Dansby Swanson had a Skip Caray night – 3 doubles, and thrown out at home to end it.
After beating the Phillies in all the fun ways (total devastation, cruel false hope) the past 2 days, the Braves gave the Phillies a bone Sunday night, but not without some more toying with the Philly bullpen late. Freddie Freeman‘s two out double in the bottom of the 9th scored Adeiny Hechavarria, but Swanson was gunned down at the plate as he tried to score the tying run from first. A perfect relay throw from Didi Gregorius led Andrew Knapp into perfect position, and gave Swanson no place to go.
The Phillies got all their runs early, as Josh Tomlin was not able to give the Braves his second straight Atlanta Quality Start (4 innings and, well, that’s it -4 innings, that’s the Atlanta Quality Start.) In Tomlin’s 3 innings, he walked none and struck out 5, but gave up 3 homers among 6 hits. Alec Bohm cranked his first career homer, a 446 foot bohmb in the top of the 2nd, Rhys Hoskins followed up with a 2 run homer in the 3rd, and Gregorius added a solo shot to make it 4 – 0 after 2 1/2.
The Braves clawed back with 3 runs in their half of the 3rd, though. A Freeman double after an Ender Inciarte walk and a Swanson double plated 2, and Marcell Ozuna plated Freeman with a single. The only other offensive highlight was that Austin Riley went 2 for 4 with a double, as the Braves had 6 doubles on the night.
Touki Toussaint came on in the 4th and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, committed an error, threw a wild pitch, and hit a batter in his 1 1/3 innings. On the plus side, he battled out of a bases loaded, no-out situation with no runs scoring (ok, he allowed a run in his first bases loaded, no-out situation, but he battled out of the second one.) On the minus side, he was pulled in the middle of a batter with a 2 – 0 count, after walking the previous 2. Tyler Matzek, Chris Martin, Will Smith, and Luke Jackson shut down the Phillies from there; 2 hits and a walk over the final 4 2/3.
The Yankees come to town Tuesday; nobody announced yet for the Braves, but signs point to Ian Anderson making his major league debut. Gerrit Cole gives the Yanks no such uncertainty.
The Braves have completed 47% of their season, and Toussaint is second on the team in innings pitched. Fried and relievers, and hope we call up a couple of Tom Seavers.
I got JC’d because I wasn’t paying attention:
[In response to Carl complaining about Knapp blocking the plate:] I actually agreed with the call at the plate. If the catcher’s not allowed to go catch the ball, I’m not sure what the point is. Like, he has to let the throw go because it would force him into the path of the base runner? Meaning he has to let us tie the game? That doesn’t make any sense at all. He went into the path to catch the ball and immediately tagged Dansby when he caught it (making a great play actually).
I initially thought Wash should’ve held Swanson at third, but looking at it again, Dansby was absolutely booking and, as fast as he was running, I think sending him was the right call. If they don’t put a really good throw somewhere between where they did and the plate, we tie the game.
Yeah, I think that’s exactly where you want to put that throw. And with two out, if you think the odds of scoring are 50 – 50 or better, that’s better odds than any base hit.
At this point I’m willing to trade waters for clevinger. Especially if they keep him at the alternate site for a few days to “let him get his bearings” 😉 and he gains that 3rd year of control beyond this one.
Fried
Clevinger
Anderson
Davidson
Wright
hope for the best
I agree that Dansby was most likely out on the last play. The thing that no one talked about was that the catcher bobbled the ball as he tagged Swanson. Not sure if that was an issue or not.
Rusty…you keep a hell of a tight schedule…thank you.
Well, regarding the rules, would swanson face no penalties if he runs over knapp in that situation?
It’s the catchers responsability to clear the road; if he doesn’t, or lets say that he doesn’t go after the ball, instead gets in the way by letting the ball come to him, when does HE get penalized?
That ball bounced at least twice before getting to him, he could’ve been in front of the foul line and not in the running lane.
Just my humble opinion; I agree that the ball beat him there (havent seen the bobble), but swanson was made to run farther by taking a route that was not optimal. The enforcement of the rule seems to be arbitrary ( as with many decisions on replay review).
Rusty—“Skip Caray night”—brilliant!!
Remind me, what’s the Skip Caray reference?
I love the concept of an “Atlanta Quality Start.” Great work, Rusty!
I have some memory of Skip joking about “having 3 doubles is a good night,” or “a good start,” or some such. I think I first heard it after Claudell Washington did it, so it’s not exactly a timely reference.. I guess you could say (putting on sunglasses) that it’s a double entendre.
As far as getting thrown out at home after such a night, I’m projecting my experience on Skip.
It was a good call. He moved to get to the ball.
I have no problem with sending him there, especially at home, to tie the game.
“And here we are in the bottom of another fifth…”
“The bases are loaded… and I wish I were, too.”
Ahh, Skip…
He’s my Russ Hodges.
Dansby should have scored but you also can’t keep hoping for ninth inning magic.
@6
He gets penalized if the runner gets there before the ball does. If that happens, the runner is automatically safe. But when the ball gets there first (as happened last night), Dansby is out. What’s Dansby supposed to do in that situation? Be out. (Or I guess maybe try some crazy crap like hurdling the catcher or something, if he insists on having an option and is so inclined…)
Maybe he should’ve slid in feet first and that would’ve given him a chance to dislodge the ball, as opposed to getting a knee-drop to the shoulder, but the upshot of the rule is basically that if the runner beats the ball, the runner’s gotta be allowed to be safe and the catcher can’t block him off the plate while he attempts to catch the ball. If the ball beats the runner, that’s the end of it and the runner is no longer allowed to truck the catcher to try to change that outcome.
Skip Caray Night…took 12 hours for my addled brain to get it…lovely, he would have been happy to know.
For the podcast tonight, we will be taking your fake trade proposals and discussing/grading them. What’s your trade the Braves should make and who are they giving up?
Waters for Clevenger
Inciarte for salary relief
As much as it pains me to say this, ARod observed that Dansby probably would have scored had he taken a better secondary lead off of first, with the first baseman playing back. That was the difference.
Erlin, Tomlin, and Inciarte for Trout.
Dunno if we can acquire him, but getting Clevinger would immediately make this club post-season formidable.
Some sad news about a favorite Brave – Franco Cervelli out of action on the IL with either his 9th or tenth concussion. Heavy stuff for a really nice guy. Get better, then give it a rest. 20 years maybe.
@21
…or Bauer from the Reds…5 consecutive starts with one run or less…
#23
Good pitcher. Would hate to have to root for him, though.
I’ll take Bauer if he’ll chuck the ball into that upper fountain after every bad start.
@17 If I am the Indians no way I make that trade. No way.
People hate A-Rod but I enjoy his analysis. He’s not as smart as I think that he thinks that he is but I enjoy his commentary.
@26
I enjoy your commentaries too, Chief…you’re not as cynical either as you would like us to believe but rather you do enjoy the overreactions when they come.
Go Latics. Amazing news during the week that a previous owner who was still owed 30 million has torn up the IOU! Such love, cheers.
After putting the team in administration and relegation it really is the least he could do. Hope he won that bet!
@26 What’s the deal that gets it done?
Clevinger’s basically at the bottom of his value so the Indians aren’t going to want to sell low on him unless they believe he’s such a cancer that they’re willing to hold a fire sale on him. But for the Mike Clevinger that any team would want, the guy who’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, you’re gonna need to offer more than a toolsy guy in Triple-A who hasn’t been called up to the majors yet because his team thinks he has a hole in his swing.
I don’t honestly know what gets it done. I basically think that Pache isn’t enough and Pache and Anderson is too much, but this is why trades are really hard. Teams hoard prospects and then get into trouble when those prospects fail to pan out. That’s the boat we’re in. Then, when you push your chips to the middle to try to get a “true ace,” you often overpay.
If we’ve decided we want to add something to the rotation that’s slightly above the Robbie Erlin-Josh Tomlin tier, I’d much rather we traded for post-hype sleepers. A guy like Danny Duffy. Maybe Carlos Carrasco. Garrett Richards. I’d bet that we could get a guy in that caliber without giving up more than the kind of spare parts we traded in our bullpen overhaul last year.
Plus, it seems that the Yanks are all-too-willing to part with Clint Frazier for Clevinger (as a start). And that’s more what the Tribe is seeking — a power-hitting OF who’s MLB-ready. At this point, Waters hasn’t really shown power.
Have we had any news/reactions re Folty? Is he trying or is he sulking? Or has he been sent home? On the upside that would be a great deal.
We had too much fun last night and had to split up our @3FlagsFlying podcast into 2. The first part is live! Give it a listen.
https://soundcloud.com/user-390080810/27-searching-for-charlie-culberson
Big news and the corresponding moves.
a Skip Caray night
at midnight a blur with no bite
at noon the drop of a penny
Competition? there really isn’t any!
@25 – – LOL I’m with you. That’d be good entertainment. Oh, to see Bobby Cox’s reaction to him doing it in a Braves uni just once.
How long till we see Acuna-Albies-Pache all in same lineup. A year or so? Gonna be awesome.
Notably they did not option Pache, although they’ll still need a spot when Markakis gets activated, so he’s not out of the woods yet.
The odds of Waters being a bust are high. Clevenger is one of the best pitchers in MLB. IMO, any team that doesn’t want to trade for him because he went out drinking with a buddy are absolute fools.
Should he have? NO.
But Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD.
Also: Remember when many on here thought Folty was better than Clevenger?
Yeah, me too.
L O L
Ian Anderson pitches tonight. I’m ready to be disappointed.
I wonder how much different the ability to evaluate a player’s readiness for the big club is with the current state of games/ simulated games in the minors. I guess we’ll get an idea tonight.
@32, a recent broadcast noted that Foltzie’s gained 10 pounds, so that’s a good sign. They declined to give any indication of why he’d lost so much weight.
How bad are young players impacted by the Yankees mystique?
Or is there none?
It sure seems some Braves over the years have been impacted by playing the Yankees & the BoSox to some degree.
Or maybe it’s all in MY mind.
I think that’s a good question for Ububba, who’s probably got as good a bead on “Yankee mystique” as anyone here.
I’ve never been able to understand why some scrubs can head to the Bronx and miraculously figure out how to play baseball — the Miguel Cairos and Gio Urshelas of the world — and other stars spit out the bit the minute they touch down at LaGuardia. Meanwhile, over the last year, the Yankees have kept winning even though virtually every player who has played a meaningful inning for them has suffered multiple catastrophic injuries. And they just plug in someone anonymous with a name like Tauchman or Loaisiga and keep winning. There definitely seems to be some kind of juju.
EOF said something on DOB’s podcast about Clevinger. Basically, him breaking the COVID rules and getting optioned was probably an indication that the other guys in the clubhouse are just sick of his act. Could you imagine a guy like Lindor breaking the rules, apologizing, and then also getting banished to the minors? That was the ex-player’s perspective.
Anderson is of the 2 types of AAA pitching prospects who often have trouble making a quick adjustment to the majors in that while he has good stuff, he really doesn’t (yet) have an “out pitch”. He has a change that shows plus and a curve that does the same but really cannot count on blowing guys away. Paradoxically, these guys often initially do well as during their first time through the league they can get by with sequencing and command (2 things Anderson excels at!) but then get lit up after the book on them gets around. Ian has gobs of tools to work with (96+ fastball that is too straight, surely that is fixable?!) so the hope is he makes the necessary adjustments to make something plus and get the swing-and-misses he needs.
The other type of pitcher who has a rough adjustment is the guy who has control but not command. Good control is far more important in AAA than is good command while the opposite is true in the show. Looking at you Wright and you Touki.
Regarding Anderson battling the Yankee mystique tonight it surely must help knowing how many big bats are missing hurt.
Incidentally, found something Google can’t answer. Asked to list who was on the Yanks IL it blustered, no help.
One last thing on Folty, I have a theory. When he was finally taken out of that awful first inning he seemed to have disappeared down below while Fried took a long time to get the third out. During that period Folty reappeared, not in the dugout but high up on something behind it, in plain view. I believed at the time he was told to go up there and face the fans. Till the end of the innings. If that is correct it’s perfectly possible that such a volatile guy would be marked for ever against the organization. As i said, a theory.
Just so you remember, what to look forward to !
Writing the previous post Google did help me out, from necessity. I could not recall Max Fried’s name, or Soroka’s for that matter.
Just know that when the red blood cell count does take it’s apparently weekly dive, cheer up and take it with a smile. Actually, it’s quite funny.
PS Don’t overreact, the next day you’ll know them. It just varies. Come and go.
A good game to have the first start for Mr. Anderson.
He is not supposed to beat Cole and the Yankees.
#43
I think the “Yankee mystique” is that they usually have really good players. I couldn’t really tell you what a young player thinks — I’m sure that some grew up loving the Yanks & believing in magic (like their fans often do) and maybe they’re a little intimidated. (The old stadium had a much more imposing vibe than the new one — way louder & the stands would literally shake in big moments — but the Yanks have been ridiculously good at the new joint the last few years, too.)
But there are other players (like Ken Griffey, Jr.) who grew up truly hating the Pinstripes & looking to punish them at every turn. I don’t think the mystique had any negative effect on Junior. But, of course, he’s one of the greatest players ever, so…
And yes, in the recent Cashman era, he’s certainly picked some winners — the Luke Voits & Gio Urshellas have surprised. And who would’ve figured that DJ LeMahieu’s stats would outshine those in Colorado? Of course, it would be nice to have half his war chest (ahem, Gerrit Cole). But he can make big FA mistakes & still field an ultra-talented club. The big difference, of course, is the level of expectation… there’s only a few sports teams in North America that have that… Bama football, Kentucky hoops… (Cry me a river, right?)
Re: Ian Anderson
With Cole starting for the Yanks, Anderson is probably facing the most imposing MLB debut I can remember. Only thing that would make it tougher would be to pitch in The Bronx in front of a real crowd. Maybe he’ll be calmer this way… who knows? But he is playing with house money…
The inevitable video:
also
Whatever happened to getaway days? I’ve been working from home since March, and thought I would get to catch a few during this time. I don’t recall a single afternoon weekday game, and I don’t see one scheduled, apart from Labor Day.
Well, Markakis was activated off the coronavirus list and Pache was optioned back to Gwinnett.
Game Thread!
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/08/25/braves-roster-news-trade-news-and-game-thread/