This is another one of those game that really doesn't deserve a recap. Kenshin Kawakami was cruising along, at one point he had retired 10 batters in a row, and then "boom goes the dinamite!" In the 6th inning the Padres turned on the hitting switch and didn't turn it off the rest of the game. I know some people might say Bobby Cox should have pulled Kawa earlier in the 6th, but he hadn't thrown that many pitches, and after having been so sharp early on, Cox had to believe that Kawa could wiggle his way out of the jam.
Chipper Jones is 1-for-his-last-32. It might be time to sit him down for a game -- not as a punishment, but as a way to collect himself and figure some things out. His importance to this team is undeniable, and if he's not hitting, then we're not going to be winning.
While Kawa and the Braves bullpen had their problems after the 5th inning, I sort of place the blame for this game on the offense. We got out to a nice 3-run lead with a 3-run Brian McCann homer in the first, and then we just fell asleep offensively. We have to put teams like this away when we have the chance, and we didn't do that... and it's no surprise that we lost.
0 recs | 39 comments
Going tonight......
Surely they’ll win. I mean, the odds are there, and we can’t get swept by the Padres, right? As big a Chipper fan as i am, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit if i showed up to the Ted and he wasn’t in the lineup. He needs a break Jimmy Rollins style.
10-4 - August 27, 2009
Couldn't believe what I saw
When I got home late and saw the score,sorry I turned the channel to watch South Park.
jimmontg - August 27, 2009
This was the game to me...
that said we will not be enjoying the postseason this year. We were already on the outside looking in. But with a series against the secong worst team in the NL was a time for us to get a sweep or at the very least 2 of 3. Now we are trying to avoid a sweep. Not so much the losses themselves but the way we lost each game told me that we are not a playoff team.
Fischerking - August 27, 2009
Chipper Needs to sit a couple of games
Chipper has looked terrible at the plate. He isn’t patient and it seems like he’s trying to pull everything. It almost looks careless. I think it’s time to give him 2 or 3 games off. He was quoted as saying he was “tired” because he hadn’t played this many games at this point in the season since 2003. It’s frustrating as a fan because he is getting payed 10 mil a year, and you think that since he is a professional and he signed the contract, you expect 162 games. He also said that in the past he has hit better after he spent some time on the DL. So do we need to come up with phantom injuries for him in the future so he can sit out 15 days ever so often? It stinks when your “star” player only wants to play about 100 games a year. Usually we would say we aren’t as good with him out of the lineup. But right now i think for a few games we would be just as good or better without him.
BravesFanScout - August 27, 2009
Agreed. Chipper needs to rest and work on his swing, and if he sits until next Monday, I won’t be disappointed. Right now, he’s a liability.
John Holton - August 27, 2009
People should have realized we weren't making the playoffs a week ago
with the way the Phillies and Colorado are playing there is no way we catch them winning at a .667 clip (and I would guess we aren’t going to be playing that well for the rest of the year).
taney71 - August 27, 2009
I believe it is now over
Fortune favors the brave(s) - August 27, 2009
There was a game last night?
I’m trying really, really, really hard to repress that memory. Let’s not speak of that game again. Ever.
blairblink - August 27, 2009
This
Yakker - August 27, 2009
Confidence level:
-2
musicman - August 27, 2009
It ain't over.
Yes, without question, last night was another depressing, discouraging loss and if the team is going to play like that, there will obviously be no chance to reach the playoffs.
But the facts are we had a 32-18 run from 6/28 to 8/23, followed by now having lost two in a row, and we’re 5.5 of the Rockies with 36 games left to play.
We need a multi-game winning streak, we need a very strong winning percentage to finish out the season, and we need to Rockies to cool off.
I agree there is no great cause for optimism and the odds are against us. However, I say the pervasive gloom and doom is uncalled for.
We are down. But we’re not out. It ain’t over.
fandave - August 27, 2009
Hey! That's how I feel!
It ain’t over till it’s over, so we had a pitcher meltdown. Hey! Shit happens. But look at the fact we’re a lot better than we were 1st of July, when nobody thought we had a chance. We still have a chance,slim to be sure, but it ain’t over till it’s over. We have some good games in front of us,when it’s good enjoy!! When it’s bad,well just go ahead and bitch about it. Read Royhobbs fanshot on the Braves encouraging a little league team,it’ll give you a warm fuzzy.
jimmontg - August 27, 2009
I think we’re in the minority around these parts. Surprisingly.
fandave - August 27, 2009
I Know, but still
jimmontg - August 27, 2009
agreed
fandave. As awful as that game was last night the Braves still have a shot & they still have my support. And if the time comes when we are mathematically out of contention the Braves have nothing to hang their head about. They are vastly improved over last year. Mgt looks to be making the right moves no matter how difficult the decision & w/the talent waiting for this team in the minors the future looks bright. We could be Pittsburgh
adc62 - August 27, 2009
This morning on 850 the Fan, Leo said that don’t count them out until it is mathematically impossible for them not to make it.
Honestly, despite the above post, that is how I feel. I just feel sick after they lose especially this time of year and that leads to my cynicism. I can’t even watch MLB Network the morning after a loss.
After they beat the Phillies this weekend I’ll be ok.
musicman - August 27, 2009
yes!
cirela20 - August 27, 2009
Well
It isn’t just the 5.5 games, it’s that ATL also has to leap two more teams. Giving away the progress they just made is tough to stomach and at home, against a poor team, no less.
But it still can be done.
Yakker - August 27, 2009
Exactly. The Braves should try and win as many of the last 36 games as possible. If they get into the playoffs, great, and if they don’t, they tried. By this time last year they were already out of it.
John Holton - August 27, 2009
Can you cancel a MLB package and get a prorated refund?
TradeAndruw - August 27, 2009
nice one
SuperNewb - August 27, 2009
I’m actually not kidding, I have Comcast BTW.
TradeAndruw - August 27, 2009
Have the Padres swept anyone else this year?
If not, please don’t let it be us tonight.
NCChopper - August 27, 2009
I don’t know,ask Justin.
jimmontg - August 27, 2009
WTF?
justincredubil02 - August 27, 2009
Yes they have.
They swept the Giants back in April and swept the Reds, Giants and Cubs as part of a 10-game winning streak back in May.
TonyAlmeyda - August 27, 2009
Thank You
jimmontg - August 27, 2009
Here’s a stat: the Braves left a whopping 18 men on base last night. 18! (hey, at least the Padres left 27) Every single batter, starter or not, left at least 1 man on base with two exceptions; Infante who pinch hit to lead off the ninth, and McCann who was the offense. Both Chipper and GA left 4 men on base (thats almost half in #3 and #5 hitters) and Church, LaRoche, and Prado each came in with 2 men left on base (that’s your 2, 7, and 8 hitters, but we all know how much better the bottom of the lineup is right now). The only people to only leave 1 man on base were Yunel and Matty. Here’s another stat: every batter struck out at least once (relief pitchers excluded) except for Yunel, McCann and Infante, resulting in 7 strikeouts. Its not possible to score if you leave that many men on base and strike out that many times.
GoBravesNY - August 27, 2009
problem is there’s just no excuse for letting the padres have 27 runners on base period
SuperNewb - August 27, 2009
thats also true. the fact that they had 27 men LOB also speaks to the atrocity of the pitching staff last night
GoBravesNY - August 27, 2009
A lot of LOB’s and strikeouts to be sure, not to mention a meltdown by the pitcher(s). Bobby is notorious for leaving pitchers in for too long. When will he ever learn? Been watching this nonsense for a long, Long time.
not2wired - August 27, 2009
depressing as hell
but still you never know, especially the way our schedule shakes out. idk but I think there’s still one of those 9 game stretches where we play the Phillies 6 times.
but this series from hell definitely hurts, this last game from the 7th inning on IMO is irrelevant (any game Manny Acosta pitches in is basically already over). the real problem is the trend that the team is following, scoring runs early and then going to sleep for the rest of the game, but even more scary, our giving up huge innings out of nowhere (to scrub lineups frankly, injured Mets + SD)
I don’t usually believe in luck being a significant factor over the course of the season but if the Braves don’t wanna just fade away down the stretch were gonna need a shit ton of it.
cirela20 - August 27, 2009
I said it a few times during the OT
But this game was almost an exact mirror of the type of game we saw in Baltimore during the “TC meetup” game. Braves nurse a small lead, KK lets some batters on, Bobby with the quick pull, EOF has a rare meltdown, but Bobby doesn’t pull him until he gets one more out or one more run, but he gives up one more run, and then goes to Moylan to stop the bleeding. But then Manny Acosta is allowed on the premises, and does what he does best. The only difference is that I had the option of turning off the TV this time.
Kinda eerie, tell you the truth. But hey, it happens from time to time.
royhobbs - August 27, 2009
I do feel like I’ve seen this game before, but still I can’t shake this last little burst of optimism, maybe because of the fact that it is the Padres and we’re better than them in every conceivable way (except 1st base and with LaRoche on fire it’s a lot closer) my point being it might just be a fluke.
Also posting about it helps nurse my confidence a bit because I nearly laughed out loud, and started thinking “why not us” when i saw that the Padres did this…
I know good teams make their own luck by playing the right way but still, you have to think with there’s at least a 6 or 7 game win streak in us, and really the only chance we have is if it finds us while we’re on the same field as the Phillies
cirela20 - August 27, 2009
I did laugh a little bit last night in the 9th inning… at some point it just got funny.
SuperNewb - August 27, 2009
It will be interesting to see if the Braves are PO’ed enough to come out fighting tonight, or so depressed that they look lethargic…again.
WienerDog - August 27, 2009
This will be interesting. After a heartbreaking loss in 14 innings on Monday night, the Giants came back against Dan Haren on Tuesday and won with late hits on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Impressive.
We’ll see how the Braves respond to this adversity.
Yakker - August 27, 2009
Indeed.
We could use a 10 game winning streak.
drumzalicious - August 27, 2009
Since our 32-18 run, a loss tonight leaves us at 4-5 the last 9 games.
Splitting this series and shuffling along around .500 for a few weeks just doesn’t get it done at this point in the season.
With only 28 left to play, now we are going to have to get hot, run off a streak of 5 or 6 in a row.
fandave - September 3, 2009
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