That might have been the worst played Braves game of the year, and yes, I'm including the 17-to-2 thumping in San Diego. The Braves just didn't have any mojo tonight, and the Phillies had plenty. Basically Philadelphia singled us to death and took advantage of just about every walk that Braves pitchers issued.
The Braves once again had plenty of chances to score and add on when they did score, but key strikeouts and un-clutch hitting doomed their fate. Derek Lowe once again looked mighty unspectacular on the mound, and for the first time this season the Braves bullpen failed to keep the game close.
It would have been nice to take this game. Jamie Moyer was the latest in a series of opposing starters to handle Atlanta batters. He basically just let everyone get themselves out, with the only two runs off of him coming on two errors by Chase Utley in the fifth inning.
Difficult game. And there's still not enough guys hitting their weight in our lineup. We can only hope that they'll come alive in New York, but like they said on-air, both the Mets and the Cardinals have two of the top-5 ERAs in the NL, so we'll be facing more tough pitching. Somehow we're going to have to figure out how to hit good pitching.
0 recs | 106 comments
What a crappy night.
Scott Coleman - April 22, 2010 via mobile
yup. pretty bad
schlagdawg - April 22, 2010
we need to figure to face tough pitching?
we need figure out crappy pitching also.. kyle kendrick and jamie moyer really? Halladay, watever, hes the best, but those other guys?
Good news- it looks like mclouth may be coming along, hinske still stroking it, prado, mac, and chipper keeping up their good stuff. But Diaz, melky, Glaus, escobar, still pretty much black holes out there.
How long until Hinske replaces glaus in the lineup? or Heyward moves up to 5?
Braves Biceps - April 22, 2010
wow that is exactly how I feel...
The Doc is tough but he have struggle with average to horrible pictchers too. I want to believe that Glaus is going to be good but right now Hinske has the hot bat so why not put him in and let Glaus cool down and get it together(maybe he is trying too hard).
I think we have a great team this year but we can not fall behind too far from the Phillies since they will be a real hard team to catch up with.
jvvenez - April 23, 2010
So, because Glaus has been robbed of a HR and 2 doubles in the past 2 games, he sucks and needs to be replaced?
Got it.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Wow, after watching the G-Braves play a great game this afternoon, hanging out with CB and letting some of his mojo rub off on me, that was a really disappointing effort from the big league team tonight. Oh well, its baseball, so there’s always tomorrow!
Rhyno18 - April 22, 2010
Tell me about it!
justincredubil02 - April 22, 2010
Stat of the Night:
Sure, we lost 2 out of 3 from Philly, but we’re now 8-7 and we played the Cubs, @SF, @SD, vs the Rockies and the Phillies.
If you aren’t happy with 8-7 against those teams, you’re nuts.
Scott Coleman - April 22, 2010 via mobile
I agree, but I’m ready to see a couple of these slumps ease up a little. Too much like last year with too many automatic outs. I know it won’t last forever, but enough already. Call a meeting, have a circle jerk, something, anything to get these guys hitting a little. Ever since the “getaway” game vs the Tigers in Florida, the offense has sucked wind. I’m excited about this team, I think we can win the division, but damn, get started guys.
bighop - April 22, 2010
especially
with some of the bad starts by our SP (that JJ start, all of DL’s starts) and the anemic offense
8-7 is a blessing
atl192485 - April 22, 2010
*most of DL's starts
sorry, overreaction
atl192485 - April 22, 2010
Wait...
Mets’ pitching staff has a top 5 ERA!? WHAT INSANITY IS THIS!?
EricGreggWasPaidOff - April 22, 2010
i think the reason we're dissapointed....
not because of the good teams… but how we’ve lost. We couldn’t score on moyer or kendrick. The feeling is that we should have more wins than we do right now.
Braves Biceps - April 22, 2010
I need to step back from Braves baseball for a few Days
For the betterment of my health/social life and stress/frustration levels…I gotta turn away for a few days….D Lowe struggled – yes. But without the Utley errors we’re shut out. Again. I don’t know what else to say. Talk to you all in a few days – i’ll keep an eye on things from a far.
Nova Scotia Steve - April 22, 2010 via mobile
Losing to Roy Halladay on a day when the Philly D makes 3 or 4 webgems – I am ok with.
Losing to Jamie Moyer on a day when the Philly D makes 3 or 4 errors – I am NOT ok with.
justincredubil02 - April 22, 2010
I’m right there with you jusincredubil02. I want the offense to show up. I can’t believe they made Jamie Moyer look good.
Sparhawk - April 23, 2010
Another shitty game to watch. But hey! Sports South and Comcast signed a contract and I now get to watch all Braves games, not only ones on Peach Tree. So that’s great…unless our offense keeps this up and then I will only be subjected to more disappointment. A few very winnable series in May though…gonna have a chance to gain some ground back.
MTSU11 - April 22, 2010
Ugh
This is terrible. We are here talking about how we have the top rotation in the NL East but cant beat the 2 starters that battled for the #5 spot on the phillies
drumzalicious - April 22, 2010
At work and missed the game
On my break I turned on the radio about 9:00 pm to hear BMac lead off the sixth I believe with a single. The announcers say its our third hit…THIRD HIT…off Jamie Moyer. Troy Glaus then follows (not singling him out just the only part of the game I heard) with a nice backwards k on a pitch they described as right down the middle. It was 6-2 and I changed my station to the NFL Draft. That is pathetic. First Kendrick, then Moyer. It’s pretty embarrassing actually. I wondered how the powers at be at TC would spin this positively…turns out even they couldn’t do it.
bpk228480 - April 23, 2010
Pathetic
You chose the right word. Pathetic. I’ve been looking forward to baseball season for 5 months, and my favorite team is just pathetic. Automatic outs at the top of the order, scattered about the middle of the order and at the bottom of the order. Pathetic. It will not last forever, but for now that is the best word to describe this team….pathetic
bighop - April 23, 2010
Dang. And here I thought we were 8-7 against 3 of the best teams in baseball…
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
How did Heyward watch that pitch go by!?!?!?!?
lol……Doh!
Chief Noc-A-Homa - April 23, 2010
We lost a series to the best team in the NL. Get over it people, stop being so over dramatic. Now, if this same shit happens to the Mets…we may have a problem.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
TP continues to be streakier than Kelly Johnson : )p
Chief Noc-A-Homa - April 23, 2010
as BravesBiceps pointed out its not that were losing its how were losing. We are a game over .500 which is good against the teams we’ve been playin and we’ve had the most dramatic/exciting finish to games in baseball this year but they way that we’ve been losing has made this year one of the most frustrating starts to a season i can remember. we have a way of making #5 subpar starters look like Halladay every night
ATLBRVS_19 - April 23, 2010
Alright, so if we sweep the Mets in three straight 10-1 victories do I get to come on here and say “see, I was right…look at the way in which we won those games”? No, because it’s still to early to make those kind of judgments.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I’m not making judgements, i realize its early. I’m simply saying how weve been playing so far, which were gonna have to change if we want to contend for this divison. Because everytime we lose and we say “its early dont worry about it” and the Phillies or Marlins win, thats a game were gonna have to make up when its not so early
ATLBRVS_19 - April 23, 2010
Except we have been winning and losing just as much as both of those teams – we are for all intents and purposes even right now.
We have had some ugly losses. So has Philly.
We have had som resilient wins…has Philly?
We are winning with our lineup not even close to clicking. We are winning with our SP not close to what it should be. We are winning against some of the best teams in the NL. We are winning against some of the best pitching in the NL.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Thank you, I don’t have the energy to respond to all of these posts.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
Yeah, I was just going to the bottom and offer some cheese, ya know, to go with their whine, but justin summed it up pretty well here.
Lizziebeth - April 23, 2010
good point. i understand what your sayin but what if our lineup continues not to click and we dont keep winning those games that we mathematically should not win (like Tuesday night)
ATLBRVS_19 - April 23, 2010
Trust me, this entire board will be calling for the stadium to be destroyed if we’re still playing like this come the beginning of June. Just give it some time.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
haha
“Blow up the team! Fire Bobby! Destroy the stadium!”
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
Then we should all commit suicide.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Fact:
I know a lot of people tend to feel relaxed whenever Jamie Moyer takes the mound against the Braves. TV likes to talk about his 5.49 or something ERA career against the Braves, and many seem to think that he throws no harder than 82mph, that we should have a field day with him.
Since he became a Phillie and including tonight, since 2007, the Phillies are 6-3 against the Braves when Moyer takes the mound. His numbers aren’t ever spectacular, but there is something to be said about how he has shown to be on the winning side more often than not against us. There’s a reason why I often cringe at the thought of facing Moyer; at least I know there’s nothing wrong with getting shut down by Halladay or Hamels, but the Moyer ones are the most frustrating to watch.
royhobbs - April 23, 2010
He’s Philly’s D. Lowe. Tonight was just a D. Lowe vs. D. Lowe match-up. Basically a coin toss….
EricGreggWasPaidOff - April 23, 2010
On a seperate note, I honestly don't even remember the last time Prado got an error
Guess it was due right there.
99% of the time, dude is a Gold Glover.
Chief Noc-A-Homa - April 23, 2010
You’ve got to be kidding me.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Not at all. He’s usually pretty solid on D
Chief Noc-A-Homa - April 23, 2010
Hey Chief Noc-A-Homa don't worry about what justincredubil02 has to say about 2nd basemen
I think he is secretly Kelly Johnson. If you’ll notice he’ll always comment on anything someone says about a 2nd basemen and he’ll back up Kelly no matter what.
BravesFanScout - April 23, 2010
Or, you can blindly agree that Martin Prado is a Gold-Glove calibre 2B…which is more ignorant? I am a big Prado fan. KJ is gone. I like KJ, but he isn’t our 2B anymore.
I can accept that fact. Apparently, you can’t.
Either way, Prado is not a Gold-Glove 2B, and I can easily remember him making plenty of errors last season, and even earlier this season. For one to say that they can’t remember the last time he made an error, or that he is a 99% fielder or a Gold Glover is like some Met’s fan saying that John Maine is a Cy Young candidate.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Justin if you are KJ......
i dont mind telling you that you were terrible and my least favorite brave….
bluelg - April 23, 2010
If I am KJ, I wouldn’t mind telling you that I have a multi-million dollar contract to play for a major league baseball team and I am currently one of the hottest hitters in the game, so I don’t really care what you think of me or who you liked better on the Braves.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Hahaha
Gage23 - April 23, 2010
one of the hottest hitters in baseball(for now)
…..we all know how that ends…you still suck
bluelg - April 23, 2010
It ends with me being one of the top 3-5 offensive 2B in the NL, and me getting multi-million dollar contracts because professional scouts and GMs think I am pretty damned good. The ignorant opinion of some anonymous internet blogger affects me 0 much.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
wow, it really is you kelly
cause no one but yourself can possibly think you are 3-5 Shortstop in the NL.
bluelg - April 23, 2010
It’s not me that thinks that…it’s my stats at the end of my 2007 and 2008 seasons (and my current season) that say it.
Also, for your information, I am a 2B, not a shortstop. I am not a top 3-5 shortstop in the NL.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Wait….KJ is 6 for his last 23 with 7 K’s. Yeah, he had the game with 3 doubles…but he’s one of the hottest hitters in the game????
dunnytwogloves - April 23, 2010
Oh NOS! KJ only has 6 hits in his past 6 games! AAAAGH!!!!
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
For the record.. justin is not Kelly Johnson
kelly has something to do during the day other than respond to every thread posted on this blog. Seriously dude what do you do all day? 17,000 posts(yea, i clicked your name)? since you joined you posted on average 35 times a day. its ok to let some comments go. if i had the amount of time you have i may hit the stat book and prove you 3-5 ranking as false…but i dont. Kelly johnson sucked…my opinion
bluelg - April 23, 2010
The last two years he’s been just about league average, and early report from this season are below league average.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
What games are you watching?
I am not saying that he is horrible, but he will never be mistaken for a GG 2B.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
UZR reports from this year just recently came in. -2.2 so far, not all that great.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
Meh. UZR after 15 games is not really indicative of anything.
Don’t you love how I get called out for being a KJ lover (or as I like to call it – liking a really good baseball player) when telling someone that Prado is not a GG 2B?
What kind of people do we have around here???
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
what the fuck are you talking about, this site is all about jumping over small sample sizes! it’s our job, no, our privilege to start shoving this in all the Prado supporter’s faces!
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
Hahaha.
Let’s just not use the “Prado supporters” tag though. We are all Prado supporters now.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
fair enough, fair enough.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I gotta nit-pick like that, because apparently, some people think I hate Prado or something.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
lmao. In a good way. I just know I have a good feeling when a ball is hit near Prado.
Chief Noc-A-Homa - April 23, 2010
I agree with you. I’ve seen Prado make some fine defensive plays this year.
I’m guessing he may not be great because he has limited range?
Sparhawk - April 23, 2010
For all of you doubters and on here, let's do some math:
You do realize we’ve only played 15 games out of 162 games? That’s what…about 1/16th of our season.
We’re 8-7 and we played 4 of the top 7 teams (Cubs, Giants, Rockies, Phillies) in the NL from 2009 already, along with a Padres team who started hot.
On the pace we’re currently on, we’d finish around 86-76. BUT you simply cannot ignore that we’ve played most of the top talent in the NL so far, with the exception of the Dodgers and Cardinals, who we’ll face next week.
Once we start playing the weaker teams, like the Natinals, Pirates and Astros, we’re going to start winning even more ballgames. We really are. Our offense is a mess and our starters have been incredibly inconsistent, and we’re STILL a game above .500.
What’s gonna happen when our offense starts to click, our starters shake off the rust AND the bullpen gets even better with the addition of Craig Kimbrel, Scott Proctor and even a guy like Mike Dunn? Do you really think we’ll continue to play .533 baseball? I don’t. And you shouldn’t either.
/end rant
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
You’re just like me in that during the game we’re both endlessly pessimistic when things are going bad, but once it’s over we’re able to stand back and evaluate the situation for what it really is.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I just keep telling myself that we’re still above .500 despite playing all those quality teams. That really helps me. I’m just worried that if we start sucking against the bad teams, I might go into hiding or something.
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
That’s the thing…if we play like we did last year against the Nats, then yes I’ll start joining these people in their worrying. As for right now, I’m going to take it easy.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I'd like the lineup to look like this:
McLouth
Prado
Chipper
McCann
Escobar
Heyward
Hinske
Diaz
Pitcher
Although McLouth is struggling I still like him at the top over Diaz and Melky. He has more speed and if he has been swinging the bad a little better of late. I’m NOT giving up on Glaus, but I’d like to see Hinske get a little more starts at 1st to try to jolt the offense. He’s been hitting the ball real well so far. I’d like to see Escobar hitting 5th. He’s been hitting the ball hard but right at people and Escobar will come around. Heyward in the 6th spot puts him in position for more RBI opportunities. And I chose Diaz over Melky because I like Matt’s effort a lot more than Melky’s. Diaz usually hits for a good average, but with his plate discipline he needs to be at the end of the order.
BravesFanScout - April 23, 2010
You know who else has been hitting the ball really well lately? Glaus.
Start Hinske in LF if you want to spot-start him. Keep Glaus at 1B.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
The thing is, I don’t even mind if someone wants to start Hinske against a real tough RH (or apparently any future Moyer encounter) in place of Glaus. But all that does it create a black hole in LF against RH. Diaz is a disaster, and Melky is pretty shitty even though he’s a switch hitter.
Glaus should be starting pretty much every day at 1B in the hopes that some of his hits start to fall. His career stats pummel pretty much everyone on the team not named Chipper or McCann, and it doesn’t appear that the surgery is really bothering him power-wise. I wouldn’t mind a Nate/Melky platoon in CF, and a Diaz/Hinske platoon in LF. Hinske’s bat should be in the lineup, I definitely don’t argue with that.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I agree 100%.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
I agree with you on that. That'd be a nice look with Glaus and Hinske in the same lineup
Just to see how it works out. I don’t know how Hinske’s defense is in the outfield, but anything to give the offense a little boost.
BravesFanScout - April 23, 2010
His D in LF would be comparable to his D at 1B, IMO.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
It’s not as if Diaz is out there for his impeccable defense
BraveSaluki - April 23, 2010
Truth-speak.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
It's time for another Good Idea/Bad Idea
GeneParmesan - April 23, 2010
+ infinity.
One of the best cartoons ever!
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
An outfield of Hinske/McLouth/Heyward still has Melky available as a defensive replacement later in the game with a lead. So the offense should be more of a concern anyway.
UMDBHIK - April 23, 2010
WTF
Lowe you suck. You are supposed to pitch like crap and somehow have our offense gives you 10 runs. I hate you so much Lowe YOU SUCK
Erihury - April 23, 2010
Yeah, 2 ER in 5 IPs. What a bum!
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
you know sarcasm
is hard to detect on the interwebs.
Erihury - April 23, 2010
There’s plenty of posts like yours out there, without the sarcasm. Don’t help them
BraveSaluki - April 23, 2010
sorry
just got home from work and frustrated the Braves lost
Erihury - April 23, 2010
we all are, friend
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
I was playing along.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
BTW
ER is basically the BA of pitching. Lowe had
0.297 WPA last night -far and away the worst of any Braves player. So yes, he did put the game out of reach almost by himself.fphjr01 - April 23, 2010
stupid strikethrough
negative 0.297 WPA last night…
fphjr01 - April 23, 2010
ER is nothing like BA of pitching. That would be ERA. Close, but two different stats.
Lowe wasn’t great last night, but he didn’t cost us the game either.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
WPA says you're wrong
but believe whatever you like
fphjr01 - April 23, 2010
I will believe that Prado/Escobar really botched that game for us, as did Glaus and Heyward.
But, you can continue to blame Lowe. That’s fine too.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
One last thing
Saying “he gave up 2 ER in 5 innings” is the same thing as saying ERA. And you’re right, ER is nothing like ERA, its much worse. 2 ER in 70 IP is great. 2 ER in 1/3 IP is horrible. ER by itself is meaningless.
You blame prado and escobar, and I’ll assume you refer to the errors, but consider this: who’s fault is it that there were runners on base at the time the error occurred? If DL walks runners onto 1st and 2nd base and the infield commits an error, then its an unearned run and we blame the defense. If DL strikes those two players out then the error simply means a runner on 1st.
WPA takes all these types of things into account. Running tally for yesterday’s game for the players you mention:
Yunel: +0.041 (highest of any Braves player BTW)
Prado: +0.011
Heyward: -0.061
Glaus: -0.073
Lowe: -0.297
So, you are way off on Yunel and Prado, getting warmer on Glaus and Heyward, and simply off the mark on Lowe.
fphjr01 - April 23, 2010
Mets series starts tomorrow:
KK vs. Maine
JJ vs. Niese
Big Red vs. Pelfrey
I’d like to think we could win 2 out of 3, but after getting shut down by Kendrick and Moyer, who knows what our offense will do.
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
Haha…this is setting up to be a disaster.
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
At least they don’t have the advantage at C anymore since Schnieder has better D than McCann.
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
Barajas has more HRs than Heap!!!! FAIL
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
FYF > Heyward
Don’t forget that one.
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
I hope there’s the same sort of breakdown in preview for this weekend
BraveSaluki - April 23, 2010
pretty sure Pacgnosis has the series this weekend
so he’ll have some good stuff like always.
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
I meant something in the vein of the Mets fan last year claiming how they were better at all positions, like the Schneider > McCann
BraveSaluki - April 23, 2010
Reyes >>> WHo?
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
Can someone find that thing and repost it here just to lighten the mood a bit?
justincredubil02 - April 23, 2010
YES
we need that god i still remember it. Greatest post ever loltastic
Erihury - April 23, 2010
I believe that’s normally 10-4’s duty
Smoltz's Beard - April 23, 2010
Freakin KFC
So their new commercial says that for every “pink bucket” of fried or grilled chicken they sell, they’ll donate $0.50 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Great. So we’ll save our mom from breast cancer but then give them heart failure with all the grease from the chicken.
Come on now…just donate the money KFC. It’s not like you don’t have any.
Scott Coleman - April 23, 2010
the double down
says shut up pal
Erihury - April 23, 2010
the grilled chicken is pretty dang good, but i still prefer fried.
10-4 - April 23, 2010
Biscuits, that's what they do best...
and the new “sandwich” looks like straight nastiness (tasty nastiness, but still like Varsity where you can feel your heart struggling and veins clogging).
Mr. Sanchez - April 23, 2010
No Derek Lowe,
We don’t know why you’re still here either.
Richard R - April 23, 2010
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