Having no idea what to say about tonight’s repeat performance I just reread Painter’s effort on last night’s imbroglio and found some strength in it. It was short, to the point, got the job done and got out unscathed. As these two games were essentially identical, our reason for losing both duplicitous, i shall attempt to follow his shining example, no guarantees.
I was disgusted by what we sat through tonight for the second time in 24 hours. It must be equally obvious to you all the level at which we hit when once again our competitors had already done us the huge favor of losing and thus leaving the whole field open for us…read no further please save to exercise any masochistic tendencies you have that currently surround you.
In our starting nine there were two players who made a significant contribution to what we were supposed to be there for, to win. 1 and 9 in the order. They were both superb. One held the opposition scoreless until he should have been pinch hit for at the bottom of our fifth, 2 runners aboard. Allowed, further, to start the sixth he gave up the first run of the game.
Sobotka promptly gave up a 2 run homer in the bottom of the sixth to rub our noses in it thus ensuring Dansby’s mighty blow in the ninth was moot, ironic, way too late to matter.
So, just like last night, it was Acuna getting on base, 3 times, and the other seven guys quite unable to bring him round. Pathetic. Twice, remember. Even his double, like last night, they left him there.
And I will leave you here, my duty performed within the midnight hour, my temper controlled, my sadness profound. Good night.
the NL East
who wants it, this succulent feast?
not us, my friend, we feel pressured
at 20 he now knows, he has us measured.
Ozzie must be sent out for a week with a batting coach that knows him and a sports shrink that doesn’t. 6 hours each, every day.
Until he leaves, like tomorrow, BUNT.
Another frustrating night. The bats will wake up today. We’ll get them today.
How good has our starting pitching been lately.
Spot on recap, although I would say #8 in the order did his job for the most part as well.
@2 That’s exactly what I’ve been saying. If you’re in a slump, use your best weapon more often. Our best weapon is speed. Bunt for hits, bunt to move runners over, steal bases. Acuna should have attempted at least one steal on his three times on base. Stealing 3rd after his double would have allowed for the possibility of a sac fly. That’s how the Marlins scored.
The Braves DID have 9 hits including 2 XBH. Acuna, Albies, and Swanson all got on base with the opportunity to push the defense and distract the pitcher. There is no way the Braves should have K’d 13 times. Bunts, SBs, taking extra bases (like Freddie tried), anything to push the defense and take advantage of the first mistake.
@4 I agree, both on offense and defense.
@ #5
Ender’s good about trying to bunt when he’s not swinging the bat well.
@5
I have always assumed Acuna can’t run on his own – would be nice to be wrong. And Ozzie to bunt, ditto.
@4/5 Swanson, agreed. And a word for our pitcher, please.
Surprised we haven’t had a how-de-do here about Snit leaving him in to bat that time.
Wait, after two straight losses, no one’s going to lapse into dooooomsaying?
I, for one, question this team’s will to win!
So no Albies tonight and Rio back with the team.
@7 – In the 129th game of the season, Snitker gambled we could outscore a 52 – 78 team over the last 3 innings, tried to save some bullpen, and it couldn’t have turned out much worse. So it goes.
This would be a really bad out.
Edit: It worked out.
I think Acuna didn’t touch the bag.
Johan is exactly the guy I want up there right now.
Womp, womp.
Ugh.
Runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and our 3-4-5 hitters coming up and we get nothing. Unbelievable. Or I guess this weekend, it’s believable.
‘Angels and Ministers of Grace defend us’…
from weak, feckless hitting
FF very much included.
“Andrew” needs a day off.
The middle of our lineup has become worthless and weak. Thank goodness the Phillies are scuffling too.
Most of them do.
5-pitch inning with the Braves’ 2, 3 and 4 hitters up.
Dfa freddie and neck
Gausy.
Joe and Chip are especially annoying when nothing’s happening on the field.
How is it even possible that they keep saying the same stuff every freakin’ inning?!
It looks like our hitters are just exhausted. But Gaus is great.
T-FLOW!
Despite both teams’ best and most heartfelt efforts, a run has been successfully scored!
Seriously, the lack of position player depth creating an inability to give some of these guys a day off is 1000% on AA.
Well, those questioning letting Snit keep Anibal in the game can be relieved at this decision.
Huzzah!
Man – I’m sorry to see Gaus come out of the game.
Are we 100% sure that Rio Ruiz is a better hitter than he is?
Very similar situation as last night. This time, Snitker hit for Gausman.
@31 the right call.
Great game by Gausman. It is fun to watch him work. Changing speed, changing location, throwing strikes – beautiful.
Fascinating juxtaposition of the decision not to pinch hit last night and then to pinch hit for Gausman here.
It paid off so far. Great to have Ronald coming up with the bases loaded.
Zip it Chip.
Gausman has been even better than Alex thought he would be, and he was more bullish on him than anyone.
#Bravesfam on Twitter now is criticizing Snitker’s decision to PH. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
@ #27
Lack of position player depth
AA tried to get Adams and Reynolds from Washington for some bench depth and a backup for Freddie, but it didn’t work out.
Yeah, pinch hitting is absolutely the right move when runs are this scarce. Rob’s right, though, AA has to keep working at improving the bench.
@36
The Talking Chop circle jerk is doing so, as well. As someone who was extremely upset that he didn’t pinch hit last night, I will say that you can’t have it both ways, and that not every decision he makes is wrong simply because he makes it (which I’m pretty sure is where TC is leaning).
In the 7 games of this road trip, Braves starters have given up a total of 3 runs.
And both Folty and Gausman have become dominant lately.
That diving catch by Acuña was Andruwesque
Ronald is just so special. What an extraordinary young man. He doesn’t showboat, he doesn’t hot dog, he just has the loudest tools in the world.
Albies walks!
That was encouraging. Ozzie got to two strikes and still managed to draw a walk. Now Ronald, can we please put this freaking game away?
LOL…not exactly what I had in mind, but OK, I guess.
One of Ozzie’s best at-bats in a long time, given the game situation. The team needed him to be patient and he was.
Both the Nats and Phillies are winning as well.
Are the Marlins changing pitchers for Freddie?
Anyone listening to Powell and Paul Byrd? They are actually really great together.
I just really do not see what everyone likes so much in Paul Byrd. He provides some value on TV when he’s specifically breaking down pitch grips and so forth, but outside of that, I’m not a big fan. I definitely wouldn’t want him as the everyday analyst on radio or TV.
I think my favorite of the rotating Don Sutton replacements I’ve heard on radio this year has been Nick Green, who everyone else seemed to really hate. I guess Francoeur isn’t without his charm (though would probably grate at times). I think Jeff works better with Jim Powell than with Chip and Joe, though maybe it’s just that he’s better in a 2-man booth than a 3-man.
Throw strikes, A.J.
To go 5-2 on a road trip where you aren’t hitting at all…I’ll certainly take it.
I was going to come on here and talk about how great Paul Byrd was. Haha. Hey, anyone that talks about UZR and DRS on a radio broadcast is ok in my book.
Looking at our schedule, one of those two losses to the Fish may bite us. You just can’t split with the Fish when you have the Rays, Cubs, Pirates, D-Backs, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Phillies comprising around 70% of the remaining schedule.
Well, we took all three from Pittsburgh when two was the expectation (especially given our offense in that series), so there’s your win back.
The Braves have trouble with teams founded in 1993.
@55
No, I wanted both!
Maybe I’ve just been broken by exposure to horrifically crappy color commentators, but I thought Byrd did a fine job, and I’ve felt the same way about Frenchy. Not transcendent by any means, but not gratingly awful, which frequently seems to be the standard, and as much as I like his personality, I don’t think Don Sutton frequently adds much useful analysis any more — I think it’s just been too long since he’s pitched and the game has changed too much.
I think he was decent with actual game analysis as recently as last year. For however much the rest of the broadcast (Sutton play-by-play, Sutton and Powell screwing around, etc.) would grate on me, it would undeniably be a great broadcast in the ninth inning of a close game, with Powell fully focused on the game and Sutton concentrating on game analysis. Hasn’t been the case this year, and I wonder if whatever health problems Sutton is clearly having (what with not having traveled once this year, to my knowledge) have a lot to do with it.
Recapped.
I will totally defer to y’all on Sutton’s analysis vs. others’, but I do think there is something about his affect that is really uniquely suited to radio. I’m not sure exactly, and this might all sound kinda dumb, but something about his kind of wry, witty, good-natured detachedness/coolness seems to really fit the flow of a game on the radio, an art form which is essentially just two dudes having to narrate the white noise of a ballpark for three hours. I also have enjoyed Byrd, but something about his kind of earnest, always-positive peppiness feels to me a little more suited to the TV product (same w/ Frenchy, though to a lesser extent), where there are lots of other things constantly happening to compete for your brainspace (images, graphics, the actual game, etc). Sutton’s affect is such, for me at least, that when he gets excited, it feels like something REALLY exciting is happening, which feels like it gives the radio broadcast a little more emotional range. Uecker is obv. a bit goofier, but I feel like I’d put him in the same category. (And I’m speaking only about Don as a color commentator here, I agree w/others that his play-by-play is not great.)