No, not tonight. After performing well to squeeze out close run victories in the first two games of this series we stumbled big time tonight and can have no quarrel with a three run loss and our score sheet blank. We were essentially out played in every section of the game. Let’s break it down.
STARTING PITCHING… No quarrel with what was put out by our new boy, Kevin Gausman, whose final line was 5 IP 6 hits 3 runs 3 earned runs, 2 strikeouts. Note if you will the absence of any number there that might suggest defensive errors contributed to the runs he gave up. There should have been. The strikeouts seem disappointing for the pace he carries, maybe, but didn’t they say that was his way? For a first start we’ll take it and let the wiz boys work his stuff over.
Chip had warned us ab initio Zack Wheeler was pitching better than de Grom and he was proved right. He started off with 3 bombs past a befuddled Acuna and went on from there mixing high 90’s with great secondary pitches which he seemed to be able to locate with ease. Hard to cavil at this young man’s success after the last hellish two or three years of pain. Georgia, you know, tough!
BULLPEN… Carle/Venters/Fried, collectively 3 innings, 2 hits, no runs, no walks, 5 strike outs. Solid and with one stand out performer, Venters. Lovely to watch. Hard, 93/4, low, aimed like a dart. If only we can keep him like this with judicious, disciplined use. Great to have him back.
OFFENSE.. Yuk. 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strike outs. Freddie had two of the hits, Duvall another, pinch hitting late. Wheeler otherwise had them reaching all night.
DEFENSE…a very good pitcher at the top of his game is a force you cannot control, everyday defense both infield and outfield is something the Braves pride themselves on and you can and it was absent this evening, pretty much across the board. Two of the three runs could have been nipped in the bud- Camargo with bases loaded got psyched out by Frazier at third, bases loaded, for the first run. For the third Acuna made an appalling play and throw on a soft shallow fly ball which allowed the third run to beat the catcher. (His hitting was nowhere tonight, it could be he is simply tired and needing a break. The thought of not starting him of course fills the entire fan base with horror!)
Suitably chastened we should win tomorrow and move on to those 27 games Joe told us we play against contending teams as opposed to our rival’s 10. Who set that up!
I don’t see what else Camargo could do in that situation. The bases weren’t loaded, second and third. He could have held onto the ball to run Frazier back to third, but he wouldn’t get an out. Good base running by Frazier.
The Mets didn’t hit the ball hard. Just a great pitching effort by Wheeler.
Thanks, blazon. Get ’em today.
Dansby was heading over to cover third but I am not sure if he could have gotten there in time to get the out if Johan ran him back. That play aside, tough to win with zero runs
Thanks blazon. As advanced as Acuna is with the bat, he’s still only 20 years old. I’m very confident his technical skills on the defensive side will catch up with experience.
I hate losing. 27 games or not, the next seven look pretty big against gNats and BrewCrew.
Throwing 6 SPs in 5 days probably gives us the advantage over the Nats. Their rotation is more elite, but I think we have more depth. I hope we can steal a game from them this series as a result of the DH.
Nice. Adam McCreery, the LH RP we got for Chevanka, who has been on the 40-man, has been promoted to AAA. He would be a DFA candidate to clear a 40-man spot, so they feel like he needs to show them something. He’s been good at most levels and could be a September callup.
We best beware Mr. Mckinney today. Four for four, every one squared up. A new phenom later in life?
meanwhile in Danville
Mason McCreaken
his fast ball doesn’t weaken
aural stiffness in his joints
must not be allowed to hide his finer points.
Conversely, Chad Bell, Chase Whitley, and Ricardo Sanchez could easily be pitching their way off the 40-man. If the Braves decide to call up Touki, there’s one spot (they’ll have to add him either way by end of year), and if they carry a third catcher, they’ll need a spot for him.
@9 Alex Jackson is Rule 5 eligible so he’ll have to be added to the 40-man over the winter anyway so he’s likely to be called up as the third catcher. Probably explains his unexpected promotion to AAA. Any of the three you mention should be either DFA’d or called up in September.
Looks like Brewers just got Jordan Lyles for nothing. I wonder if he’d be better than Luke Jackson and why the Braves didn’t take a flyer on him. Cards got Tyson Ross for nothing and he didn’t get down to us.
I wonder if anyone will claim Teheran off waivers.
Reyes can still pick it.
Score some runs dangit!!!
Julio is sitting at 88
@8
for Mckinney read McNeil.
The catchers are on pace for 20 HRs. Some lazy math tells me their collective OPS is around .740. Regression, thy name is Flowzuki.
Might have been a good time to sit Acuna and let him watch a little bit … needs to still learn some defensive alignment and get refocused .. Duval needs some at bats to be effective when he gets in the lineup …
The mets announcers are pretty good and provide some nice numbers/stats. My first time in years not hearing the chip/joe combo, now I have some idea of what all the criticism is about.
@17 yeah, those guys are pretty great.
Do they no longer teach infielders to drop the glove in front of the bag so that the baserunner tags himself out?
Why isn’t Inciarte even trying to steal bases these days? Dansby might get some mistake pitches to hit if we put some pressure on the basepaths. The guy was leading the league in steals earlier this year. The Mets got their run because of a SB.
@15 yes, they are both sinking now. Flowers still has a decent OBP but neither are hitting.
I hope this team doesn’t sink waiting for September reinforcements.
Oswalt only threw 37 pitches in three innings – somebody’s got to make this guy throw a little.
You can’t walk guys like Rosario and Zombie Reyes
Dangit, Julio, two walks two runs….
They are hitting like they can’t wait to get on the plane.
Bad Julio.
A six man rotation isn’t much help when one of the six is Julio
This isn’t what we wanted to see today. Wake up.
17 scoreless innings so far.
We haven’t scored a run in 17 innings. Jinx.
New stat I saw last night puts a damper on this year … I saw where Phillies only play 9 games against contenders the rest of season .. Braves play 27 games against contenders for rest of season …. doesnt look good for the Bravos
This isn’t Roy Oswalt, guys.
Haha, Julio gets one back. He’s our only pitcher that can hit.
Julio might be a better hitter than a couple of our regulars.
Ummm… Good Julio.
@29 Baloney. If you want to be a contender you have to beat contenders. We have the same number of losses as the Phillies as of today. We just need to play winning baseball.
Yeah I worry less about who we’re playing. It’s more about how we are playing at the time. The Mets starting pitching is going to hold a lot of teams in check if they get both deGrom and Wheeler in a series.
Acuna and Albies are the whole offense. If they struggle, we probably lose.
Julio seems energized – now sitting 91-92.
I’m pretty Julio’ed out, regardless of what the offense is doing. The defense of Julio has always been he’s been that he just needs to be worth his contract and better than all the other SPs. Not sure if that’s the case anymore.
This is pathetic. Can’t hit a guy who has an ERA above 6 at Triple A.
@37 exactly. The argument can be made that he is a detriment to winning baseball, no matter how much he is being paid
Could Duvall be worse? We trade for a guy who gets one start in a week while we struggle to put up runs. Righty on righty is a lot less problematic than lefty on lefty…start the guy and try to hit a home run once in awhile
Yea ..we aint gonna beat anybody hitting like this … the Phils and Nats offense are heads above ours … everybody in lineup is slowing down …. give some fresh blood some at bats … Duvall, Culberson …
Not trying to defend Teheran, but he has gotten hosed all day on a number of strikes which led to those walks. It happened on his last hitter as well on the 1-1 pitch.
Teheran pitched (and hit) better than Gausman did yesterday, even while struggling.
What a contrast…
Jonny’s stuff yesterday/today
no back to back
Ender!
That was…unexpected. Nice.
@34 ..OK whatever .. if you dont think thats a advantage for the streaking Phils your in denial ….
Well there ya go
Why not let Duvall hit anyway?
Oh, the bunt. Got it!
@46 I just don’t think that advantage really matters if we play baseball like we are capable of. Further, every contender we beat reduces the chance that that contender gets into the playoffs. That’s an advantage over having an easier schedule if you play baseball like a contender should. It’s better to play good teams this time of year.
Way to go Ender. He might be turning the corner on his annual second half surge.
The A Team is not getting it done today.
I always thought Sunday day games and getaway games were times that managers used odd lineups, giving the regulars a rest and the bench some starts. I wonder why we never see Snit trying that.
Did Snit just waste Duval’s bat for Flaherty ??? REALLY ??????????????????????????
@52 – No, Duvall was never announced.
Brach is pretty impressive.
Look Brach in Anger
and…
Joe having a good day but needs to know you effectively cannot hit a baseball backhanded. Nick’s was a cute forehand lob.
C’mon, Johan.
Pfft.
It made sense for the Braves to give Joey Bats a shot earlier this year, but I’m very glad that he’s no longer in a Braves uniform.
Good job, Winkler. How ’bout some runs, bats?
Ender still smokin’; now steal a damn base.
Teheran has given up 3 or less runs in 4 of his 5 starts since the All Star break. He hasn’t looked great, but he’s kept us in the game for the most part. I can live with that for the rest of the year.
Do you think Joe notices that talent occasionally skips generations in the Carey line?
Adam may need some ABs.
Ronald!
Acuna Matata!!
Nothing wrong with Ronald. No days off for him!
does albies have like 1 HR since May? he looks awful.
Albies leads league in at bats with the least amount of pitches thrown too .. my gosh .. look at a few pitches every now and then ………………….. you dont think opposing pitchers are not picking up on this !!!
I don’t know how the Marlins relievers got such good ERAs because their entire bullpen sucks. The Phightins have mauled their bullpen in every game of this series.
So when is Vizzy back?
ugh
Our camera guys aren’t any better than the announcers.
Do you really want to continue to imply that Albies sucks?
Have y’all been watching or lookin at any stats? Ozzie had a cold June but he’s been fine the last month or so.
I know, he does swing at the first pitch a lot, and I wish he’d show a little
more patience, but we’ve got no reason to complain about him.
Minter isn’t fooling anybody
And Minter doesn’t suck either. He’s been excellent. Even Kimbell blows a save every now and then.
But don’t let them score another!
Tad being Tad, Tfloyd. He should know it’s Swanson’s fault.
Let’s win this sucker.
Really poor work from the booth not knowing that ground rule and confusing the heck out of us.
Albies approach is terrible, don’t deny it; he has done well in spite of it. I’m wondering where the power has gone? Fatigue? Seitzer messed with the swing?
and yeah, minter is good, shit happens.
Freeman hasn’t looked great lately either….but Neck has!
Let’s see who tries to close it out.
You’re right, coop, I shouldn’t let tad make me loose my cool.
Neck!!!
Neck!!!
Or what Roger said.
Nick is on fire today; too bad no one around him has done much
Marlins just bushwacked Phils closer.
@81 Don’t forget about Ender.
@83 True, of course, but has had a chance when Nick was on base i.e. not close enough to him in the order. Zuke has left a lot of guys on base today and been a black hole in the order.
Great play by Wash blocking their third baseman getting to a Suzuki pop up near the crowd.
“Hitterish.” -Chip Caray
I’m nervous—I wish I hadn’t dissed Bautista earlier today
What a great win!!
Biddle looks great
Exhale.
Woo.
Great job by the pen. Minter gets a pass. He has a FIP better than Kimbrel, and that’s ok in my book.
Yay! That’s a great win. Impressed with Biddle getting out of the jam.
That was exhausting.
Get some rest boys, what is it, like 60 games in 50 days after tomorrows off day?
What a relief. Our pen is SO much better since the trade deadline. This is a bullpen we can be competitive with. I can’t even imagine how much better off we’d be right now if we started the season with this bullpen. It was Minter’s 1st BS this year.
Not to mention that the IF defense sure helped in the 10th.
The gNats barely snuck by the Reds. This series is gonna be very interesting. Time to put the gNats away.
What a great game. Best therapy in the world, them and us.
Biddle to be congratulated for his first save after a fluky lead off double, he retaining his trust in his great curve ball.
Suzuki is being vilified all over the net, before today’s game. What options do we have going off to DC?
Acuna off the hook now they must talk to Ozzie. Above all, if you’re ahead in the count don’t swing at pitches in the dirt. AND you’re rolling over like Heyward, explain and tell him to stop it!!
@86 They’re like thunder and lightning — if one doesn’t get you, the other will. – Joe Simpson
Huh?…
A few years ago Meseracho took Kimbrell deep twice in the same series at GABP.
It’s amazing how hitting home runs leads to runs.
Markakis the undoubted Man of the Match.
4 hits, game winning homer.
Needs not be forgotten.
@97–I’ll take those rally killers any time they want to hit them!
Great win. 3 of 4 from the Mets is holding serve. Now it’s on to the grind. We should be in good spirits after that.
ALEX
ITG at TC is brokering one free ticket for each game of Tuesdays double header in very fancy seats. Good luck with which blog you belong to. Maybe you know each other!
Big game for Ender. Love how Acuña hit the ball the other way for an RBI. Markakis will be very hard to replace next year.
test
strange…
I’ve tried to post the same message(re Suzuki dilemma) three times in the last 6 minutes, either side of the successful ‘test’ and each has disappeared.
Guessing Rob has shut my quota down!
Kevin Gausman
our very welcome new in-houseman
two days off in New York with beautiful wife
his fastball, some have deemed it a tad lacking in life.
Recapped.