The Braves managed to salvage the final game of a three-game set with the Dodgers last night and now welcome everyone’s favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies to turn for a four-game set beginning in about 30 minutes.
The NL-leading Braves will throw Dylan Dodd (2-1, 6.46) against the Fightin’s, as our old friend, Chip Caray used to call them. Aaron Nola (4-3, 4.31) will toe the rubber for the Phillies.
Austin Riley has begun to heat up and scored the game-winner last night. He is a lifetime .429 hitter against Nola with three homers and six RBI, while Ronald Acuna, Jr. has also been quite successful (.369, 4 HR, 9 RBI). First pitch is set for 7:20 from Truist Park.
Riley has emerged from his funk.
Indeed he has. I think he is best when he just swings thru the ball and is t trying to lift it. It’s a small thing, but the swing is smooth!
Christian, you were prescient in the game thread intro–including the picture you chose!
That’s right… Now I remember why Dylan Dodd hasn’t been starting up here .
Marcel the shell!
Geez, so many were ready DFA him a while back when Hillard was hot
OMG! That’s such an amazing flick. Kids and I have watched it at least 6 times.
Rosario has gone back into a funk. What a terrible AB.
2nd and 3rd, no outs, three straight K’s by the 3/4/5 hitters.
Pathetic. This offense is way too streaky. We got lucky it got going at the right time one October.
Edit: Murphy’s AB was just as horrible, Braves14
Murphy has been bad for the last couple of weeks since he started splitting time with TDA.
Agree that is was painful to see those three strikeouts that inning. But if this Braves offense overall doesn’t satisfy you, I’m not sure what would. They are essentially tied for second in the NL in runs scored. I know some (not you that I know of) complain about strikeouts and relying on the home run rather than average, but the Dodgers, who lead the lead in runs, have struck out 20 more times than the Braves and have a BA 20 points lower than the Braves.
Julio Teheran is pitching for the Brewers tonight.
Time for The AJ Minter Experience.
Find someone who believes in you the way Snit believes in Minter.
tfloyd, I don’t completely disagree with you, but I read yesterday that the braves were 26th out of 30 in hitting with RISP.
Imagine how much better the offense would be if they were merely average in that respect.
Heck if Harris were anything close to his numbers last year, this offense would be great. I’m starting to get worried about that guy.
Edit: oh and can Minter go far, far away? Seems like he’s had a hand in half of the teams losses.
Carl,
RISP batting averages have been statistically checked over and over. The extent to which (individually or as a team) these differ from the overall batting average is NOT a skill, it is a fluky random variance. Even the BA is at variance with the inputs in xBA (which better indicates a team’s or player’s likelihood of getting a hit).
How much more with Minter? He will have like a quarter of our losses after this gem. Snit can’t help himself by staying with “his guys” no matter how bad they are
Minter’s BABIP seems like it must be .900. He hasn’t been as good as the last couple of years but certainly isn’t as bad as his ERA.
Minter has not been good, but you’re right that a fair amount of his trouble is bad luck. The bunt single and seeing eye single that followed weren’t really his fault. Still, he should have gotten the lefty Schwarber.
He sure looked out at the plate, but man, I wasn’t going to count on replay to get it right. Fortunately that one was clear enough even the guys in New York couldn’t miss it. That’s a relief.
In IWOTM news, the Gary Sanchez Experience has reached an end.
Rough night for blue. He has also struggled calling balls and strikes.
That ball four to Arcia was horrible…
Ball 4 to Arcia was literally center cut down the middle.
d’Arnaud big hit right there I tell you what.
The good news is the Phillies are 23-27.
I love how our offense just kept coming back. And good bounceback from Anderson. Dodd and Minter didn’t have it, but we just kept hitting.
I hope last night was a sign of things to come for Austin Riley. It was interesting that his two home runs were virtually identical (almost the same projected distance, hit in the same area, etc.), and both were absolutely crushed.