First and foremost, TFloyd is getting cut off today and TFloyd should never get cut off so if you did not read his recap, please make sure and do so as it’s brilliant, as always.
Nothing cures the ills of mediocrity quite like playing a series against the Mets after they’ve gutted their entire team and lied to their ace to sell him off to the Rangers. It’s a day/night DH with game 1’s first pitch at 1:10 EST and 2nd’s at 7:15 EST.
Transaction a Day AA
I begged for Allan Winans to get another shot in the rotation, and while this may be nothing more than a spot start and a trip back to Gwinnett, he could sway the brass by pitching another gem. Winans will be facing off against Denyi Reyes. Reyes has been in professional ball since 2015, yet has only thrown 15 innings in the bigs. Hopefully the Braves can take advantage of a tweener and put the game away quickly.
Braves Lineup
It’s nice to see Brian Snitker giving Orlando Arcia a rest and I’m really excited to see Nicky Lopez‘s glove in action today.
Happy birthday, Ryan!
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Ryan!
Someone overheard Chuck talking to Winans before the game: ‘Listen, this is how you pitch the Mets…’
Hahahahaha.
And way to go, Nicky Lopez! I’m
Man, I’m digging Winans’ changeup. Seems like it’s got some serious movement and depth to it.
Yeah, he’s getting better and you’re right, that changeup is a beauty.
It’s striking to me how quickly and seamlessly Mets fans adopted a rebuilding mindset.
From this whole episode all the way to the “Throw it again” game, their fans, players and organization seem to lack the capacity to “act like you’ve been there before” as contenders.
Tanking, however, seems like such a natural fit lol
Winans started out today like every other Braves starter but he has put up a couple fantastic innings in the 3rd and 4th.
and 5th.
In honor of Charlie’s 2.00 shutout game-winning WHIP yesterday, I made a list of the highest WHIPs by game-winning starting pitchers who gave up no runs. Charlie’s performance is tied for 27th in the Retrosheet Era. It is only the third “best” performance by a Brave. Steve Bedrosian walked 6 with 4 singles and 2 doubles allowed in 5 2/3 IP on May 19, 1985. Greg Maddux walked 4 and gave up 5 singles, 1 double and 1 triple in 5 innings pitched on September 7, 2002.
But the Alltime performances in this category are Vida Blue (7 walks and 6 singles in 5 1/3 on 9/15/73) and Kenny Rogers (same performance on 5/30/2004)
PS: Save a few for game 2, boys.
Let’s play three.
Whether or not Winans makes it through the 7th, this has been one of the most needed games of the year for our pitching staff. Awesome job young man!
Wow. Good for Winans. Did not see that coming after the first inning – 80 strikes! Great job!
Holy God.
Three touchdowns!
I’m glad Arcia does not come in to pitch. Nothing good could come out of that. Go Nicky!
Edit: Is there anything Nicky Lopez can’t do?
Glad they stopped before it got to 28.
I definitely did not have Nicky Lopez getting four hits and pitching on my bingo card.
So Nicky Lopez is now the answer to who is the last Braves pitcher to hit a homer?
He wasn’t technically the pitcher when he hit the homer, so technically no.
The fact that Nicky got three outs in four batters does not speak well for the Mets or Tonkin and certainly diminishes Winans’ performance a bit. But Winans was vastly better at throwing strikes than any recent Braves starter, But these are even worse than the LOLMets.
It was SO logical to use Nicky Lopez to pitch considering he won’t likely play in the 2nd game anyway. But what a great day for Nicky Lopez. He may end up being the best deadline acquisition.
I sure was hoping we’d see Dylan Lee back up for this series but maybe he’ll be back for the Yanks. So who goes away? Chirinos? McHugh? Tonikin? If Chirinos pitches tomorrow then I think it’s likely he goes down (and has to decide whether to accept the assignment).
I hope the Braves saved something to support Spencer tonight.
I’m sure it’s happened before, but I don’t remember seeing a position player pitch mop up when the team is ahead. Kind of insulting. Why didn’t they just let Tonkin finish?
It used to be rare, but not lately . Hanser Alberto finished four games for the Dodgers last year in which they were up by more than 10 runs. This is the fifth time this year with a game finished by a position player with his team up 10 runs or more. https://stathead.com/tiny/hwJ9l
Also kind of a moot point, but with Lopez switching from SS to P did we lose the DH?
When Arcia came in, he had to replace someone in the batting order. That had to be the DH (unless someone else came in as well). So yes, the DH would be lost, but Arcia would be in that batting slot.
If a regular pitcher (or anyone else) replaced Lopez, he would be batting in Lopez’ slot.
Well, that was fun…
Let’s definitely play 2.
Going to all 4 this wknd.
Walking into Citi Field last night, we were behind a guy wearing a deGrom jersey & his arm in a sling… Can’t make this stuff up.
Lopez entered the game with a. 213 average and a. 603 ops in 160 at bats. He exited batting .229 with a .652 ops. If he would have had this game before he was traded, I have a feeling several teams would be trying to get him. I’m glad he waited until he joined the Braves.
Mets, lol.
Have a blast, Ububba!
I’m probably the only person who cares about this any more, but the worst WHIP ever to win a game was Lee Pfund in this game: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT194505302.shtml
12 hits and 6 walks in 5 innnings pitched. 10 runs given up, 8 earned. Winning pitcher in a 14-10 game. 3.60 WHIP.
Wow! Pfund really knew how to win.
Nothing beats Pfund at the old ballpark!
This has been quite a pitcher’s duel.
And it was, until some Little League defense.
How was Riley’s shot to second a fielder’s choice?
Riley’s shot was somewhat dubiously ruled an error. I suppose they are assuming absent the error that Ozzie would have been forced at 2nd.
If you want a cure for the starting pitcher blues, I give you the Mets. Three starters and zero runs given up.
Re (re) capped (capped.)