No words.
There aren’t words for Sunday’s loss in CO. As Judith Viorst opined in 1972, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Matt Olson hit a monster grand slam on Saturday afternoon, and if it hadn’t hit the facade on the third deck, it might still be flying. Brandon Gaudin and CJ Nitkowski claimed that blast, and his emotion, might be just the thing to turn this season around.
And through 7 1/2 innings Sunday afternoon, I may have agreed. But leading 8-2, Luke Jackson “luked” and Joe Jimenez was expected to come in and clean up his mess again. Luke pitched more like Nuke Lalouche from Bull Durham, and the Rockies pounded eight hits and scored seven times to win.
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I’m not willing to call this rock bottom. It may be Rockie bottom, but let’s hold off on naming the low-point in what has been an incredibly challenging season until its over.
Lost in all of this was another solid outing from Spencer Schwellenbach. The 24-year old rook again covered six innings and allowed just two runs. Granted, he walked two hitters in this game, so that’s news. But he still struck out seven and allowed just two runs in his outing.
Things lost in the loss
Also lost in this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is the fact that the Braves homered four times. Jorge Soler homered twice, Austin Riley added a first-inning solo blast, while Travis d’Arnaud hit his 12th in the fourth inning. Orlando Arcia even went 4-for-4 as the Braves racked up 13 hits in the loss.
Afterward, Brian Snitker exclaimed, “All of a sudden the roof caved in.” The Rockies eighth inning went K, 1B, 2-run HJR, K, 1B, and 2B, prompting Snit to pull Nuke, I mean Luke. 1B, 1B, 1B, 2B, F-9 followed against Jimenez, and that was that.
There are no words to describe this loss. It was fun to read “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” to my kids when they were young. But Sunday’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day was no fund to be a Braves fan or member of the team.
Still waiting for the Luke Jackson DFA but alas, no such luck.
The fact that this team still has a very good chance to make the postseason is a miracle. We’ve been one of the worst teams in baseball since mid-July. Thankfully the Phillies have been awful too, and the rest of the wildcard contenders all have their flaws. But the long-season is getting shorter. Time to hit the gas. I want to blame Snitker but it wouldn’t be fair. If Luke Jackson is on the roster, it’s not Snit’s fault, and if you can’t pitch him with a six run lead then when can you pitch him?
lol yep. It’s not Snit’s fault we took Jackson, but it might be partly his fault that the team is playing poor fundamental baseball. I’m not too angry. I’ve followed the Braves for decades, and I can’t remember a less likable team, and I can’t remember watching fewer games in a season. If they start playing inspired ball, I will jump on the bandwagon, but I’m ready to check out and tune in next spring.
This is pretty generally how I feel about Snit’s managing. He’s playing the team he’s been given.
In general, I’d say that Snit’s greatest skill is in keeping his players on an emotional even keel. However, that’s a strategy that’s better suited to a team that’s playing well that needs to avoid getting too high or too low. But it’s no longer too early to say that they’re running out of time. Right now, the clock is running out and Snit has seemingly struggled to adapt.
Snit’s think his “it’s a long season” strategy is not as well-suited to a talented team that’s underachieved for the first three-quarters of the season. He does a great job of keeping things in-house and doesn’t air dirty laundry in public, so I don’t know how hot he’s gotten behind closed doors.
But business as usual ain’t working. It’s time for a change.
I’d like to think that even-keeled Snit might be close to a breaking point. I bet his post-game in-clubhouse response was pretty x-rated. He’s not ever going to say anything spicy to the media, and that’s a good thing I think. It’s not like the team doesn’t know they’re playing terrible. You don’t give up now though. I mean I gave up weeks ago. But that’s because I’m a stupid fan.
Minter on the IL with his hip again — Justin Toscano makes it sound like it could be season-ending…