We’d been around too long with this bunch to know it couldn’t be this easy, right through to the end, surely? And it wasn’t, we went from laugher to white knuckle in a matter of minutes, late – just like last night except this time we were the ones trying to hold off the marauders who, smelling blood, became men not boys.
With Arietta pitching we accomplished a good old one-two in each of the first two innings, 2 runs in each, we had four on the board in a few minutes- they looked overmatched by Folty(more later) and had yet to record a hit. In fact going in to the 6th they still hadn’t! What was truly bizarre though was we, the Cock of the Hoop with that comfortable fat lead up front – were experiencing a similar hit drought well into the late innings.
It would be fair to say then that for we older denizens, so emotionally shattered from many earlier disasters, we ‘recherched du temps perdu’ and were increasingly concerned complacency must have set in, it couldn’t go on like this. And it didn’t. After a magnificent outing from Folty he started to look a bit blown going into the eighth and putting the first two hitters on. Much consultations on the mound, it must have been a very difficult decision with his pitch count at only 84, 56 strikes, but he didn’t seem that upset at that time to be sent to the bench. Leaving the two base runners on of course, no outs, and our run total seemingly stuck at 4 forever.
This is where things got tight, our hero banished to the bench, the Phils suddenly perking up as they saw the numbers for themselves. Herrera and Fanco produced, Jonny was sent in at 4-3 and somehow managed to get us out of it. Boffo. We are using up his miraculous powers. We managed to add a huge 5th run in the bottom of the eighth, doubling our lead, and we waited to see who Snit would send out to close the deal. Who did you guess it would be, be honest.
The choice proved masterly, it was Viz and he showed his class by disposing of the Phils rif-raf in 9 pitches, 6 of which were strikes. Champions, just like that.
The individuals who shone for us. Folty, of course. No hitter into the sixth and thus literally unhittable. He had great control, 2 walks, and vicious movement through the air plus a couple of 99’s to shake ’em up. Smoltz was full of praise for him and, interestingly, quite sure he’ll get better yet.
Elsewhere. If you haven’t noticed there are three position players we have on a daily basis who consistently are currently outperform their brethren. Acuna/Inciarte/Camargo and such was the case last night and today. FF is well on his way to rejoin them. What a great day! 5 years on the Braves is back.
Woohoo!
Perfect. Recap worthy of a champion.
I want to cry. Watching Snit’s interview made me cry. This team is awesome. Enjoy this guys, don’t take this for granted.
Undoomed.
The string of division championships made this sort of ho-hum. Five years removed from the last one makes it clear how great it is to win.
@3
I could not agree more. I think Snitker and the emotion he showed in the interview shows why his players love playing for him. And yes, he’ll make some strange calls to the pen, but I don’t think the Braves would’ve won this year without him at the helm.
Vizcaíno has pitched pretty good.
The Braves have won the division every year I’ve been Braves Journal’s editor. Feels good.
Since the Braves and Athletics are both in the postseason, maybe Mac’s nightmare will finally occur.
@9 That’s scary.
Doubleplusundoomed
@3 and @6 Agree. So happy for him. 40 years in the Braves organisation. Unbelievable. Very happy for him.
I’d like to see Kyle Wright get a start, now.
@6 With all of Snits issues with bullpen management, I agree that they probably don’t win this without him running the show. Frank Thomas made a a great point (several times) on the post game show about Ron Washington’s influence on the young players and our defense as well. This is a great coaching staff but you really have to feel good for Snit and his old school baseball journey to get to this point of success.
@9 if he had been able to stay asleep to the end of that game, Mac would have seen Culberson walk off with a 2 run HR.
Interested to see if Snitker goes with the B-team this afternoon: Adams, Culberson, Duda, Duvall, Flaherty, etc.
You guys have problem with Snit’s bullpen management? Geez, have you watch bobby?
By the way, Coppy deserves credit here. Sadly his arrogance cost him a ton, but he set the stage for this to happen.
@16 Pretty much, though Freddie and Nick are still in there.
6 Culbs
9 Kakes
3 Freeman
2 Flowers
7 Duvall
5 Ruiz
8 Adams
4 Flaherty
1 Sanchez
No Tucker? Or Duda? Or Rivera? Why not stack more lefties against Nola? I guess Adams is the only one they trust to play CF. I’d want the extra lefty and let Duvall play CF. If anyone deserves extra rest, it’s the catchers.
When you have Flowers as your cleanup hitter, you’ve got the lineup scrubbed out pretty good. I don’t think they’d want Tucker over Kakes, Duda over Freeman, or Rivera over Flowers when you have a remaining lineup like that.
I’m sure we’ll see Kakes and Freeman get days off tomorrow. With Flowers nor Suzuki really getting exhausted as it is, I wonder if Rivera will get many PAs. I do hope we have 3+ regulars getting starts close to every night and some defensive replacements as well. Have the regulars play about 60% of the team’s innings in this last week.
Agreed with Chief that I hope Wright gets a start. I don’t want to strip the roster out, but I’m definitely excited to see some young pitching get more opportunities.
Has anyone found a video of Snitker speaking to the team in the clubhouse? I heard the last couple seconds on Ozzie’s live video. There was some colorful language, so I understand if it’s nowhere to be found.
@18
coppy that
just be well advised to keep it under your hat
does he still exist?
persona non grata, fame with a twist.
There will be a lot of fans who paid for tickets, so it’s great to have Freeman and Kakes in the lineup, I think.
And Freddie may still have a shot at the batting title . . . .
But now I understand. Both in to preserve consecutive games streaks and to get them both ovations for their contributions. Tucker and Duda in now. I get it now.
Well done for Freddie and Kakes.
Watching Acuna hit Albies in the dugout. And having seem choking Albies in joy before. I have to wonder how many Acuna-bruises Ozzie has. LOL…. Those two are fun to watch.
Now Duvall is hitting.
Look at that. Duvall smacks a double. I wonder if some guys are just not cutout for pinch-hitting.
Way to go Lane! The Braves just OWN the Phillies this year. Doesn’t matter who’s playing.
Now Dansby has his arm around Ozzie. I think he’s protecting him from Acuna….. LOL
Great to hear AA not wanting to waste any games in early May, calling up Soroka, as he thought they might actually have a chance to contend.
We got lucky with AA. Really interesting insight from him during the last inning.
It’s so much more fun watching the game wanting to win but not stressing out over it.
That’s the link to Nick getting pulled. Man, I love that.
Who IS this Lane Adams guy??? He’s looking like the 2017 version.
Love it. We got a little battle going for the bench spot.
I think Fried could be really good for us next year. Hope he’ll get the chance to show it. 97mph fastball and a killer curve.
Beating the mess out of the hopeless and dejected Phils and Mets with our prospects will help both their confidence and their marketability (maybe) in the offseason.
I hope this is reminding everyone just how good Fried is. Pitching strikes and getting outs.
Barring the injuries, Fried would be ahead of Touki in the pecking order.
Hawk.
You can take it off the Board.
Last appearance today.
There will be so many of us desolate we will not hear that call again.
Me for one. You probably not.
@42
Behind Touki
Ahead of Newcombe.
@44 Good comparison.
@44 I think you’re forgetting how good he was in the rotation. He ended one start badly when the blisters hit, but he was every bit as good as Touki.
And he may be a better bet than Newk if he can stop the injury bug and Newk can’t improve his control.
Fried and Soroka are ready. Touki is going to have his struggles as he goes through the league a few times. They’re all top of the rotation starters.
I look at Fried’s BB/9 throughout the minors and into this season, and I don’t see a pitcher any more or less “ready” than Touki.
Soroka had it all going on.
Shane Carle just missed on a pitch out and threw a strike. Yikes.
@48 Irrelevant data. What he did in the majors is more representative – as a starter.
In the minors he was rehabbing most of the time.
I think Carle is pitching his way out of the postseason. He’s going to have to pitch more strikes – inadvertent or not.
We were doing OK on walks this game until Carle came on.
Got to get Carle out of there. He has totally lost it. I guess they would if we cared.
The Phillies are begging to end their season and Carle is forcing them to win this game.
Flaherty bailed him out. And he’s going to get a save for that.
Whew. I still really want to win every game we play. Our backups and prospects playing well is equally important to our starters playing well.
With that said, I just can’t seem to remember Tucker is not eligible for the postseason. But he can still be valuable next year.
Our friend Matt Wisler has given up one earned run in 10.1 IP for Cincy. He’s gotten 9 K’s against 2 BBs and 5 H.
@55 We still need Duvall more than we need Wisler. Sounds odd but it’s true.
Bowman says that the 4th spot in the playoff rotation could possibly go to Fried if they want a lefty. I think Fried or Newk should go anyway as lefty long man.
Oh, no regrets on the trade at all. Loved it at the time. Just hasn’t worked out that well.
Wisler, though, will probably end up being looked at as a change of scenery guy. Our current crop of pitching prospects are being handled like eggs compared to Wisler’s development.
@48
Adam…we continue the Touki tug.
From my end, Touki has one huge advantage, indeed it’s unique. He can deliver certain off speed pitches that no one else can. That behave in such a way, and to such an extent, they send observers into paroxysms of delight. Please don’t ask me to name/define these pitches, above my pay grade. You know what i mean.Plus he shows poise on the mound in a starting role.
I like Fried but watching him today there seemed to be a goodly number of ‘Newkcurves’ – wannabee curve balls that start out wide to a right hand bat and stay out wide – in some cases high and wide.
BTW, when is Soroka due back fit? He of the giraffian facial features.
I don’t think it’s possible for Rob to go more than a month without mentioning Matt Wisler.
It’s such a small sample for Fried that I suppose you’ve got to trust our coaches. I imagine he does look better than Newcomb right now.
It’s not possible. I’ve got a soft spot for him. I’ll be interested to see where he is at the end of April next year.
Been a while since we’ve had to wonder, but does anyone know when we should get a solid timeline of game days/times? I’m looking at being at least game 3.
Sigmund Fried
may be a little more than we need
maternal misogyny
with its likelihood of of weak armed progeny.
Adjusting for plate appearances and factoring in versatility, Culberson has basically split the difference between Omar Infante and Martin Prado. Pretty incredible.
@60, I think the NLDS starts Oct 4, but it’s too early to know time and location. I guess in theory the Braves could still end up with the best NL record if the Cubs fall apart next week.
@58, I love Touki. I agree, he’s special. And from close enough to my hometown that I can claim him, too.
Recapped.