I’ve been busy with preparing for my first Yale tailgate of the season tomorrow, so I had no time for “analysis.” I do note that with a weekend and a week to go in the season, the Braves stand a pretty good chance of setting the record for most players used in a year. History!

The Game

Detroit, a team that is in first place on the 19th of September, is still in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. They’ve lost 3 in a row coming into tonight and 7 out of their last 10. Meanwhile, second place Cleveland has won seven in a row,

At the deadline, they picked up some guy named Charlie Morton. I didn’t think it could possibly be the same Charlie Morton we lost to Baltimore, but when he hit Matt Olson it all came back to me. A hit batsman and three walks to start the game had the natives restless and a two-run single by Ozzie Albies made it 3-0 quickly.

When Whitman took the mound with a three run lead, you could be confident that the Braves were either going to win this game easily or be behind by the third inning. Or something. An Olson run-scoring double and Ronald Acuña, Jr, homer chased Charlie from the game with one out in the top of the second. His ERA now exceeds Whitman’s. Farewell, Charlie.

He was replaced by Rafael Montero, which made me peruse the Tigers’ 40 man just to see if there were any other former Braves lurking. (They don’t, but it reminded me that Denny McLain pitched his last 54 MLB innings with the Braves to a 6.50 ERA. The Braves cut McLain loose and he was done, four years after two comsecutive Cy Young awards at 28 years old. 28 years old… I am then reminded that Rookie of the Year and Cy Young runner up with the Tigers, Mark Fidrych, was washed up at 25. Memento mori.)

Through 3, Whitman had only given up two singles, one of which was played into a triple by RAJ. Then a gopher ball to Torkelson made it 6-1.

After the third inning, the Tigers saddled up Chris Paddack. Paddack, like Morton, was a deadline acquisition that didn’t work out. That might serve as a lesson to those of you (no names mentioned) who get frustrated when deadline deals aren’t made. A lot of these deals that look good on paper turn out to be as disposable as toilet paper.

Whitman pitched 7 efficient innings scattering 6 hits with 6 Ks and no walks. The box below will set you back $115.

Ha-Seong Kim showed his contempt for Detroit by hitting a 2-run homer to the Kia factory in West Point, GA. Drake Baldwin, Wisconsin youth, sent a two-run homer into The Big House up in Ann Arbor.

So, as Martha and the Vandellas put it in July 1963: “It’s a heat wave… can’t explain it. Don’t understand it.” Six in a row for the first time this season. Time to load up the car for tomorrow’s tailgate. Go Elis. Tomorrow is a 1:10 start, which should be just before halftime of Yale-Holy Cross. I will be covering tomorrow from the box scores tomorrow night, unless some gracious volunteer (not one from Tennessee, obvs) offers to take my spot.