Robbie Erlin pitched the Atlanta Shutout (started the game, didn’t give up any runs) and Nick Markakis had 3 RBI’s, as the Braves take the series 2 games to 1 and pull into a first place tie with the Marlins. Erlin went 4 innings, allowing only 1 hit and no walks, and struck out 5. Markakis followed Dansby Swanson‘s double in the top of the 6th with a single, and broke things open with a bases loaded double in the 7th.
Darren O’Day, A.J. Minter, Shane Greene, and Tyler Matzek finished up; O’Day allowing the only other hit. Erlin gave the Braves a needed and unexpected (by me) lift, and Josh Tomlin is now penciled in for Tuesday. The Braves have now completed 38% of their season and despite all of their injuries and performance disappointments, they are on track for the playoffs.
Returns from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies are in sight, however there are no such likely heroes on the horizon on the starting pitching side. The future depends on the unlikely heroes.
The Natspos come to town Monday for the first of a 3 game delenda-ing; Touki Toussaint and Anibal Sanchez scheduled.
So, is Robbie Erlin our new Jorge Campillo?
We all know back in June that our stopper – – would be none other – – than, um, Robbie Erlin?
Well, the good news is we get the kids back and the offense gets a lot better.
If I see one more one pitch AB for Ender…sheesh.
Thank you, Rusty S.
I don’t know how teams are going to be able to know if they’re buyers or sellers with this little amount of season to make decisions from. A hot start for a cellar dweller doesn’t mean you’re a contender, but a cold start from a contender might damn your season. Washington is 3 back right now and 10th in the league. What if they’re 5-6 back at the end of August and still 10th in the league with one more to go. Do you sell? On the flip side, Milwaukee is 6th. San Diego is 7th. Are these guys really going to be buying? This is assuming that teams that have missed games like St. Louis and Miami don’t get in with higher winning percentages but have played less games.
Missed the responses the other day, but sorry, that Deadspin article about cancelling the Cardinals season is still very, very stupid. You don’t just tell a team to pack it up and go home because they’re being affected more than the others. Not able to play in the postseason? Sure. But the opponents need them on their schedule, and you’re not going to tell the owner of the Cardinals they can’t make money off their team. So stupid. Not fair to the fans, the players, and management/ownership. That’s why Deadspin probably shouldn’t exist at this point.
“the opponents need them on their schedule”
Rob, I hear your frustration, but I don’t agree with this. If any team has a full-blown uncontrolled outbreak, then absolutely no one needs to be playing them.
Aren’t they fine now? They’re playing.
I will say, it’s pretty crazy that they would even consider playing 53 games in 44 days, as they’re currently planning to do. But, there’s a very, ahem, clear reason why:
In the discussions between MLB and the Players Association on what the Cardinals schedule will look like once they do return, players reportedly wanted to play as many games as possible — in part because their salaries for 2020 are pro-rated based on the number of regular season games.
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/cardinals-covid-19-outbreak-st-louis-returns-to-field-saturday-revised-schedule-has-11-doubleheaders/
That whole “we ain’t playing unless we get our pro rata” idea isn’t looking too good for the Cards right now.
All the more reason why decisions about player health should never, ever be left up to players, and that’s true whether it’s an arm injury or a global pandemic.
Rusty, many thanks. Agree, time to go adelendaing. Soto looks very walkable, Scherzer continues to give up 5 runs a start. Combine those two and we should prevail.
As for Mr. Erlin give him an extension or whatever you have to do these days to stop him being plucked. It wasn’t just his stuff, he looked so COOL out here while we continued to wait for the homer barrage.
SSS eh? No. Cool is cool.
Nickolas
it’s ridikulas
3 runs out of four
we couldn’t love you more.
I hate the fact that the Cardinals are playing doubleheaders just to get their games in. I don’t know who should shoulder the financial responsibility of those night caps not being played, but I just know that they shouldn’t be played.
Color me excited to potentially be seeing Pache soon. That guy needs to cut into Ender’s PAs in the worst way, and he deserves it. I think Ender was going to continue to decline, and perhaps the pandemicness of this season has given it a violent shove. Not that I want Ender to do any more thinking that he probably already does, but he needs some time off. I wish Pache could have had 300-400 AAA PAs by this point, but whatever.
You could platoon Duvall/Markakis in LF, have Pache in CF and Acuña in RF.
We’re stuck with Inciarte as a 4th OF until the end of next season.
@12: not in the worst way, or else what’s an Ender for?
Interesting drama in Cleveland. One or more players threatened to opt out if Plesac and Clevinger were immediately allowed to rejoin the team after violating protocol. Both were optioned to the minors and Clevinger runs the risk of having free agency pushed back an entire year.
Cleveland has a cancer survivor on the roster (Carrasco).
Glad to see the adults in baseball are taking things seriously.
I blame MLB for this and I hope that college football learns from this. Who was that NBA player that went to the strip club for wings? He had to quarantine. It should be extremely simple: if you violate the protocols, you will be placed on the restricted list. You will not be paid, and you will not accrue service time. It’s so simple, people.
Some are saying trading for Plesac and/or Clevenger, but the Braves are no more immune to COVID than the Indians are. If it’s a problem there, it’s a problem here. Those guys need to take their lumps and move on.
Adams activated, Sobotka sent out. No Pache yet…ugh
I’m glad Adams is back. He’ll be a welcome addition to the lineup that will allow us to not have to play two of Camargo, Hech and Riley in every game.
Sanchez starts tonight and is 0 and 3. With Rendon gone, if we keep Soto quiet we should win. If in doubt, walk him, he is measurably more consistent a threat than Acuna, day in day out.
Ruiz. We in Rio Ruiz.
Yeah something tells me Rio isn’t gonna maintain an ISO above .300.
Yeah, that 55 HRs across 600 PAs pace probably doesn’t hold either.
Amen @12
Let’s go beat up on the Natties tonight.
Anibal off to ugly 0-3 start with an ERA near 10. But as we all painfully experienced in 2019 – – he went 3-0 versus the Bravos. Stymied.
Well, Rio is 26 now. His prime might be worth something. https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2017/10/30/where-do-we-go-from-here-third-base/
Rio’s biggest problem in the minors was his lack of punch. He made decent contact but didn’t really walk or hit for power. His career .221/.302/.374 line bears that out, as does his .263/.343/.404 line from the minors. This year, his .246 average and .333 OBP are right in line with his career numbers.
Maybe he’s a launch angle late bloomer, and maybe he’s good now. But I’m willing to place a fairly large bet on Rio Ruiz is still Rio Ruiz, and he’s just having a Ryan Flaherty-esque hot stretch..
Game Thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/08/17/where-does-adam-duvall-fit-in/