As usual, I can never get out of the office in time to catch the whole first inning on MLB.com. Why does the first inning always seems to be momentous on Tuesday night? Would it be too much to ask for a clean first inning once in a while. When I saw what had happened, I had trouble getting back into the game. As bad as Fried was in the first inning, he pulled it together and kept the Braves in the game.
So, for the uninformed, Fried’s first inning went popup, HR, HR, 2B, popup, HR, W, and GO. The score was 4-0 Phils and Fried looked pretty shaky. Some of our favorite players made life hard as JTR and Harper hit the first two HRs consecutively. That the Phillies spent $300M and traded their best prospect to acquire their two best players is why they are not ready for primetime. Fried hung in and gave four more decent innings before leaving.
The good news is that, seeing Vargas on the mound, I had every confidence the Braves would come back. The Braves staged a big 3rd inning rally where Vargas couldn’t get anyone out. Unfortunately, the Braves used all walks and singles and could not put up a bigger number. But they did score 4 runs to tie, as Vargas committed an error on a potential home-to-first DP ball. They had already wasted a Camargo leadoff double in the second and Albies gave away a run by getting thrown out on a first-to-third attempt during the rally. But you had to feel good that the Braves had bailed out Fried and were back in it.
That feeling didn’t last long as Fried gave up his 4th HR and final run in the bottom half of the 3rd. Kingery hit an inside-the-park HR which Acuna almost caught, correction should have caught. But the ball popped out when he came back down from his leap over the fence, as he failed to protect his catch before celebrating. Acuna still makes some rookie mistakes. Even then two good relays nearly had Kingery at the plate if Cervelli could have held on to the ball and made a good swipe tag. The ball beat Kingery there.
Thus began hibernation mode. The Braves could do nothing with the Phillies relief staff, which was unusual considering the quality thereof. Snitker used this game for reliever test mode with O’Day, Minter, Swarzak, Blevins, and Sobotka. All of them are on the cusp of the playoff roster or just out of it. The Phils were already in reliever mode when Vargas couldn’t last. Chip kept telling us that the more relievers the Phils used, the more likely we were to get one we could hit. Except that the Phils hit ours first when Dickerson hit his 2nd HR of the night off of Minter in the 6th.
The Braves had set the stage for their usual late comeback. Camargo hit a solo blast in the 8th, but it was not enough. Neris set the Braves down 1-2-3 in the 9th and a one run loss resulted. The gNats suffered their own loss so the Braves still gained in the magic number column. Down to nine.
I hate to see that Yellich is out for the season with a fractured knee cap. Looks like Milwaukee’s playoff chances took a big hit.
Ugly game. Elegant recap. Thanks, Roger.
Go Braves.
So if you’d just have gotten home sooner, Roger, the Braves would have won. This needs to be addressed in future salary negotiations.
Thanks, Roger.
Because I can’t put eyes on these things, can those who saw it comment on the 2 first inning homeruns? Like, did it seem like they were using scouting report to jump on an expected first pitch? Were the pitches meatball, get me over type or well commanded to corners?
4 – on Realmuto, Fried had him 1-2 I think and tried go high fastball out of the zone. He missed down (at the top of the zone) and Realmuto didn’t miss. Just bad location.
Harper was a first pitch curve ball right down the middle that he hammered. Must’ve guessed right, but it had too much of the plate.
That’s two recent games (last night and the start against the Dodgers) that Max has had a rough first inning, but soldiered on and didn’t go all belly up.
Silver linings yadda yadda, but still a decent enough take away.
Ortega is down to a .547 OPS and won’t be on the 25 or 40-man roster next year. I feel like today might be the day we see some new blood in the bullpen.
@7 I hope so. Seems like Johan is a much better fit for that role as the lefty with Riley or Duvall as the right handed version than what Ortega is
@6 I actually think that’s much more than a mere silver lining as I feel like it’s an under-appreciated quality of a starting pitcher in the current era. That first inning would normally mean a guy doesn’t have it working, but Max has shown that he can put it past him and finish his start without letting it become a dumpster fire.
That’s Ace-level character.
@7 Hard to be too disappointed, because he got warm when the club needed him. That’s really about all you can ask from a AAAA guy. Ortega has turned back into a pumpkin, though.
I’m still somewhat concerned about the pen.
@7&10
It’s okay. Neck will be back soon.
Ortega has given us 3 or 4 good games and has basically exceeded expectations. With Joyce, Camargo, Culberson, Hamilton, Duvall, Riley, Markakis and possibly Inciarte in the mix for 2 outfield spots, not only should he not see the playoff roster, his playing time over the next few weeks should be almost non existent.
I’m also still somewhat concerned about the pen, but I’m also glad we have essentially throw-away games in September where we can keep Fried from cracking 80 pitches, and we can cycle through our lesser relievers to see what they have. And you can only do that if you’re not fighting for a playoff spot. I think we’d be riding Melangreentin harder than we already are if we were.
Like a proud father with a single tear of pride running down his cheek, Alex Remington would be happy to know that I’ve learned and embraced WPA as the best way of evaluating relievers. And if you’re worried about the bullpen’s recent performance, I am happy to report that the Braves’ relievers are 4th in baseball in Win Probability Added in the month of September. Only problem is that the Dodgers are 3rd. Womp womp womp.
We are setting ourselves up for a showdown with the Tinseltown Terrors, and let’s just say…
If you can use WPA instead of WAR,
When discussing late-inning relief and such,
If you rank by leverage, for pen arms near and far,
If you use ERA, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
I don’t know. I’ve never kippled.
@3 From your lips to my employer’s ears!
Of course it will be good to have Neck back—certainly rather have him getting ABs than Ortega. But I don’t have a good feeling about him. It can take a long time for a hitter to really hit the ball hard after an injury like that. Joyce would probably be a more productive hitter over the next few weeks than Markakis, but Nick needs to get the at bats to see if he is ready for the playoffs. I fear that no matter how poorly Markakis may hit upon his return, he will be the starting right fielder in the playoffs.
@4 @5 Wish I had seen it to be able to offer something. The TV crew was talking about tipping pitches or stealing signs or other such nonsense. But I saw what Dusty described from the Harper HR on the 2nd Dickerson HR – same idea – a curve misplaced into the center of the zone.
Fried has two ways of making his curve work – starting it high and having it drop into the top of the zone and starting it middle and having it drop out of the zone. Any time it drops into the middle, it is going to get and usually does get hammered.
I wanna win the season series against these guys. To do that we need to win 3 of the next 5. Best to win now than trying to win next week. If we can win these two then we’ll be in the same position as we are with the gNats only we’ll have already eliminated the Phillies.
20 – I’m with you Roger, but those 3 games from March don’t really count do they 🙂
Feels like a lifetime ago..
@15 – Applause.
Ouch. Poor Johan.
I love Alex.
OMG TYLER!!!!
I have zero expectations of anything good happening with Flowers at bat or behind the plate.
Sometimes my expectations are exceeded.
Tyler, you did good, boy.
I hate that for Johan. He’s been hitting great for the past several weeks. Let’s hope it’s not broken.
@15
Imperious…
I am as tired of Tyler’s world leading passed balls as anyone. And he’s bad controlling the running game. But overall he rates ok defensively because of his framing skills according to the experts who measure all that stuff. And offensively he’s above average for his position. All in all he’s above average for a catcher, especially so for a backup. I don’t really get that so many on here are so loathe to even see him on the postseason roster.
What a horseshit call.
wow, what a terrible call by the ump benefiting cheating Realmuto.
Little luck, please.
Thank you.
Nick Markakis will be a left fielder. The tweet doesn’t say it as strongly as the video does.
Dang, Martin! The immaculate inning!
Immaculate inning! Never seen one!
Chris Martin, whoa.
The Billy Hamilton Experience was fun while it lasted.
Are we sure we want The Billy Hamilton Experience in the playoffs? I remain unconvinced.
@39 I think his mistakes the last couple of weeks have made it an easier call to leave him off and hope Inciarte is 100% by then.
You’re gonna need a pinch-runner in the playoffs, and there isn’t a better option for that than Billy Hamilton. The solution isn’t to leave him off the playoff roster, it’s to not use him for anything other than pinch-running (and maybe a very late-inning defensive replacement directly after pinch-running).
UPDATE: …and we’re listing a bit on the defensive replacement piece. I stand by the pinch-running point, though.
Damn you, ump! He doesn’t get a smaller strike zone just because he’s Bryce Harper!
#42
And he calls the same pitch a strike against Hoskins.
Dodgers lost, BTW
Whew!
Boy, it’s nice to see Riley barrel a ball.
Woo! You go, Austin!
Yeaaaa can’t run on Harper. Bad decision with Freddie up next.
Has Ronald switched to a Rawlings glove?
Two words: Robot umps
Melancon threw five freaking strikes in that at-bat!
Ump isn’t doing him any favors, but I don’t love the nibbling here.
DANSBAE!
Wow! That would’ve been as spectacular as it gets had they gotten the second out on that flip.
Way to go you mulleted scamp!
JOSH DONALDSON YOU SWIFT AND MULLETED SCAMP!!!!!
NICE!!! Does he get a mulleted scamp for that, Bethany?
UPDATE: I guess so…ha! Beat me to it.
@55 I knew you would….. 🙂 What great defense by Dansby and JD.
Good win. I do so love beating the Phillies.
Man, these wins throughout the NL East gauntlet we are in the middle of have felt so much like playoff games. Another game where not everything went our way but we managed to pull it out.
@41 The Braves have some of the fastest players in the league already including Charlie Clutch. I think that if Inciarte is in the lineup, you’re not gonna need a pinch runner that badly and if he’s out of the lineup (LH starter) then he fills the role.
I’d rather carry the third catcher or another pitcher or one or both of Riley/Duvall. We need platoon bats more than pinch running. Especially if your pinch runner is gonna get picked off every time.
Recapped