It’s here, ladies and gents! The reason we watch. This year has been full of moments and I’d like to share my favorite.
July 19th.
We loaded up the whole family and met our best friends from New Orleans in Atlanta for a weekend of fun. That Friday pre-game, I bought my 4 year old Murphy her first glove, Braves hat, and Ronald Acuna shirsey. Fast forward to the top of the 9th. Braves were leading 3-1 and Luke Jackson came on for the save. Unfortunately the lead didn’t last long as Luke gave up a 2 run bomb. Luke held them from there and Josh Donaldson did his thing. The walkoff was awesome, but what was extra awesome was that Murphy, completely decked out in her Braves gear, was hoisted on my shoulders and my niece captured the moment.
So let’s kick off the celebration by hearing your favorite memories and/or wins from the 2019 season and then watch our boys kick some serious Cardinal ass in a few hours.
Go Braves!
From last thread:
@blauser
Red Deck parking is great but you’ll have to get there before game at least 2.5 hours early (probably 3). That would be my way to go. That’s the parking deck that is free with $50 spent at the Battery. It’s also fairly easy in and out.
Well, folks, this is it. Happy to be experiencing it with you all.
Nice story on RAJ over on ESPN.com
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27749899/best-ever-sounds-absurd-atlanta-braves-star-ronald-acuna-jr-far-off
As far as favorite games go, it’s hard to beat BMac walking off the Phillies.
Another story posted at the Ringer:
https://www.theringer.com/2019/10/3/20896375/ronald-acuna-mike-soroka-ozzie-albies-atlanta-braves-core-nlds-preview
Gearing myself up for today and I had to acknowledge the demons of postseasons past. Here’s how I ranked the 9 consecutive postseason losses, from least to most heartbreaking:
*Honorable Mention* 2011 Wild Card Collapse – Freddy should really have been cut loose here. Swept at home to end the year by a Phillies team that had already clinched.
9. Loss to Dodgers in 2018 – Surprise run by Braves. Vast talent gap.
8. Loss to Giants in 2010 – Injuries really hurt an already suspect Braves lineup. Braves managed a 1.95 ERA in the series. Screw Melky forever.
7. Loss to Astros in 2004 – Jared Wright bookended the series against Clemens and Oswalt. Results exactly as expected.
6. Loss to Diamondbacks in 2001 – Atrocious Braves offense ran into the peak Johnson/Schilling buzzsaw.
5. Loss to Dodgers 2013 – Leaving Kimbrel in the pen should maybe bump this higher. Dodgers were still the better team even before they became THE Dodgers.
4. Loss to Cardinals in 2012 – The infield fly. Chipper’s error. Medlen’s worst start in 2 months. Still hurts.
3. Loss to Giants in 2002 – Last great Maddux/Glavine year. Hated losing to Bobds & Kent. One of the 4 times in this run Braves lost a ‘winner advances’ game at home.
2. Loss to Astros in 2005 – I would’ve sworn the 18-inning game was a Game 5, but Braves we’re playing to send the series finale back home. We know what would have happened then.
1. Loss to Cubs in 2003 – Such a fun Braves team. A real offense that mashed. Last Maddux season. Ran into Prior & Wood the ONE year they stayed healthy. Loser had to take Chip Caray.
Agree with my order? Was it as painful to relive for you? Ready to exorcise some demons today?
Braves lost the opening game in every instance above. Gotta come away a winner tonight. I predict they do it.
The loss to the Giants in 2002 was the worst for me. You could see a very clear path from winning that series to winning the World Series. You could make an argument that the NLCS and World Series actually would’ve been easier to win. The Cardinals weren’t very good as far as NLCS teams go (the Giants beat them 4-1 in a completely uneventful series), and the Angels team that eventually won was not exactly one of the greatest teams of all-time.
@Mike and Nick
Y’all need a hug.
I’m 31. I have no recollection of 1995. Very vague memories of being swept in 1999. No real Braves playoff memories except disappointments. Hope it changes.
@sdp I’m the opposite. I clearly remember 1991-1999, and my only real concern is that this team (or any other future team) will fail to live up to what I’ve already experienced.
Prime time has finally arrived. Time to get it done.
Awesome picture, Ryan.
I’m on my way over to the US right now to watch game 2.
My first playoffs game since world series game one in 1999 when Chipper gave us the lead with a HR. Didn’t last obviously.
Ready to watch them win.
Go Braves!
Just hoping Snitker doesn’t call on Ortega first in a key pinch hitting spot just because he’s LH.
If McCann gets on base in the 6th inning or later and we”re winning or losing by less than 3 runs we have to pinch run for him. To me this is definitely an advantage of carrying Cervelli, Ortega and Hamilton.
I thought they would have had Flowers catch Keuchel.
I woke up this morning wondering if Snit would start Hech, and alas, no. If Dansbo strikes out in a key situation when you felt like you had a puncher’s chance with Hech, then there shall be, and rightfully so, a revolt on this website.
I hope Dansby has a Lemke post season. You know what Mac said about hope. Still, this fanatic’s fondest dream is that sow’s ear Swanson becomes this playoff’s silk purse.
Hope.
P.S. That really is a great photo, Ryan.
I was 8 in 92; kinda remember worst to first, but the Nixon catch is what I remember really before the Big 3.
I did basically mature knowing on any particular day who was pitching for the Braves, including a variety of sophisticated opinions abt pitching in the NL, and I vividly remember 93 and on, including strike through 95 then the Yankees.
It would be nice to see some postseason success as a real adult person.
Also, the official article abt the roster implies McCann is straight up the starter, and Cervelli is a backup and pinch hitter.
@17: I’m 63 and my wife is pretty sure I’m not a real adult person. At least for the first few innings, it’ll be the 10 year old from 1966 watching. Nice that the game’ll be over before my bedtime.
@19: LOL.
I was at the game where Ortega hit the slam.
The run in 1991, Sid Slid, Glavine’s one hitter, Lemmer’s 91 postseason, Justice’s HR in 95 are my favorite postseason memories.
@5, the 2005 loss was the most painful from your list, but doesn’t compare to ’96 though. I was mostly indifferent to the Yankees before that series. Game 4, Jim Leyritz changed all that. Still hurts.
Sid slid is probably my favorite moment.
@8 Try having to relive 1969. I was and still am a Braves and Orioles fan. Try being a fan when the only two playoff appearances were 1969 and 1982.
But I’d have to count 2013 as one of my greatest disappointments. Uribe’s HR broke my heart. Just like last Sunday’s game, if he had given up anything but a HR there would have been more of the game to play.
Any news on Acuna and Freeman?
Lol Mutts fire Mickey Callaway. Inherited a 70 win team 2 yrs ago and took them to 77 and 86 wins in 2 yrs. Sure seems like the right direction to me. Not his fault Cano and Diaz sucked. Brodie is the idiot who made those acquisitions. I don’t know Callaway and don’t care really but a very close lady friend knows him from growing up in Memphis together and says he’s a good guy. Good for the Braves if the Mutts fired the wrong guy. #theMetsway. A quarter of MLB teams already looking for a new manager.
Smitty, they’re saying they’re both fully healthy and ready to go.
@25
Yeah, they really weren’t improved from last year to this year, according to Fangraphs. Pete Alonso definitely helped, but it’s hard to argue that they underperformed based on the talent they had. I don’t think switching out Mickey Calloway is going to do anything.
I think the Mets bit is a classic ‘we’re just changing managers because we’re not successful yet, don’t mind us’ kinda move that has very little to do with his actual skills as a manager.
@5: “2. Loss to Astros in 2005 – I would’ve sworn the 18-inning game was a Game 5, but Braves we’re playing to send the series finale back home. We know what would have happened then.”
From my recollection, Smoltz pitched amazingly in game 2 of that series, but said he absolutely would be unable to pitch game 5 due to his ailing shoulder. The Braves were planning to start Horacio Ramirez in game 5, so their fate was probably sealed regardless of how that game 4 ended.
I just want to say that I don’t love our shot in this game vs. tomorrow and Sunday, which also says a lot about how well Folty has done recently.
@ Blauser from previous thread: My son & I usually park at the Marriott for $20 and walk a ways, though I expect it’ll be more for the postseason. We have tickets to NLCS home game 3, and assuming that happens, it’ll be interesting to see if it feels that much more crowded than the regular near-sellout weekend games we usually drive up from Columbus for a couple of times a year. Battery parking sounds like a good idea.
Favorite postseason memory is probably Pena’s K of Van Slyke to end 1991 NLCS game 6. Maybe because there were so many fewer homers back then that every scoring opportunity seemed much more important, or maybe because it was the first Braves postseason since 1982 and the second in my then 21 years as a fan, but the tension seemed so much higher throughout that game and that series than it ever does now. Pena poured in fastball after fastball that Van Slyke kept fouling off, and finally he absolutely froze him with a change of pace of some kind (palm ball?).
How are you, Smitty? I wish you were on here more often, with or without the barber. Be well, friend.
I was there in 1995 and I honestly feared for the integrity of the stadium. I swear I could feel it shaking and moving and was sure old Fulton County Stadium was not going to be able to hold up to the amount of pure celebration. The stadium didn’t crumble even though I was sure it was going to and I was able to somehow make it home. Still my favorite sports moment of all time. Hoping our new stadium is built to withstand the celebration to come.
DeRo on mllb.
Good stuff on Keuchel.
On Callaway: Local talk radio here in NY says it has nothing to do with Callaway — it’s that van Wagenen, who inherited Callaway, has his own theory of who the manager should be. That said, the Mets finished 3 games out of a wild card slot. It would have been interesting to see if he could have fired Callaway had they made the wild card. If I were Fred Wilpon (after shooting myself for having to be Fred Wilpon) I would have told van Wagenen: “You feel that strongly about a manager that I have to pay for a year he’s not working for me? Fine. But you’d better feel like that money I’m paying him not to work is your money, because if I don’t get results next year, it will be.”
I don’t think Calloway was good but I don’t think he was the problem either. Just the scapegoat.
Cano falling off a cliff, Nimmo, Cespedes, and Jed Lowrie missing most or all of the year, and their bullpen being a dumpster fire were their biggest issues.
There’s pre-game jitters at the old folks home.
Can you locals have a word about delaying the start a little – so that us Brits can properly celebrate the Year of the KAT in Doha before moving on to the Braves coverage?
I started getting into baseball as a 12 year old kid in Germany in 1991 and been a Braves fan ever since.
Up until 1992, we could at least watch the World Series live – late at night of course – but later that TV station didn’t exist anymore and my brother and I spent many nights glued to the radio to listen to Braves games.
Sid slid and 1995 are great memories of course, but I also vividly remember games 5, 6 and 7 of the NLCS in 1996 against the Cardinals for example- which, looking back makes the way the WS played out that year even more painful.
Also, I think the 1992 WS is kind of an overlooked one, yet another one which the Braves should have won.
That 2002 Braves team led the NL in wins and should not have lost to the Giants. That one is #1 to me.
The 2003 Braves also led the NL in wins but ran into the Prior/Wood buzzsaw.
The 2004-2005 Braves teams were overachieving teams. The Astros came into the playoffs hot and were probably just better.
The 2010 Braves limped into the playoffs missing Chipper and Prado and despite a valiant effort were doomed from the beginning.
2012 lost the coin flip Wild Card game.
2013 I think we were even with the Dodgers and should have won Game 4 but Fredi and David Carpenter blew it.
The Dodgers were a lot better in 2018.
My top 3 most painful: 2002, 2003, 2013.
Catch it. Throw it. Hit it.
Go Braves.
Good start.
Caught it. Threw it.
Hit it?
Great start, DK!
W.C.G. wrote a great series on miserable Braves playoff losses. http://bravesjournal.us/category/archives/history/what-miserable-braves-playoff-loss-are-you-history/
But, hell, these boys are special. Anybody who watches a full season of Acuna and Albies can see that. They’re streaky as hell, but if they eat their Wheaties, this team could take anybody.
I hate sending Acuna there.
EDIT: And that’s why. What a stupid decision.
Thou shalt not.
I’m not a fan of the choice to try and steal there.
Send the guy with a sore groin to steal a base; genius!
FF5!
Mikolas is known for pinpoint control. We’d better get him while he’s wild, before he settles in.
That CS just cost us a run.
THANK YOU!!
COME ON!
Yeah.
Freddie beating the shift! The steal attempt cost us a run there though. Hate that call moreso now
YASSSSSS!!!!!!!
http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/g5zvwUa9720pO/giphy.gif
I like Nick in this spot. Let’s go 22!
Come on Joyce, make us forget the CS.
That caught stealing hurt this inning, but then I guess it was balanced out by the double play that wasn’t.
Damn it. Really wasted a lot of potential for that inning.
Good start nevertheless. go Braves!
Yeah, definitely left runs on the table there. Not sure we needed a stolen base attempt there. Even if you got it, did you need it?
27 pitches for Mikolas in the first. Yay
Chris Berman is an absolute joke as a radio play by play guy. Just terrible.
There goes the no hitter.
Great read and catch by Ronald!
Threw it. Caught it. Whew.
Guess What: We’ve already scored more runs than we have in the FIRST TWO games of last year’s playoffs!! haha
B MAC!!!!!!
Didn’t know if BMac would get to second.
Looking good through 1.5. Thought McCann just hit a really long single given his wheels.
Bmac is so slow.
Ugh.
And an ugly second out on the tag play off the bunt by Keuchel
That bunt was… Just no.
Pitching around Acuna…
Just missed the 3-1 pitch, sigh
Acuna was juuuust under that.
I like our chances next inning if Mikolas goes back out.
So was the bunt because you don’t think McCann can score from second on a single, even with two outs? I can’t think of any other reason why that play makes sense otherwise.
Old time baseball, today. I am enjoying it.
I actually enjoy Ron Darling and whoever that other guy is.
Yes, sir. Me too.
We just can’t get pitchers out.
Ugh…
You could see that coming. Buckle down, Dallas.
We should IBB every opposing pitcher. Sheesh!
Dadgum pitcher hits. Grrrr.
Who had ” getting screwed by giving up a hit to a pitcher” on their bingo card?
JD!
There we go, 5-3 DP! Nice!
All.The.Money.
JD!
Caught it. Threw it. Good baseball right there.
@93 Yes….. exactly.
@83, That other guy calling the game is named Brian Anderson. It’s not the former pitcher though, or is it?
Freeman looked bad on 2 of 3 swings there. Really fooled on strike 3.
We’re not getting any more off Mikolas.
Has Freeman looked good since early September? He worries me more than Acuna.
My guess is Freeman is hurt and lying about it.
He’s not lying about it — he opened up about the bone spurs. He has just said he’s had it for a while.
Ready the pen, Snit. Don’t let this get away.
@102 Do you think he’s being honest about how it’s affecting him? I don’t.
Yeah — @104, you could be right.
And here we go. Ugh.
EDIT: THE SCAMP HAS DPS!
I just don’t trust Keuchel enough. Glad Jackson is up. You might get 2 innings out of him.
Yet another 5-3 DP!
Some reruns are better than others. JD!
I’d have Jackson up every inning, but let Keuchel continue to walk the tight rope. At least he gets ground balls.
@105 It’s probably just me being reactionary and wanting to blame a slump on an injury. But Freddie has had some slumps over the last few years and I do wonder if they aren’t related to this or a similar nagging injury that he’s not being completely forthright about.
I’m an old fogy, and I still dislike waving the batter down to first on the IBB
Woo!
Too bad the kid in the GEICO Halloween commercial wasn’t wearing a Chipper Jones uniform…
After the pitcher we start the dreaded 3rd time through the order next time, so the leash will likely be short.
Keuchel dancing through raindrops (wait what are those?) so far. We need dingers.
Yeah, they’re not doing raindrops in the southeast nowadays.
Hibernation mode has allowed Mikolas back in the game. Sigh…
It’s funny how neither Freeman nor Snitker has mentioned any off-season surgery for the bone spurs…
Actually, I saw an interview in which Freddie said that he was considering it. So it must be pretty bad.
PLEASE TAKE HIM OUT
We knew we needed runs, and we knew they had good starting pitching.
And…we’re tied
That’s about as manufactured as a run gets.
That ball has to get caught. Unacceptable.
Seeing as how I’ve accepted a series loss, I’m surprisingly calm at seeing the braves get blooped to death.
Good move, Snit. O’Day’s the perfect choice.
This is a vintage Braves playoff performance so far.
If you’re gonna bring O’Day in at all, that’s the spot. Early in their game, their best RHH, two outs. Now you can go to Jackson.
I like the way Snit handled that, regardless of outcome.
OKay, it’s time for some offense.
LOL. First PH off the bench.
RONALD!!!! Ok Braves, let’s go.
Welp.
This feels like every postseason
This smells of trouble
I’ve come to realize that I hate so called “neutral” announcers.
Yeah keep exalting the cards small ball BS while making no mention of their hacking other teams and they daily use of Devil Magic.
Let’s now punish them for leaving runners all over the place.
That was a hanger that Bader popped up.
Green had a good inning, nothing hit hard.
Ron Darling is almost Tim McCarver bad
I didn’t take a breath until Freddie parked himself in foul ground.
Guys, it’s a 1-1 ballgame. Reeeeelax.
Netting saves us an out
Nick, you owe us.
Ouch…hate to see the ball hit the hands
If he’d have caught that in the net is that an out?
This offense is unwatchable.
@147 & 144 Neck heard you.
Big Bounce Nick!
Net has to be treated the same as wall…contact takes the fly out off the table
Terrible call.
Devil magic strikes again; fuck that ump
Not appealable?
@150 Thanks for the info
Don’t swing Dansby!
Take! Take! Take!
Catastrophe for the Cards!
Thank you for not listening to me Dansby!!
Inning of bad bounces for the Cardinals; serves them right!
Catching and throwing.
I really abhor the Cardinals for 2011 and 2012, and I hope the Braves sweep them.
This game has been incredible. You can’t control whether or not your team wins or loses, but you can sure as hell enjoy the journey.
Throw strikes, Max.
Amen, Rob.
The only good thing I can say about the Cardinals is it that they have nice uniforms.
This was our first strikeout.
#2
MAX!
The triumphant return of A-B-E baseball!
Also, hell yes, Varsity!
Is Max coming back in a hypothetical game 4?
I AM THIRSTY FOR MAX FRIED
Bethany must be swooning after Fried’s performance that inning. To be honest, I’m feeling a little flushed myself.
Like I said…
Let’s make that a moot question, 169.
It’s not the most reliable counter, but according to the back end stuff, we got about 25-30 people here on Braves Journal right now enjoying the game thread, which is about 7-8 times as many as any other time. Thanks for coming everyone!
Brebbia…there’s no way that’s a real last name. Someone a few generations back just totally made that up.
Knock. That. Off. Acuna. Seriously, this is out to control.
Dadgum it, you’vvvvvvve got to run there!
Acuña didn’t run again… Joe Simpson is ripping on him on radio.
That simply can’t happen in the playoffs, Acuña.
I’ve been a fan of Brebbia going back to his Creek Drank the Cradle/Our Endless Numbered Days days.
Ronald. I love you. But I g***d*** f***** hate that junior high bulls***. Stop it.
RAJ, you better get that run home.
Not ok. Just not ok.
Humans definitely play this baseball game.
You hit the ball, you run. If it becomes foul or a homer, THEN stop or slow down. Come on man! You’re killing me Smalls!
On a positive, Acuna is throwing Brebbia off, being at first.
I don’t think that’s a double even if he busts it outta the box though.
Let’s just agree that for the postseason any and all profanity is welcome to fly.
Acuña is hitting the ball well today, so that’s a good sign.
Be sure to mark your bingo card for ” Ronald admires a fly ball and doesn’t run “.
For his sake, I hope Freddie or rain man gets him in.
@186. Yay!
@185, He was a third of the way to second before he had to pull up. If he’s running hard, he makes it clean, I think.
@186 +1
Oh, you gotta love those crotch adjustment shots…not
@189 I don’t know, I think they might’ve got him. Still got to run either way though. I’m just maybe less mad because I think they’d have got him?..
Ugh.
Taking advantage of the new rules…sonovabitch!!!
Not Ronald’s finest hour.
Ronald, that was arguably the least optimal inning of baseball in your short career. We’ll need to see how the rest of this game plays out before we know just how to assess it.
Not sure if there was much he could have done on that though.
Ronald might not be very smart…
That base running mistake bothers me more. Ugh!
Guess we know what the national media will be regurgitating for the rest of the playoffs regarding Ronald.
Now Martin is dead. Just great.
This game is so strange.
@197, He should have/could have been at third. Maybe they still double him up, maybe they don’t. We’re in “we’ll never know” territory. If the Braves don’t win, fans will be able to write their own narrative about just how at fault Ronald is in that loss.
I’m going to close my eyes now.
Martin clutching oblique. That sucks😬I think Julio Teheran just found his way onto the postseason roster.
Fluke Luke Jackson in to pitch cause Chris Martin pulls an oblique during warmups, are you kidding me?
Luke Leverage
Julio Teherán is back, baby.
Jesus.
Jesus.
There wasn’t anything Ronald could have done on the DP…basically, he would have needed a Brian McCannesque lead off 2nd to avoid the out.
Welp…
Hayseus
I am dying.
I cannot stress enough how much I distrust Luke Jackson.
Jesus.
I should’ve put my fingers in my ears too.
Fine. Just get Ozuna.
Hung that 2-1 slider to Ozuna…uggh
My heart won’t last this inning.
How does this shit happen!? Martin gets injured in the flukiest of ways, and now Luke is in to get tattooed
No fastballs.
Watch Allard turn out to be good and completely screw us on the Martin trade.
The Astros would destroy us.
Better get used to it, I guess Jackson will have to be filling Martin’s seventh/eighth inning role now.
Luke Jackson looks like he should be asking “Do you want fries with that?”
I don’t see Martin returning in this series.
Yeah, a screwed up oblique will put you on the shelf for a while.
Shut up with the Windows already.
Getting tense around my house.
Why is Jackson still in?
Somehow, some way, it was always going to come down to this. The universe finds a way.
Martin is done if it’s an oblique. Crapbaskets.
This is so tense.
Is this reproducing-raptor bad?
Luke Jackson is this year’s David Carpenter.
@224 I’d rather they keep Max in the pen and use Julio in Gm4, if needed. One panic attack is easier to manage than 3-5
They need to use O’Day as a high leverage late inning reliever now. He’ll be great. They could have left Fried in for another inning. A win tonight is so much more important than Game 4.
DUVALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
Glad Duvall was in left.
Sigh.
Thank you Adam Duvall!
Now it’s going to really hurt if we lose.
So Luke Jackson could still figure out a way to torpedo the season.
What a lucky bounce. Damn. We can’t catch a break.
If Luke is gonna throw his FB, it has to be very high in the zone. The FB to Goldy was just above the knees in the perfect hitting zone and the one to Wong was not quite high enough – still Wong got lucky tomahawking it.
Thank you, Adam!
So, how likely is it that Melancon sees just one batter? He’s up 5th in the inning, right?
Why even make the playoffs?
Here’s hoping Duvall still has some thump left in his bat…also, it’s lame that “bat” brings up a mammalian emoji in early October
Come on Cervelli….
No, Cervelli didn’t swing this time either!
Or that time!
Avoiding the DP…now it’s up to Dans
Negging Dans here.
I do not want Dansby in this situation.
@252 Hoping they walk Dansby.
Anyone keeping track of who is left in the Braves pen?
Ugg
Just when do our hitters plan on showing up?
Crap
@254 Newk and Tomlin
We need a good inning from Melancon.
@254 – Newcomb and Tomlin. Soroka, Folty.
I would think the Braves have the advantage in terms of who’s available in the pen in extras, but this is also the Cardinals.
I hate that I’m going to stay up watching them lose in the 14th when the Cardinals pitcher hits a 500 home run on a two strike Ephus pitch
In a season where each game has had about 17 home runs per game, there’s not been a home run.
Chipper!
Chipper Jones just got that foul ball. That was pretty cool
Death by a thousand singles to left field.
Neck has been absolutely abused tonight.
The bullpen is gonna do it to us, aren’t they?
@262 You’re forgetting Luke’s Boner.
Markakis just got schooled. Gosh this game sucks.
Seems like the Cardinals have had base runners in every inning. This game has been so stressful.
Nick took a nap.
It’s been a great year with you guys and gals. See you in the spring.
Feels like the same script. Just a different year.
@269 braves playoff baseball for the last 20 or so years. It always sucks.
This is as predictable as the sunrise.
Tomorrow is another game.
The same spots every freaking time.
We had our chances early to add on and we didn’t. The rest has been absolutely shit luck. I don’t know if the guys bounce back from this.
Oh, no.
Can’t finish anyone off.
I really hate being a Braves fan sometimes.
Goodnight.
Of course. This shit can’t help but happen.
I hate being negative, but this feels like same ol’ postseason Braves.
The Braves and the A’s just never win in the playoffs.
The inability to punch hitters out with 2 strikes has hurt the team all year
This team is no longer an elite offense. Not since very early September.
If Martin doesn’t get hurt this might’ve been a different game.
Who’s the non-Flowers guy left on the bench?
Kolten Wong get 8 hits a season and they are all against us
Better this way. I’d rather lose by 5 than by 1.
Every postseason the bats fail to show. We shouldn’t have any runs tonight, they were all gifts. Not sure why it even bothers me any more.
Entire Offseason
Literally Everyone: Um, this bullpen don’t look so hot.
Braves: Nah, we good. Darren O’Day is coming!
Trade Deadline
Braves: Here’s some guys who were really good four years ago.
Everyone: I guess. Still not thrilled to have to trust Tomlin & Jackson.
Postseason
Everyone: Please don’t bring Luke into a high-leverage spot.
Braves: We know what we’re doing here.
@284 That was the WS I wanted to see, too. Odds both make it in the next 100ys.. .000001%
@290, So would Ronald.
@291 like every post season since the mid 90’s
You know, I really wouldn’t care that much if it was any other team. I wish this was the Dodgers beating them, it’d feel 100 times better to me personally.
@292 I don’t know if I should laugh or cry because of the truth in that.
I’m listening to the radio feed on MLB.tv. Is it the radio feed, or is it the stadium, that keeps playing Sandstorm by Darude?
I’ll still watch the rest of this series, but I’m no longer excited for it. Not the right attitude, i know, but that’s where I am.
Since the early ‘90’s. 1995 was an aberration against a city even more cursed than Atlanta. Face it, isn’t it appropriate that the only way Atlanta can win is if they play Cleveland?
Flaherty is gonna make us 0-2 at home tomorrow.
What I don’t understand is what the fuck is Martin doing warming up in the bullpen? He must’ve felt something in the oblique while in there; he let’s them know, Fried goes another inning.
Seems like bullshit that he would injure himself on the first warm up pitch without noticing something wrong beforehand in the bullpen.
We’ll get them tomorrow. This team can come back. Go Braves!
Carl, I disagree. Muscles can pull without warning; very frustrating
Okay, I’d like Billy to do a straight steal of home.
Ok, you don’t have to run this time
Ten. Straight. Losses. To open playoff series. That would be truly amazing and seems impossible.
Man, that would’ve been a walk-off if we could have held them in the 9th. Dang.
All is forgiven Ronald!
Needing a bloop and a blast now. Or two blasts
How does the replay look?
Of course, that foot does come off the bag…
His foot looks off but it’s by an inch
So, if we can come back, it’s up to Cakes?
Free!
LOL, NOW Freddie hits one…… sheesh.
FREE!
FF5!
Donaldson won’t see a strike
Should be a tie ball game though.
To lose by one….. good friggin job
The disappointing part is Donaldson was the last best hope for Atlanta.
Kakes looked like a Twinkie on that AB. Feh.
Cakes saw a strike…not a great last couple innings for him
@290: “Better this way. I’d rather lose by 5 than by 1.”
Wish denied!
FFS!! I could’ve stood there with the bat on my shoulder
This is utterly disappointing. They need to snap out of this lethargy that I’ve been sensing the last two or three weeks.
Welp, this series is on track to slot in at the new #3 most heartbreaking loss from my list at the thread’s beginning. Can’t shake the feeling that the fundamental weaknesses this team had in March just never went away.
@325 and that last one was a good pitch to elevate too……
Well, the dodgers will come out of the NL anyway, so whatever.
recap up.
Emotional recap: Snitker quick with the hook onKeuchel but allows Luke Jackson and Mark Melancon to give up 6 runs in 1.2 innings.
Midst all the wailing and gnashing of teeth we need to keep track of some very good things…
First and foremost Acuna…tonight he hit the equivalent of two doubles and a giant home run. He hasn’t done that for months in one game. It was transformational. the contacts so pure.
Freddie. Our other ‘invalid’ hit an early off field single but got our hearts pounding with another huge run in the ninth that left us one short.
So we have both of them back their very best to even this up. We had some bad luck too – the bullpen fiasco for a start. And no less than three ground balls slipped just inside the third base bag, for a double.
Plenty to be positive going into tomorrow. Get Ossie a right hander or two. Acuna, wow. Don’t cry for me Argentina.