Behold the power of the slow roller. The Braves scored 2 of their runs on balls that didn’t make it 90 feet, and 3 double plays helped them to limit 11 Brewer hits to that same total.
Atlanta opened the scoring in the top of the first when a Mauricio Dubon ground-rule double scored Ozzie Albies from 2nd. The Brewers tied the score in the 3rd, but the Braves went ahead for good in the 4th. 3rd baseman David Hamilton slipped trying to field Sean Murphy‘s 2-out slow roller, which allowed Drake Baldwin to score from 3rd and for Murphy to get his first RBI of the season. 1st baseman Andrew Vaughn managed to stay on his feet while booting Michael Harris II‘s 2-out grounder in the 6th, so he was rewarded with an error, and the Braves were rewarded with their 3rd run.
Tyler Mahle got through 5 innings, allowing a run on 6 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 4. Didier Fuentes pitched 2 scoreless innings and threw 20 of 25 pitches for strikes.
The last 2 innings were a little shaky. A Christian Yelich double and a Luis Lara triple in the 8th off Dylan Lee cut the score to 3 – 2 and led to the call to Raisel Iglesias to get the final out of the inning.
A 9th inning homer by Harris was a bright spot in Atlanta’s churning urn of offensive funk. It looked to be especially handy in the bottom of the inning, as a leadoff single and walk brought the winning run to the plate with nobody out. William Contreras hit a ball to deep right center, but Harris was able to bring it in for the first out, and a 1-6-3 double play ended it. Appropriate for the Little Leaque Classic, both throws were skipped across the infield like a 12-year-old skipping rocks across a pond.
I prefer games on Apple, Amazon, Peacock, etc. to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, because I don’t have any of those services and therefore never make the mistake of turning them on. The Little League Classic from Williamsport gave ESPN an opportunity to rise to levels of insufferability previously never before considered, and they rose to the occasion. Having an unlimited supply of kids to interview on top of the usual split screen interviews and IN GAME CONVERSATIONS WITH PLAYERS must have been a dream for whatever baseball hating producer was inflicted upon us. It will be a lifetime memory for those kids, but for me, I’m sure I will have forgotten about it by the next time the Braves are on ESPN and I will once again make the mistake of turning them on for a few minutes.
Albies, Lane Thomas, and Austin Riley had 2 hits each. The Braves move to 76 – 55 and maintain a 3-game lead over the Phillies. Off on Monday, then the Dodgers come to town for 3 games. Bryce Elder and Tyler Glasnow scheduled Tuesday.
Agree 100% on ESPN Sunday night. Beyond bad. Hard to follow the game — one was hard-pressed to know that there was a tense, exciting baseball game going on behind (beneath?) the banalities and cringe-inducing broadcast overlay. Or whatever all of that was.
The “highlight” of the ESPN coverage came when Karl Ravech called the Braves “floundering” to the audience, forgetting that Chris Sale was in the booth with them. When Sale called them out, the awkwardness was nicely palpable.
The other “great” moment in the broadcast came when Ravech asked nepo baby Eduardo Pérez to comment on the help veteran Sean Murphy was giving Mahle. Pérez, not listening to the context, proceeded to give a two-minute canned speech about how great Pat Murphy was for the Brewers, forcing Ravech, after about three pitches to provide a little cover, to re-ask the question specifying the proper Murphy, and getting canned speech #2.
I was waiting for further disquisitions on Dale Murphy, Audie Murphy, Murphy Brown, and Murphy’s Law.
The decision that ESPN had made to hype the non-syllogism — (A) Little Leaguers are joyful baseball players; (B) Ronald Acuña Jr. acts like a little kid; therefore (C) Hanging out with Little Leaguers all day was going to up his game for the remainder of the season — was spectacularly loony. When he rounded third without picking up Tommy Watkins and was then thrown out at third base trying to get back, I thought “Hey… they’re right! Just like a Little Leaguer!”
The postgame interview (yes, I’m a glutton for punishment) with Michael Harris II was gold as well, when they asked Harris about his Little League experience and he had to confess he didn’t play Little League and was on travel ball teams instead.
Thank you for your service.
Had the game on a muted iPad, while I watched a 3-hr movie. Seems like I didn’t miss much, as I could tell that the production/direction of the game had very little to do with the actual contest.
But that game-clinching double-play was like taking a bus tour in the Himalayas — inches away from disaster.
This is another needed day off.
AA finally read Braves Journal yesterday and optioned Jarvis. Dubon at SS just makes too much sense.
Well, when you’ve lost Braves Journal, you’ve lost America.
If AA visited BravesJournal a month ago maybe he wouldn’t have laid a flaming turd at the trade deadline.
You mean like the Mahle deal?
Brent Suter 1.50 ERA 12 IP. What a turd.
The interesting part of this move is that they kept Brewer Hicklen. So, in essence (after a period of confusion) they have substituted Brewer Hicklen for Jorge Mateo. With the departure of Eli White, I might have kept Mateo just for those late-inning pinch-running situations. But if they think Hicklen can pinch hit (we have too many outfielders to put him in the field… he’s behind Yaz and Thomas and Acuna and Dubon and can’t play centerfield, so he’s behind Harris as well) that’s probably more valuable than a Herb Washington. (To be fair, Mateo is a pretty good shortstop as well, but he wasn’t going to play any shortstop here.) The other thing this creates is an actual opportunity to use Kim and find out if he can still play baseball. Dubon can still either DH or spell Acuna or Albies, who would then DH.
Again, this all would have made sense at the deadline three weeks ago. You might disagree with it, but you couldn’t argue it didn’t make sense. Best cases: (a) they were undecided about Hicklen until just now; or (b) they wanted to give Jarvis the chance to seize the job, which he didn’t.
A question about the major league minimum salary of $780,000.00 per year. It is “prorated by day on the active roster,” according something called Legion Report.
But is the “year” 365 days, or the 162 days of the regular season? In other words, does Jim Jarvis, who spent 38 games in the big leagues, make 38/162 of the minimum, or 38/365? Anybody know?
I think it is spread over opening day to the end of the regular season, so 162 games + X off days, so the payroll period is on the order of 185 days. Players do not earn salary in Spring or Postseason.
That would put Jarvis in the $160k ballpark.
Prorated based on 180 days
Thanks. Pretty good deal, added to whatever he makes at Gwinnett, I suppose.
Welcome back, Big Slumper… keep it up for a couple more days, will ya?
I can never decide when Scoreboard Watching Season starts. August, even late August, still sounds a little early to me, but maybe it’s appropriate this year.
That said, this would be an excellent few weeks for Wheeler to forget how to pitch.
ESPN makes me long for the days of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (and all his flaws). At least they called the game on the field.
Born in ’63, today I became 63…
Here’s to a big Elder effort & some more breathing room in the NL East.
Happy birthday, ububba. May home run fireworks at Truist tonight illuminate your cake.
Happy Birthday, ububba! I’m sorry Dolly Parton died on your birthday. Here is some consolation. Both Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin died on mine. Every year on my birthday the radio plays a lot of their music. I hope you hear a lot of Dolly’s music on many birthdays to come.
Thnx…
That did bum me out about Dolly, to tell the truth. (Do all the greats — rock, R&B and country — pass in August, then?)
I’ll be at Astros/Yankees tonight with a wandering eye on my iPhone. We could definitely use some HRs
Happy birthday, ububba. On the bright side, it’s also Gene Simmons’ and Elvis Costello’s birthday.
In addition to the King of rock and roll and the Queen of soul, Robert Johnson, the King of the Delta blues, also died on August 16. Not to mention that Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, died on that date. Not a good day for royalty. King Charles ought to be extra careful on that day.
“A cutter that doesn’t cut …” CJ neatly summarizing the Bryce Elder Experience.
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were childhood staples for me. I remember coming home from church on Sunday nights and tuning in to Sunday Night Baseball. I was too young to be critical of them.
I, on the other hand, am old enough (older than ububba) to remember Jon Miller as a radio announcer for the Orioles when I lived in DC and Camden Yards was just a gleam in the eye of an architectural firm. At the time he was very good at it. I didn’t realize until I checked his Wikipedia page that he had worked for five different MLB teams – Oakland, Texas, Boston, Baltimore, and San Francisco. Probably one of the few people who have worked for and been let go by Charlie Finley and Peter Angelos.
I saw that, our new insect overlords. Stick by your guns, man….
Great playoff preview! Game 2 is gonna be a fun one.
Recapped