
Regarding Acuña:
https://mobile.twitter.com/JTBaseballNews/status/1000908578457206784
A Venezuelan reporter is also saying that he’s going to be ok.
Until the MRI no one will know anything.
Thanks to all, you guys are special.
The Panama Canal is still operational. Wish we could say the same about the wi-fi on our otherwise excellent ship.
The Braves in limbo – not a nice feeling. Great to be back on.
The kid is still a kid. Gotta love his enthusiasm!
Young kids heal fast, hope he is fine. We can’t afford to lose him.
So we went into Boston and played pretty well, except for 2-3 innings.
We may be for real
Welcome back, blazon! Good to have you back.
A lot of publications sleeping on the job today…
POWER RANKING of POWER RANKINGS:
3) Bleacher Report has the gall to drop us to #6
2) ESPN merely dropped us to #5
1) Informal Braves Journal polling has us at #1 for *checks notes* 7,655 consecutive weeks
POWER RANKING of Braves Journal commenter fallacies
6) Using WAR as a predictive stat
5) Confirmation bias, e.g. “Peanut touting Austin Riley confirms my suspicion that the Braves are not trying to win”
4) Speaking of which, how about maybe not taking what Peanut says at face value? Have you all lost your damn minds? When you see Peanut anonymously quoting a scout talking about Austin Riley the way Kanye talks about Kanye, the conclusion you should draw from that is that AA has already locked onto some 3B trade targets and he is using Peanut (very clumsily) to bring their prices down.
3) DOOOOOOOMED > HOOOOOOOPE
2) HOOOOOOOPE > DOOOOOOOMED
1) As always, it is wrong and bad and you are wrong and bad to care about power rankings of any kind
POWER RANKING of what in God’s name is Mark Lemke doing?:
6) All-too-brief retorts followed by long, awkward silences
5) Stuttering
4) Slurring his words
3) Not actually watching the games?
2) Making no damn sense
1) Charming us all
POWER RANKING of Braves Journal POWER RANKINGS’ unpaid interns:
5) Braden, University of Florida c/o ’20. Tried calling out today. I DON’T CARE IF IT’S MEMORIAL DAY. BRAVES JOURNAL IS EVERY DAY. GET BACK TO WORK, BRADEN.
4) Aiden, University of Florida c/o ’20. Also tried calling out today, but his excuse was a severe sunburn reaching 4-5 inches above both knees. Jorts’ll get you every time.
3) Hayden, University of Florida c/o ’20. That is, I *think* I have an intern named Hayden, but I’m genuinely unsure if he is really Braden or Aiden…
2) Jon K, University of Michigan c/o ’19. I don’t know what this guy’s deal is. For one, he seems way too old for college, but as his staff manager, I’m legally prohibited from asking him for his age. Also, no matter what I ask him to rank, he sends me back the same items in different order: “eating chicken wings, listening to Metallica, drinking Keystone Light, and wanting to get into the stadium so he can scream as loud as he can.” WTF?
1) Rachel, Emory, c/o ’21. The only one who did any meaningful work this past week, and so the winner by default.
Very well done, Adam.
Adam R’s power rankings need to be enshrined as blog postings.
@19, I celebrate the guy’s entire catalogue, but #6 is my favorite. Hoping to see some upward movement for “brief retort followed by awkward silence” in the next power rankings.
Adam, what is the pitching predictive stat you most enjoy?
But Jon K went to PSU.
Whoever gave Mark Lemke a job in broadcasting is out of their minds. I’m all for ’90s nostalgia, but the guy can barely complete a full sentence and sounds like he’s got a bag of marbles in his mouth all the time.
Lemmer sounds like he’s just woken up after a night out of hard, hard drinking. And he might still be a little drunk.
@26, Guy’s a known clubber, may not be far from the truth.
Acuna MRI came back negative, day to day.
Very glad to hear some negative news for a change. I’d give him a few days off at minimum, for sure.
On Ian Fleming’s birthday no less, Ian Krol has been DFA’ed by LAA. And he’s been replaced by Akeel Morris.
Yeah. Lemmer still living in a closed off section of 1997 I think.
@28–fantastic! Source?
@21/22, Thanks. It’ll be difficult for me to continue doing this at all as we get deeper into the summer. Since Rusty is so on point on Sundays, I prefer to ride his coattails when I can.
@23, I’ll give a shout to SIERA, which doesn’t get discussed enough.
@24, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. To rectify this error, I have designated Jon K for assignment. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
@25, 26, 31
Mark Lemke is rightfully a Braves folk hero, so I don’t have a huge problem having him around and working for Braves radio, even though he’s not super great at it. A lot of teams employ a somewhat incoherent lovable former player in the fashion of Lemke. His current position of pregame show commentator seems about right.
However, the amount he’s filled in for Don Sutton this year (and it’s still weird that no one will acknowledge the obvious fact that Don does not seem to be doing road games this year at all FWIW) makes me worry that he’s No. 1 in line to be Don’s official replacement whenever he retires, and on the actual game broadcast, Lemmer gets old real fast.
@28
I hope you’re right, but none of the official mouthpieces have reported one way or the other, so I’m not sure where you’re getting that.
Chief, where did you read that?
This is Peanut:
Univision posted a story but it has since been taken down… Uh…. 🙁
Nick’s comment at @34 inspires a potential new Power Ranking:
Lovable Non-Superstar Former Brave Folk Heroes
The Lemmer has to be #1 on that list. Who else? Some ideas to spitball:
Bruce Benedict: Scores high on lovability, treated as a folk hero but didn’t earn the accolades as much as the Lemmer did, IMHO.
Brooks Conrad: Not a lot of name recognition, his three-error debacle balances out his folk hero status, but I do believe he put the term “folk hero” on the map around here and that’s worth something.
Julio Franco: Some serious competition for the Lemmer here, what with his able-bodied return to the majors from the Mexican League as a 478-year-old. But you gotta give extra credit for World Series heroics which Julio can’t claim.
Rick Mahler: Braves mainstay who put the “junk” in junkball, a lovable mediocrity who somehow managed to be the all-time ace on Opening Day.
Deion Sanders: Non-superstar? P’shaw! But hear me out: Sanders was a superstar as a player and a media personality, but as a baseball player he was a journeyman, a role player. Highly productive at times, other times not, but good things seemed to happen when he was on the field. Plus he got dropped off in the outfield by a helicopter that one time. That’s burnishing one’s folk hero credentials, right there.
Lonnie Smith: Just watch that one YouTube video. Plus he hit three homers in the ’91 Series against the Twins and a grand slam against the Blue Jays the following year. Skates has folk hero written all over him.
@38
Eddie Perez is pretty high up on that list. He gives Lemke a run for his money IMO.
@38–I would think Pascual Perez is in the running. And if one hit is enough, definitely Francisco Cabrera.
Don’t overlook Rufino Linares. Didn’t see a lot of playing time, but when he did it was always an adventure.
Current wild Twitter speculation seems to be that the initial MRI in Boston yesterday did not show any ligament damage, but that they’re getting another one today here in Atlanta, perhaps because there was swelling yesterday or perhaps because they’re going with a dye-contrast one today to be extra sure. Seems plausible, but TFWIW.
@40 Rufino Linares gets my vote.
@38 Biff Pocoroba gets my vote
I have to imagine it’s a good sign that Acuña hasn’t already been DLed. You’d think they would want to get that extra roster spot for a pitcher with the doubleheader today. It seems impossible that he avoids the DL completely (I think best case scenario is just no surgery) but it seems like they’d get it over with if it was a clear ACL tear or something.
Add El Oso Blanco to the list
Otis Nixon too
I don’t know if Max Fried will ever be good, but that’s a very pretty curveball
That hook is unbelievable.
I liked Jose Alvarez.
Acuna 10 day DL.
Hopefully the iron gloves have been replaced with leather. You’d think blazon would have produced a better first inning. It’s only the Mets, but Fried looks good.
Any hints as to who will take Ronnie’s place?
DPs work when Ozzie starts them.
Clown baseball, bro.
Good game, Max!
Fried outpitched his defense and deserved better.
Offense too was less than stellar.
We’re not gonna score against deGrom today, I guess.
Do not give up. We didn’t score off deGrom before but as soon as he was out, the bats lit up. If we stay within striking distance, we may strike.
Tyler is back….
Or DeGrom might run out of gas…
Damnit, second K with runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Bunt for crissakes but don’t strike out. Dansby could have hit into a double play and tied the damn game.
What a frickin’ waste of a perfectly good rally.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get it out of my head that Swanson mentioned being good under pressure because he played basketball.
Took three strikes and swung at crap.
@61 To be fair, it was a nasty slider that deGrom threw him. Tough pitch to lay off for anyone, but righty sliders away off the plate are still definitely Dansby’s biggest weakness as a hitter.
Thanks goodness for Neck. deGrom can’t win and Fried is off the hook.
Carle has turned into a pumpkin
Yuk
Well, that sucks.
I wouldn’t have minded the slider if he had swung at the strikes early in the count.
Not the first casualty of overuse. Fried had another good inning in him.
Nobody left on the bench, Carle bats. Maybe they’ll PH Julio.
CULBERSON?!?!!
Folk hero contest is now closed.
Fake Dansby! Atta boy Charlie
WHAAAT?
Damn, Culberson!!!! WOW. LOL…. Man wants to keep his job, huh.
Dansby’s doppleganger! Woohoo!
@69 Sorry, I totally forgot about Charlie….. LOL
The aristocrats!
@37
The Chief
occasionally his sources can be quite beyond belief
he will not deign to scan the usual gumshoes
prefers instead to write his own, in meter one-twos.
Ozzie Albies
at first we gave him all B’s
but the A’s soon followed
he imperiously aloof while all others wallowed.
Culberson must’ve played 8th dimensional basketball.
Dustin Peterson, eh?
Trending folk hero and Dansby twin Charlie “Slugger Chuck” Culberson batting sixth in tonight’s lineup.
@81, Works for me. There’s a potential near-term future where Dustin Peterson is an everyday player for the Braves. Might as well kick the tires on him. If he sucks, you can stick Preston Tucker (or even Johan) in there until RAJr. is back.
@81 @83 I wish they’d give him the start. What’s the point on kicking the tires if you don’t rev the engine? Especially with a lefty on the mound.
I’ve missed you, blazon.
The long awaited Dustin Peterson era is upon us! Not sure why he’s not starting, but Folk Hero Dansby’s Doppelgänger does have the hot hand.
Sam @77, bravo.
Yeah I’m surprised that they didn’t bring back Bourjos to be the defensive replacement for Tucker late in games.
Unless the roster is greatly improved in other areas, I don’t think we can afford for Peterson to be a full-time player. If we, say, trade Ender and open a spot for an elite corner OF, I think it can work. If not, we need to land a Machado-type at 3B, and sign an elite SP. Peterson won’t move the needle the way obviously a Bryce Harper in that spot would.
Welp, let’s do this.
Yeah, Peterson is/was a middling prospect.
Hanger after hanger from McCarthy then the error,…get the pen up early
McCarthy may want it to start raining again.
A few years ago, Reyes would have beat that out.
Outstanding start to this one
Very fortunate we got out of that only giving up 2.
And it is odd that Culberson is in LF and batting 6th. Would have been a great opportunity to insert Peterson.
Conlon has a 6.58 ERA in AAA, so he will probably shut us out.
Interesting story on Conlon. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and is the first Irish major league player since 1945.
Well, he won’t shut us out.
Knew that was coming. Yes!
With 2 outs, sending him was the right call despite the result.
Might be a good night to get Wisler a long relief stint, seeing as how McCarthy is fooling nobody.
Freddie!
Amanda’s husband has really settled down. Would not have predicted that after the first couple of innings.
Still could get as many as 7 innings from McCarthy. Only 70 through 5.
The Swanson twins are the only guys without hits tonight. Even Amanda’s Husband has a hit.
Another great line for Amanda’s husband. So we bring in Moylan who does what he does… not sure how we don’t have anybody better in the minors
Moylan allows 2 Grybos for the Mets to take the lead.
Good thing Snitker hit Culberson 6th…smh.
Minter didn’t even walk anyone this time. Just BABIP’ed.
Is Peterson on the bench or are we playing a man short tonight?
Starting to think Minter needs a lot more seasoning before he becomes the closer. He is way too hittable right now, although there were some dinks and dunks tonight
I don’t get this game. Must be the weather causing weird things to happen. Another K with man on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Minter just got robbed on infield singles and dinks. No walks and they still score bunches. I hope we can keep scoring and score last…..
Here comes Sims to save the day. At least now Winkler and Vizzy get the whole day off
110 — The announcers have barely mentioned him tonight. No idea.
Sims touching 95 on his fastball out of the bullpen. Despite the early results, this is probably the best role for him.
Uncle.
Night, y’all.
And the Shmets are doing this mostly with singles – 6/12 with runners in scoring position. For sure, BABIP’d to death.
Actually, I just remembered them with a brief shot of Peterson in the dugout back in the first inning. So, yes, he is at the game.
Greg Olsen will always be a folk hero for me… Tomahawk chopping as he was hauled off the field on a stretcher with a broken ankle was a moment for sure.
@ 97.. Nick
The Irish League
rightly renowned for its Guinness fatigue
but they draw the line at Baileys
PED said the Pope, in one of his Dailys.
@116..coop
hey ho…alive and kicking at 12.41 am? You are an inspiration!
@111… nutter
AJ Minter
more seasoning? he just got his own vintner
what we need is late movement
any in fact would be a great improvement.
RECAP ONE DONE.