It was only the Dodgers.
Mauricio Dubon‘s 3 run double in the top of the 2nd gave the Braves a 4 – 0 lead, and Eli White saved 3 runs with a spectacular wall crashing catch in the 6th, leading the way for the Braves to take the series 2 – 1.
Bryce Elder sailed through 5 2/3 innings, striking out 8 and allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk, but then totally lost command, walking 3 consecutive batters to bring the tying run to the plate. Robert Suarez came in to face Max Muncy, and it took White crashing full speed into the right field wall to rob Muncy and save the inning, and Bryce’s ERA. I’m not sure Ronald Acuna Jr. makes White’s catch, but then again, Ronald has a lot to live for.
Justin Wrobleski came into the game with a 1.25 ERA for the Dodgers, but only 15 strikeouts in 36 innings. He added 7 more strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings today, but also 7 hits and was charged with all 7 earned runs. His ERA now stands at 2.42. Bryce’s drops to 1.81.
Drake Baldwin‘s 10th home run of the season put the Braves up 5 – 0 in the 8th, but Muncy got revenge against Tyler Kinley in the bottom of the inning, putting a two-run homer several rows up in the right field seats. Mike Yastrzemski had taken over for White at the beginning of that inning, so we’ll never know if Eil could have gotten to that one or not. Matt Olson added his 14th homer of the season in the 9th, and Jorge Mateo singled in Yaz with the Braves final run. White reportedly will go through the concussion protocol.
The Braves finish the road trip 6 – 3 and move to 28 – 13 on the season. Atlanta holds a 9-game lead in the National League East over the Marlins. Nationals, and Phillies. The Cubs come to town on Tuesday, Grant Holmes vs. Colin Rea scheduled.
And to think that I would have been happy with not being swept!
RIP, Bobby. Thanks for the memories…
Maybe the Phillies will know what last year was like for the Braves. The Braves approached .500 by the end of May last year.
The depth is so much better this year and all the minor league teams are .500 or better.
Shame about the Mets though
Just finished watching the DVR of the game & that felt great.
Mauricio Dubon… so many big, game-changing hits this year. Unreal.
And Eli White really ate some RF fence there.
Great catch by Eli. I hope it wasn’t too bad for his health.
If I’ve done my math right, we currently on a 18-7 in the last 25 games. Our best 25-game stretch was actually 19-6 after the series sweep in Colorado. Since a 6-5 start, we’re 22-8. That is a very good month of baseball. Long may it continue, as the Phillies kind of look like they’re waking up a bit.
Re: Chris Sale’s plaque. He has a lot of WAR as a White Sox. I think that’s the hat he’ll wear.
But I also think Freddie goes in with an A. And likely Matt Olson if he keeps this up.
Random trivia question: who had more career bWAR, Ryan Klesko or Joe Carter?
Klesko, and it’s not close. 26.9 to 19.5. It’s crazy how players get remembered.
Klesko or Dante Bichette? 26.9 to 5.7
Klesko over Cecil Fielder: 26.9 to 17.2
I’m watching this 1995 Braves documentary, and the official Braves historian told me to go back and look at Ryan Klesko‘s numbers. That he was a better hitter than we remember. Yep, that’s very true.
Most of position player WAR is OBP. Klesko has a very high walk rate. Dante Bichette’s was closer to that of Michael Harris while also playing bad defense.
That was an awesome grab by Eli. Per Statcast, the catch probability on that ball was 70%, and it had a 3-star catch difficulty rating (on a scale from 1-star to 5-star). In other words, it wasn’t the most difficult catch ever. But, given the super high leverage in that moment, it was critical. Great play from a guy who’s had a few adventures in the OF this year.
It’s the kind of recklessness that is required from a man inhabiting the 25th or 26th spot on the roster who doesn’t want to be spending any more time on the shuttle to Gwinnett or in the unemployment line. Well done, Eli, well done.
I certainly hope that he’s okay. Dubon hit the wall awfully hard in center last week too, as I recall; my wife was scared he’d gotten concussed on that one, too.
I think you’d have to say that going into Dodger Stadium and beating them 7-2 two days in a row is a statement. We’ve got a really good club here.
I’m concerned that whoever gave that catch a difficulty rating of 3 stars out of 5 might also need to check themselves into the concussion protocol.
Anything with a catch probability between 51% and 75% is categorized as a 3-star catch. The probability is calculated based on distance traveled, direction traveled, and hang time, though I think the proximity of the wall is also factored in. On his catch yesterday, Eli had to travel 57 feet in 4.4 seconds to make the catch in front of the wall.
I guess that doesn’t really match up with the eye test, though. And it is definitely not a perfect metric — I’ve seen some really crazy catches be given unusually high catch probabilities.
Eli White to the 7-day concussion IL.
Ha-Seong Kim activated from the IL.
How many SS do we have on the roster right now? Kim, Dubon, Mateo, Farmer, Jarvis… How many OF do we have? Harris, Yaz. Yea, this math isn’t math-ing (and yes, I know that Dubon is playing OF right now). I’m guessing since SS are typically the best athletes on the team that a couple of these guys can also play OF. Or, I guess Mateo plays 3b and Riley moves to LF. Sheesh.
Mateo actually played 91 innings in the OF with Baltimore last season (9 in LF, the rest in CF) and was okay out there, according to the numbers. He could be a viable option.
Cox Tribute posted. If you want to talk anything other than Cox, keep commenting here. Try and reserve comments there to Cox only.
How about Bummer and Lopez for Robbie Ray? I’d even throw in Holmes which would make it very lopsided.
Especially after Dylan Dodd comes back.