Let’s hear it for tonight’s Braves player of the game, relief pitcher Jorge Mateo.  Ryan O’Hearn came to the plate in the bottom of the 8th inning with a chance to tie the all time MLB record for RBI in a game.  Having knocked a grand slam in the first, and three run shots in the 3rd and the 6th, O’Hearn already had 10 RBI.  When the Pirates’ leadoff hitter in the 8th walked, all O’Hearn had to do was hit a home run to tally an even dozen ribbies on the night.  How hard could that be?  He had already hit the ball 1200 feet—what’s another 380 or so?  But Mateo induced a single to right rather than a homer, thereby denying the record to O’Hearn.  Great work, Jorge!  Jim Bottomley (1925) and Mark Whiten (1993) remain the only big leaguers to tally 12 RBI in a single game.  FWIW, O’Hearn is just the 17th player to drive in at least 10 in a game.

What else can I say about tonight’s game in Pittsburgh?  The final score was 12-4 Bucs.  The Millionaire was pretty awful—3 1/3 IP, 7 R, 6 H, 5BB, only 2 K.  Oof. Waldrep may yet turn out to be an excellent big league starter, but it seems unlikely that will be this year.  He needs more rehab following his elbow surgery.  Somebody named Connor Thomas surrendered another 4 runs in 3 2/3 (almost makes one miss Cookie Carrasco).  Only Mateo managed not to surrender more runs than innings pitched; he gave up a lone run in one inning of work.  For the season, Mateo’s ERA of 4.50 is roughly half that of Waldrep’s or Thomas’. Make what you will of that.

The hitters contributed 11 hits and 4 runs, so they continue to show more signs of life than they did in June. But you’re not going to win any games when one guy on the other team drives in 10.

The division lead over the Phillies is down to 2 games.  Zack Wheeler struck out 14 in 7 innings in the Phils’ 4-1 win over the Reds.  I’m not one to cry DOOOOOMED, but I would suggest that this team turn it around sooner rather than later.  My hot take is that we need to trade for a starting pitcher or two.  Get er done, AA.

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I must confess that for the second week in a row, I did not watch the game I recapped.  Instead I attended my first Gwinnett Stripers game.  It was a lot of fun.  It’s a very nice ballpark with lots of amenities.

I’d like to provide the kind of analysis and insight into prospects that Snowshine does for us each week.  Two problems with that: the Braves don’t really have any position player prospects at AAA; and even if they did, I don’t have Snowshine’s expertise and knowledge, so nothing I could tell you would be helpful.  Drue Hackenberg started for the Stripers, and he is on most folks’ list of top 20 Braves prospects.  He was OK—only gave up 3 hits and 1 run in the first 5 innings.  But he yielded a 3 run homer in the 6th, so his final line was 4 runs in 5 1/3.  He walked 4 and with the 2 homers his final line was not impressive.  His stuff is somewhat underwhelming, so he’s going to need much better command than he showed tonight.  But take even that limited analysis with a grain of salt.   There were a couple of guys who seemed to be scouts sitting near us.  I wanted to chat with them, but they moved to different seats before I got a chance to bug them.

I may not have insights into prospects, but here are a few observations from this experience:

–A lot of these guys are either minor league journeymen, guys who have had some big league experience and want desperately to get back to the show, or are washed up big leaguers who don’t want to hang it up.  I admire them all.  It’s a very different experience playing in a minor league park, for little relative pay and fewer amenities.  I’m assuming most of these AAA players must love the game.

I was sitting in the first row by first base, so I saw a lot of Carlos Santana (Oye Como Va).  He was a productive big league hitter for a long time, and he’s made a lot of money.  I assume the odds of him making it back to the show aren’t good, but he’s plugging away at age 40. 

–The Gwinnett Stripers have retired 4 player numbers: 42, which is justifiably retired throughout baseball; Mr. Aaron’s 44, which really needs no justification, but it’s worth remembering that Henry Aaron ran the Braves’ farm system for many years; Phil Niekro’s 35, for reasons I can’t figure out; and 23, for the other Mr. Aaron, Tommie.  The younger Aaron brother spent parts of many seasons with the Braves AAA team in Richmond, and was IL MVP in 1967.  In 1977, he became the manager of the Richmond Braves, the first African American to manage a AAA team, and he led them to the IL crown in 1978.  The Richmond Braves retired his number shortly after his untimely death at age 45.

Although I cannot find any reason the Braves AAA team has retired Niekro’s number, I’m not complaining.  Knucksie is my all time favorite pitcher.  The bar in Gwinnett Stadium features Niekro, with several photos and a replica of his HOF plaque.  The menu features the “Knucksie,” which is cornbread topped with pulled pork BBQ and cole slaw.  Of course I had to order it in honor of Niekro; turns out it’s quite good.

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The Atlanta rotation other than Chris Sale is a bit of a mess.  I suspect it will look different later this month.  In the meantime, we go to war with the starters we’ve got, not the ones we wish for.  The one we’ve got for Wednesday is Grant Holmes.  Go get em, Grant.