- I hate the way Ronald Acuna, Jr., Austin Riley, and Matt Olson are failing at offensive baseball.
- I hate late west coast games.
- I hate when a DH with a 579 OPS hits a home run off of A. J. Minter.
- I hate allowing a 6 inning no run, no hit performance by Max Fried to turn into a loss.
- I hate when the Braves lineup strikes out 14 times in a 9 inning game.
- I hate when the Braves lineup only gets 3 hits and 1 walk in a 9 inning game.
- I hate trying to remember all of the technological things necessary to make this post get done and visible with comments on, etc.
- I hate the Phillies.
- I hate the Dodgers (that one is hard because I have a grandson playing on a Dodgers team in his league and they won 12 to 0 last night in “the 7:00 game”).
- I hate that I don’t hate, not even a little bit, the Braves.
Max deserved better. Braves fans deserved better. Bianca should have been there to punch Mitch Garver in the nose. somebody should have bribed the umpires with a guitar (or drums, or even a tamborine). But, so far as we know, no one got pregnant.
Bravo, Cliff! Well-done. On the Twitterverse, I woke up to people calling for Seitzer’s head. I’m dumbfounded.
I share your hates, Cliff–and your not-hate of the Braves. Another thing I don’t hate is your recaps. Keep up the good work!
Love West Coast games, started to watch at 4am my time in the 3rd inning. Hated the outcome as well but these things happen and Max pitched great again. Go get ’em tonight.
What really ticked me off was Kelenic getting a lead-off single in the 9th and then three straight K’s from Ronald, Ozzie, and Austin. For crissakes at least put the ball in play. I know there was a lot of that in the game last night but that was the topper.
P.S. Minter may be one of the best ever setup guys but he has never been a reliable closer. To be effective, he MUST get ahead of hitters.
It feels like we have been swinging through a lot of middle middle fastballs and that is something we normally crush. Miller was great last night but as the game wore on he started leaving more fastballs over the plate and we didn’t take advantage.
Top of the 7th inning could’ve been better as well.
RAJ Single, steals 2nd & 3rd, Ozzie RBI double… so, one in, one on 2nd, then… Riley K, Olson K, Ozuna F-9.
Despite the start of the inning, Miller made a great recovery.
The Good Part: It certainly seems like Max has returned to form.
Last night’s loss was certainly frustrating. And the relative lack of offense over the last two weeks, despite the winning, is perhaps of some concern. But RAJ, Riley, and Olson are going to hit. Perhaps not at last year’s historic levels, but they will come around.
Far and away the best news is Max. I’d rather have lost the game last night than win a slugfest in which Fried got roughed up. Why do I say that? It’s a long season, and things like that happen. What the Braves need to be successful this season is for Fried to be his old self. After those two horrific early outings, there was some concern that he wasn’t healthy. His last two starts, though, were Maximum Max. He’s shown that he’s as good as ever. That’s got me very encouraged.
If a 6-game west coast road trip doesn’t get the DOOOOM machine going, I don’t know what will.