Our Braves go for the sweep against the Marlins and Wright faces off against Sixto Sanchez. I’m sticking with my podcast prediction…Braves in 3.
A Tyler Matzek Appreciation Piece
Tyler Matzek has been one of the Braves best relievers all year (and I’ve been a believer from the beginning). However on September 8th, something changed with Matzek…he developed a new pitch. Apparently with the help of future Braves pitching coach Josh Tomlin, Matzek introduced a brand new cutter and from that moment on, he’s been bloody brilliant. How bloody brilliant?
14.2 IP, 0.68 ERA, 25! K, 4 BB
That’ll do. I wonder if he’ll get a chance to go back to starting in 2021? Doubtful, but wouldn’t surprise me.
Let’s get this done today. Next round doesn’t start until Monday so finish it off and rest up the guys.
I don’t think Matzek wants to start
Sixto Sanchez was my favorite Grand Theft Auto character.
Ozuna gave that one a ride, shame hit was in this weird ballpark.
Five pitches. Let’s see what you have, Kyle.
5 pitches? Seriously guys? Ever heard of working a count? Good thing the Braves pitching has been great because our top 3 have been pretty meek.
Nicely done, Kyle!
Nice job, Kyle!
Having made it through that, now hopefully he can get himself locked in.
Nice escape
No harm, no foul. Heck, he got out of it with less pitches thrown than Anderson yesterday.
Really proud of Ozzie for not swinging away 3-0
Alright, let’s bury them early!
C’mon, Adam. Ugly.
Maybe the veteran will give us presents.
Duvall performs as expected.
Oh ,boy, here comes the DP
C’mon Neck, let yourself get hit.
WTF, why wasn’t he tagging!
Boy, what a crappy at-bat. Guess the book on him is he can’t hit high fastballs.
Really dreadful AB by Duvall there. If he had just refused to swing I’m not sure Sixto could have thrown him 3 strikes.
UGH
What a terrible play by d’Arnaud. He doesn’t make too many boneheaded plays but that was egregious.
Nice catch. Thought Nick had one.
Duvall, Jesus…
Aaaand…. Travis has a Lonnie Smith moment on the bases… cost us a run there.
Woof. That’s bad.
The offense is in midseason form.
If the braves somehow lose this series, this half inning was the cause.
Neck hit it 104mph
Riley hit it 105 mph
Sounds about right
Gonna be sick over that inning for a long time
That was a ridiculous display by D’arnuad and the the 3B coach, little league nonsense not scoring on that play
Riley hit it pretty well and so did Neck. Duvall’s terrible at-bat and d’Arnaud’s terrible baserunning are what make it hard to live down. Wright’s going to have to bear down.
The tv guys were excusing Travis on that play on the ground that he might not have scored if the ball fell in front of Dickerson and he had been standing on third. But it was a force play. Of course should have been ready to tag.
Not sure why, but that catch reminded me of Julian Edelman in the superbowl. The ball was destined to hit the ground but never did.
And here comes the Wright meltdown.
And Wright getting squeezed right off the bat in the 2nd
Sanchez
got squeezed too to be fair
It will be nice to win this series (of which I am confident) but if we still can’t get a guy in with the bases loaded and no outs, we’re not long for these playoffs after this.
@30 that BB was a result of the umpire messing up. But yeah here comes the whole “momentum” thing for miami.
@32 have to disagree with you there, sanchez was always just outside the zone, so he wasn’t squeezed. He just didnt get any generous calls.
WTF, broadcast ” bouncing ball to Acuna at second” lol.
Nicely done, getting out of it; top 3 inthe order, wake up!
I can’t believe that 3 years in people are still mixing up Albies and Acuna.
Thank you for proving me wrong, Kyle!
Mr Wright!
Okay, now that’s what I wanted to see out of Wright. That breaking-ball sequence out of Wright to close out the inning was filthy. Gives up a walk, then induces two weak groundballs and makes a guy look silly for a strikeout.
Late to the party on it, but what the everloving hell was d’Arnaud doing on that diving catch? Not that only getting 1 run from that inning would’ve been good enough, but it would’ve at least been something.
@37, yup, exactly. Attack the damned hitters. Once these guys get over that fear it all changes.
Ugh. Crap.
That’s right. Don’t swing at a damn thing until he proves he can hit the zone.
This should be “call stands.” Very similar to another play involving Ozzie in the wild card series.
That real close up angle is safe.
Nice, screw you, Donny
Edit: Haha, Freddie was awake regarding balls and strikes after yesterdays debacle.
This umpire dropped the count and Freddie noticed.
This ump ain’t impressing me much.
What is it with this umpiring crew and losing track of the count?
Umps are a total clown show this series.
Ha! Even the real umps need robo umps!
NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!
OK, the door opens… way to go, Marcel.
YEAH!
Mattingly quite rightly questioned what Wegner was reviewing. What is Wegner’s justification for reviewing his own unreviewable call?
@51
He literally couldn’t remember whether he’d called it a ball or a strike. Not sure what you do with that.
BLESS YOU TRAVIS!!!!
I happily forgive TDA for the baserunning gaffe.
And how did he even hit that fastball at his eyes?
All is forgiven, TDA!
You are forgiven, Travis…
Now with the lead. And I doubt this will stick, but that shot of Wright in the dugout made me think of the Dread Pirate Robert. A darker haired version of Carey Elwes?
Added: And the Duck does it again!!!
Has anyone else wondered why Miami hasn’t used Alfaro more? Is a bad defensive catcher or game called?
I’m guessing some unannounced leg injury as he has pinch hit
#58
Didn’t he have a hamstring problem?
Z-B-C-baseball!
I think Duvall needs a day off.
@62 duvall has been struggling since mid september when he tied that HR in a month record.
Nothing but an occasional bloop single and the one HR against the reds since then.
Don’t know whats up with him, but the rest before this series wasn’t enough to fix him.
KYLE STOP MESSING AROUND
How about a shutdown inning here Wright? And that first-pitch HBP was not a good start.
@52… But I think it was worse than that. I think he told Freddie the count was 0-1 and Freddie corrected him. A confident umpire would then, Klem-like, say, ‘The count is whatever I say it is.” Which would be correct. And getting Chelsea to review the videotape assumes that Wegner, a notoriously late strike-caller, would have his decision on videotape. Maybe he called it a strike when the ball was halfway to second.
Soft contact there, can’t really blame wright for that one.
But get the bullpen ready
Nice pitch to strike out Aguilar!
Duvall is Duvall, same as it ever was, and you just got to ride through it until he gets hot again.
Bear down, Kyle.
Is it just me or does Kyle Wright look like he should be wearing buckskin & riding around in a Wild West Show?
EDIT: Way to go, Kyle
Whew, bless you, Ozzie.
This is a million better commentary squad today. I do wish for better umpiring and some more strikes from Wright.
Whew, nice play Ozzie! His defense has been great even if the bat hasn’t.
@70
He looks more like an old-timey magician!
By the way, I’d probably let Kyle have a bit more leash than he would otherwise. If there’s a tomorrow, we’re gonna need plenty of the bullpen for that one. I wouldn’t just leave him out there in early-to-mid 2000s Dusty Baker fashion, but if it’s a 50-50 call, I’m leaving him in.
Maybe I have this backwards in my head, but wasn’t Kyle on the 3rd base side of the rubber when he had recent success? And today he is on the 1st base side? Maybe I have it wrong.
@70 I was about to say something similar. I was thinking Val Kilmer from Tombstone, especially once Val starts looking rough.
“I’m you’re huckleberry.”
is Sixto really out after 60 pitches over 3?
FREDDIE! RONALD!!!
#74
Yeah, just put on a different hat.
Steal a run here, RAJ.
EDIT: Danke, sir
@77
Indeed. All gifts greatly appreciated, Donnie! And it’s already paying dividends.
Several have commented on this before, but Ronald’s selectivity at the plate has become phenomenal
#76
Well, Doc Holliday (the Wild West one) was from Georgia after all…
What’s the plan? Wright goes for one more? two more if not too bad on pitches?
then what? If we tack on a few more, I would like to do a Tomlin backed by Greene and Minter, as needed.
Snitker will step on your neck if he thinks he has a chance to win a game. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used some guys 3 days in a row if he thinks he can put it away.
@83 my plan is that we keep scoring until they give up.
I agree Nathan. A new record 30 runs would be perfect
There you go, Adam!!!
This pitcher was leaving fastballs over the plate, and I was feeling big hit from Duvall, but weird outfield made it only a double.
Yeah, duvall was making contact there even if it was foul. Good to see that double.
My brother makes an excellent point, should we pull Acuna for protection right now?
@90 I don’t think Acuna would be very happy with that.
I would rather tell him to stay away from the plate in his next ab’s.
Regarding his wrist issue, yeah, I don’t think it is a bad idea.
I was definitely gonna be disappointed if we didn’t hit a lefty who throws mostly fastballs pretty hard.
@90, nah, it’s just the fifth inning. Way too early to start taking the game for granted. Don’t take your boot off their necks.
That said, it might be time to put in Pache for Neck, and upgrade the OF to a prevent defense.
Kyle! He just earned the sixth, too, in my book. Kyle for the sixth, some combination of Minter, Greene and Martin to finish it. That would be my plan right now, anyway.
@94 I agree. Give the kid some experience going deep in a playoff game when he’s throwing so comfortably, particularly compared to even a couple innings ago.
@76
I was going to say tubercular Victorian poet, which is a pretty similar look I guess
@96 — game ball comment.
@96 – One whose name was Wright in water.
Just to have something to grumble about, I’m not sure that swinging at the first pitch after their pitcher went a solid three minutes without throwing one was the best idea, Ozzie.
Had a customer event tonight and kept checking the phone during dinner. How has Wright looked so far? This is unbelievable!
@100
Early troubles, but very good the last several innings. Very good. And some great pitches to get out of his couple innings of trouble.
@100, kind of the good version of him that we’ve been seeing the last few weeks. He hasn’t had feel on every pitch the whole game, but he’s been pushing the fastball up to 97 and has had some filthy tilt on his breaking balls, and he’s had the fortitude to get out of a few situations he put himself into. It looked really dicey in the second inning when the ump started squeezing him and he had men on, and then he bore down and got three outs in precisely the kind of situation he melted down in before.
Hard to ask for more.
@100 LOTS of soft contact. The hardest hit ball probably came with the bases loaded after a hbp,soft single ,and bb (albies made a good play).
It looks like he can occasionally still lose feel for the ball and make a few uncompetitive pitches in a row, but he has been good at quickly regaining his composure.
@101/102/103 Thank you very much. So good to hear.
Beautiful performance by Kyle. IIt’s soo encouraging to see him gut through tense situations.
Great game, Kyle… Minter’s turn
Do we dare dream 4 shutouts in 5 games?
106, I’m good with 5 wins in 5 games.
@106 I personally am gonna be disappointed if it isn’t a shutout. That must be a record, I think?
So, like last night, first time live with Kyle Wright
I mean this in a good way, but he’s going to be downright scary when he gets his command right
The movement on his pitches? Just wow. And if he gets to slot behind Varsity, Jethro and our Soroka in due course, where is the ceiling?
The only downside is 10 past midnight start up from next week
@Mike, you watching from the UK?
You used to have to squint a lot harder to see a major league pitching rotation. Nowadays you can just about almost see one.
#108
In the 1905 WS, which NYG won in 5 games over the A’s, I know that every game ended in a shutout, but not sure how many runs were scored by the A’s in the game they won.
EDIT: OK, I looked it up — the A’s scored 3 runs.
A couple of interesting tidbits from the FS1 broadcast just now:
First, Wainwright (who’s been pretty good, or serviceable at the very least, in this kind of third wheel roll) pointed out that Wright only threw a first-pitch strike on 9-of-23 batters faced. So he carved them up like that while constantly falling behind hitters.
Second, to Carl’s point, we’re currently sitting on the lowest playoff ERA through five games in any kind of modern era, basically. The most recent team that had a better one was the 1919 Cincinnati Reds, the beneficiary of the Chicago White Sox trying to lose the series.
@112, The Giants won the series 4-1 without giving up an earned run. They lost to the Philadelphia A’s 3-0 in Game 2, but all three runs were unearned.
Holy crap. That ball was farrrrr
Ozuna ended with opposite field contact all day long, they must have been working on that.
TDA just missed a bomb…..I wonder if they can get that call right when the ball is 50 feet over the foul pole.
Why are the announcers gushing over the Marlins who are about to be swept?
Another Grammy winner for the 9th?
Good job, Jacob Webb.
@Timo Yeah, GMT/BST/ EST + 5
A low leverage hit for Dansby!
Can someone please tell Duvall he doesn’t have to swing at everything?
@116
Nobody likes us, and we don’t care!!
@116/121
They’re just giving the Marlins their final bow on the way out. I don’t have a problem with it.
We mostly agreed we didn’t want Markakis back this year and then lo and behold he was re-signed. I wasn’t too upset with it because I thought between keeping the apparently resurgent Duvall and signing Ozuna that Snitker wouldn’t pencil Neck into the lineup every day, even if he had to be ordered not to do so by AA. And so I was ok with him being used in a platoon role, LH bench bat and veteran leader. But gosh after a hot start he’s been garbage. 704 OPS for the year and minus .3 WAR in less than a quarter of a year. Under NO circumstances do I want to see him on the team next year. Thanks Nick. Good luck. The Braves can certainly do better. Inciarte needs to be gone too for anything the Braves can get. Just eat the money.
C’mon Greene don’t mess this up. Don’t make us put Luke Jackson back on the roster.
Thank you, Pache!
Well done everyone.
Rest up.
WHOOOOOOOOOOO!
Can’t stop smiling.
Hey, another shutout. Crazy.
Well, we waited 23 years for payback on this club… so we will take it. (Marlins now 7-1 post-season.)
NLCS on Monday, y’all.
And so nice that Fried, Anderson & Wright all get 5 days’ rest for NLCS Games 1 thru 3. We’ll worry about Game 4 when we get there.
Celebrate!
That’ll do
NLCS! Man…it’s been so long since we’ve seen you!
Now for the Dodgers! Let’s keep it going.
Momentum is tomorrow’s starter, but, hell, we faced two teams and outpitched and outhit ’em both, and now folks are starting to get nervous.
Here’s a piece Joe Simpson referred to on air: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30065356/mlb-playoffs-2020-ian-anderson-emergence-makes-atlanta-braves-biggest-threat-dodgers
I was still in high school the last time this happened. I’m now 37. I took that series win a bit for granted, it being the ninth year out of 10 that we made the NLCS. Not so this time.
Question on NLCS….are they going to play consecutive days? Or will it go back to traditional schedule?
Win, win, win.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/10/08/braves-7-marlins-0-braves-movin-on-again/
NLCS has no office days, potentially 7 in 7. The World Series reverts back to normal.
You used to have to squint a lot harder to see a major league pitching rotation. nowadays you can just about almost see one. I mean this in a good way, but he’s going to be downright scary when he gets his command right. this is a million better commentary squad today. I do wish for better umpiring and some more strikes from Wright.