When I heard that Gibson was pitching for the Cardinals I got really, really worried. Even though Bob Gibson is 88 years old and dead, I’m pretty convinced he could stifle the Braves bats even today. I was slightly surprised to see that Gibson had a lifetime record of 19-23 against the Braves (including Milwaukee) and 9-10 against Atlanta.
But his brother (grandson?) from another mother, Kyle, made his own bid for the Hall of Fame with 6 2/3 scoreless innings until d’Arnaud scored on an Eddie Rosario homer (that Kyle didn’t give up) to pin him with a run. The Rosario homer tied the game 2-2. Charlie Morton pitched a great six innings. He was charged with an “earned” run that Adam Duvall will cheerfully admit was on him, not Charlie, when he misplayed a single into a triple and the next guy got a single. Dylan Lee came on a gave up a homer to Nolan Arenado, the first batter he faced, to make it 2-0, but that was it for the Redbirds on the day.
In extra innings, a line drive into a double play ended the Cardinals’ chances, and a Simpsonian bunt from Zack Short (to be fair, this is the one time a sacrifice bunt, if you know how to execute it, is unquestionably the correct play) followed by a sac fly from Ozzie Albies ended the game. (By the way, I’m pretty sure the way to bunt like a pro is to bunt badly.)
Those following my newfound understanding of the homerun will note that both teams hit one homer and both teams had one run that was not homer-related.
Announcing
So I listened to Chip for a while. But once he said of a foul ball “a fan from Decatur made a good play on that one” I had to turn back to Brandon and CJ. I did get to hear the “Smoltz tried to iron a shirt he was wearing” anecdote for the 50th time. There’s always a chance it was new to Cardinals’ fans.
The English Language
Recap is short for recapitulation. But recapitulation isn’t capitulating again. It has nothing to do with capitulation. Repetition has nothing to do with petitions and iterate already means to do again, so I have no idea what reiteration is supposed to be. C’mon English. Get it together baby.
In A Few Hours
The Cardinals held Sonny Gray for the nightcap to face Bryce Elder. Christian is there. Look for him.
I was listening to the radio broadcast. Joe and his young new bestie Wiley Ballard were indeed reveling in the Braves “manufacturing a run.” No word if any Depends were sacrificed.
A well-timed sac fly could have won it in the 9th. I don’t know why we need to have multiple chances at a sac fly.
A lot of us Braves fans have felt the team is bad at that sort of situational hitting for years, but I would like to see some stats on it. Not just batting average with runners on third and less than 2 out but success rate at scoring runners from third with less than 2 out. A couple of years ago we were among the worst in the league at scoring the Manfred man. We seemed to have improved since then and it could’ve been a fluke.
Good idea, Stampton. Expect something on this next week.
I don’t know whether someone else might be the answer when a sixth starter is needed.
But I know Bryce Elder isn’t the answer. And at this point I’ll take the unknown over the clearly evident AAAA level Elder.
Braves Bally announcers just annoy the hades out of me with their pro Braves positivity. If the team is playing like crap, they need to tell it like it is.
Agreed. So uh, Elder doesn’t have it tonight
We go from up 3-1 to down 3-1 in a 10-minute span. Gonna be that kind of evening . . .
Somehow, Bryce Elder returned.
As expected
I appreciate what the guy did for us in half a season, but he’s gotta learn some other way to pitch or something….
This is the second game in MLB history in which both teams started triple-single in the first.
The first was when the Yankees went to Griffith Stadium to play the Washington Nationals on May 4th 1927. The good news is that the home team won (beating the 1927 Yankees!) by a score of 7-4.
Braves hitting continues to all short of CLUTCH.
Should have had Elder pitch to Ozuna in the derby
The fall of Matt Olson is Frenchy like.
Braves announcers need to take a logic class. One intoned that “Olson is due. He’s 0 for 7”. No, that means he is 0 for 7. That doesn’t improve his chances on an 8th attempt. Sure enough, Olson struck out.
I don’t miss Chip one iota. But I feel like peak Braves broadcasts — post Skip/Pete/Ernie era — was last year with Gaudin and Frenchy. This year has been a more laborious watch, not just because of the team’s plate approach and results.
Speaking on the announcers, I think CJ talks too much about stats and analytics and it gets tiresome. I liked Gaudin and Frenchy a lot more because Frenchy adds much more personality than CJ and those two had a fun chemistry. While it isn’t as good as last year, it’s still better than any national broadcast.
I agree. Frenchy was much more fun. CJ isn’t bad, he’s just very…professional.
Olson’s OPS is down to .699. Woof.
Elder is not it, and I’ve been trying to decide why it pisses me off so much. I’m usually pretty even keel when it’s clear that a player is not very good. And then I realized it was because I wasted $20 on a Jair Jurrjens shersey 15 years ago because I was deceived by his ERA, and I’ve never been the same since. Half kidding.
This is a problem.
https://x.com/Braves/status/1815017877700829643
Yeah that’s no good. On top of everything else, it means more starts for the fringe (at best) starters like Dodd and Elder,
Don’t like this at all, but Max Fried is on DL with left forearm neuritis. Reported by D.O.B.
I don’t even know what neuritis is, and I also forgot Dylan Dodd existed.
Hopefully this is a nice rest for Fried and keeps him fresh for the playoffs. If he’s on the shelf for the season, then my optimism will wane. Of course, the year we hypothetically lost Fried, Strider, and Acuna, and won 90 games would OF COURSE be the season we win the World Series in 4 games.
An -itis is inflammation of something. Neur = nerve. Nerve inflammation. Doesn’t sound serious based on that diagnosis. Could just be temporary numbness of certain fingers from overuse. Beats the hell out of ligament or rotator cuff damage.
Now Max says he felt something while warming up for the All Star game. That game is a menace…
Just made it for a game thread…. Go ovre there