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Talking Chop

Braves Fail on Offense, Fall to Mets 3-2

Losing a game like this hurts because in all honesty, the Braves had that game won.

Derek Lowe pitched well on Monday night, going 7 innings for the first time all season. Lowe allowed on 4 hits and 3 walks in his 7 innings. There's an odd trend with Lowe as of late; whenever he pitches well, it seems like the offense fails to score runs for him. Whenever he stinks it up on the mound, the offense always bails him out to bring him the 10-8 win. I don't get it.

After Lowe exited in the 7th, Eric O'Flaherty and Peter Moylan threw a scoreless 8th and Takashi Saito struck out the side in the 9th. Another night of solid pitching from the bullpen.

So if the pitching was so good, why did the Braves lose? The offense and baserunning. It was pretty awful on Monday night. They certainly had their chances, as the Braves had 8 hits and drew 4 walks off of Mets pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez. But when a team hits into 3 double plays, leaves 6 runners on base and goes 1-for-7 with RISP, it's tough to win.

The Mets scored first on a 2-run double from catcher Rod Barajas in the top of the 2nd.

The Braves got on the board in the 5th when red-hot Eric Hinske drilled a solo HR to RF. This is the 2nd straight game Hinske has homered and he has looked like a man on a mission the past 2 weeks. 

The Mets fought back the next inning when Chris Carter grounded out to Martin Prado, which scored Jose Reyes from 3rd. This really hurt the Braves tonight. After finally getting on the board, Derek Lowe went back out there and immediately gave up a run.

The Braves played small ball in the 6th. Martin Prado led off the inning with a leadoff double down the RF line. Jason Heyward moved Prado over to 3rd with a sac-fly to right field and Chipper Jones drove Marteeen in with a deep sac-fly to CF. The Bravos trailed 3-2 after 6 innings.

The Braves failed miserably at the plate the rest of the game.  Yunel Escobar hit into a 6-4-3 DP in the 7th and Brian McCann struck out in the 8th with the bases loaded. Escobar drew a 2-out walk in the 9th and stole 2nd, but Nate McLouth struck out on a high fastball to end the game.

Mets win 3-2. Frustrating game.

Good, Bad and Ugly after the jump.

Star-divide

The Good:

1. Eric Hinske - 3-for-4, HR(2), double, 1RBI

2. Derek Lowe - 7.0IP  4H  3ER  3BB/3K

3. The Bullpen - 2.0IP  1H  0ER  0BB/4K

4. Martin Prado - 2-for-3 w/ a BB, double

5. Melky Cabrera's bunting - He might not be able to hit my grandmother's fastball, but the dude can lay a bunt down.

The Bad:

1. Troy Glaus - 0-for-4, 2K

2. Brian McCann - 0-for-4, 1K  4LOB

The Ugly:

1. Hitting with RISP - 1-for-7

2. Running on the Bases - It was ugly, folks. Really ugly.

3. Hitting into 3 DPs - Heyward, Escobar and McCann all helped kill rallies tonight.

Upcoming Game:

The 2nd and final game of the series kicks off tomorrow night. Johan Santana will pitch for the Mets and the 11-year old Kris Medlen will pitch for the Braves. It'll be interesting to see if Bobby keeps Eric Hinske in the lineup even against a tough lefty.

Open Thread Comments Count: 2,168

(Thanks to GoBravesNY for posting the 2nd Game Thread.)

Go Braves.

0 recs  |  319 comments

Comments

Oh, and...

Fredi Gonzalez benched Hanley Ramirez tonight for not hustling. Love that guy. Come on up to Atlanta in 2011. You won’t have to deal with any dickheads like HanRam and won’t have to manage in front of 3,000 fans a night anymore.

I thought he was injured with shin problems but if what you are saying is true, nice.

well he took a ball off the shin in the 1st, but Fredi said pulling him didn’t have to do with the injury. He basically acknowledged the injury, but said there’s no reason for him to not go all out on that ball after he kicked it. Which I agree with 100%

I agree with what our former Brave Wes Helms said about this matter:
"I can’t overlook it," Helms said. "I know people say that’s just the way he is, but you know what? That’s not the way it is. That’s not the way the game’s supposed to be played."
This

I would love to have him replace Bobby next season!

screw Fredi G. , Chipper for player- manager 2011.

Screw… Sinatra’s… hand… Fredi… G?

Great movies. All 3 of them.

Agreed.

The first one in particular is infinitely quotable.

My wife already left me once I don’t think she’d do it again just for kicks.

"Don't you have any olives?"

Just Fucknuts like escobar

Bad Move Bobby

Bobby made the mistake of having McCann hit with the bases loaded in the 8th. I was screaming at the TV to have Cox pinch hit and have a hotter hitter, omar infante, right handed hitter hit instead and replace BMac with David Ross in the 9th inning.

This continues to be our main problem:
Hitting with RISP – 1-for-7.
I had a bad feeling about that game

almost from the get-go. Lowe was pitching well but I knew we wouldn’t be scoring much after that first DP. Some nights the offense has it, and some nights it doesn’t. Oh well, let’s go get ’em tomorrow.

Am I the only one who thinks we should move Jason back down to #6 or 7, at least for tomorrow? It’s a LHP, so that’s a justification in itself. But he hasn’t looked too hot lately and it might be the added pressure of hitting at the top of the lineup. Of course, I don’t know who hits #2 then. Infante, perhaps? He deserves to get a start tomorrow, maybe in LF or maybe at SS.

I am getting pretty tired of yunel bouncing out to the infield every ab…..

I see you missed the ninth inning

The only reason we had even a smidgen of a chance to win is that he patiently drew a walk and got into scoring position on his own.

You're assuming...

that Omar wouldn’t have walked, or better yet hit the ball in play.

Not at all

I’m just disputing the assertion that Escobar did nothing but bounce out.

In that same situation, I would be confident in Infante, but I’m also confident in Escobar. If I had my way, those two guys would be in the everyday lineup, along with Prado.

Why not Infante?

Can we PLEASE, for the love of all holy relics, sit Chipper until he gets around to retiring? Infante goes 4-for-4 and he gets BENCHED? wtf, Bobby?

And I’m genuinely concerned that McCann may have irreparable eye issues and his career might be on the line.
 
I’m glad Esco finally showed some patience at the plate, after his first two at-bats, swinging at the first pitch. He needs to settle a bit, or LET INFANTE PLAY! ;p

Two men carrying

Prado and Hinske (and occasionally Glaus) are pretty much carrying this team, so far. I’ve been a Prado fan for two years, and I guess I just saw some potential…and work ethic.

Really?

Infante is not better than Chipper (he might be hotter, but he’s not better). You could say he should play more, but he should never start ahead of a healthy Chipper.

And Mac’s career is not on the line. That’s just alarmist. He’s been seeing the ball fine. So he had a bad game today. It’s baseball; that kind of thing happens from time to time. The only thing I’m worried about with McCann is his throwing motion to second base.

Your reason and logic have no place here. Go make a chart or something.

Nope.

Personally, I root for the success of the players: I want to see the team members pull together, solve their problems, face their challenges, and get into the play-offs instead of watching them swapped in and out like fungible parts.

I don’t accept the premise that replacing Chipper with Infante would improve the team (even as good as Omar is). However, if it did it would be a pyrrhic victory.

IMO

If Infante was playing at 3rd, we would (could) have won.

AGREEEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…..though I think Esco needs to sit…..maybe he can do all that shadow boxing, bat twirling, backflipping crap he likes to before he swings for the fences and pops out in AAA Gwinnett.

Keep Esco at short. His D is uncanny. Infante needs to be at 3rd, asap, like, today.

Why? Because his OBP is higher than Chippers? Because he has more hits than Chipper? Because he has a higher SLG than Chipper?

Chipper Jones: .224 .392 .367 .759 2 HRs, 8 2B, 15K, 27 BB .247 BABIP (89 PAs)
Omar Infante: .313 .348 .410 .758 1 HR, 5 2B, 15 K, 5 BB .368 BABIP (98 PAs)

.278/.318/.380

That was his line before the 4 hit game, btw.

Wait a minute…you don’t…you don’t mean that SSS may have something to do with Infante’s inflated numbers to do?

Super Solider Serum?

If Omar has taken part in some sort of effort to create a new Captain America, then that changes everything.

Small Sample Size. And Barry Bonds and 103 other players have already participated in the super soldier program. Lets not go back to that:)

You know what I am honestly worried about – the SSS has inflated Heyward’s numbers too.

I mean, I know the kid will be fantastic (and is fantastic), but is he really as good as his early stats show? His recent stats disagree, as do his stats when he is higher in the order.

I still think we need to temper our expectations with this kid…he is 20 years old still…

Its not so much the SSS that will tell us what Heyward is or isn’t. Well, then again, in a way it kind of is. Its the adjustments pitchers around the league make after seeing him a time or two, and the adjustments he can or can’t make that will determine if he’s the next Hammerin’ Hank, FYF, or somewhere in between.

Don’t get me wrong, I think he will be one of the best players in the game in a few years…but the key is “in a few years.” I don’t think he is there yet, and it is unfair for us to expect him to be something that he is not.

Super Strong Semen?...

I thought that was Travis Henry.

And furthermore...

Infante should be lead-off. Prado rox our sox in the 2-hole. and Heyward in the 3 spot.

Ok, Infante/Prado…..I like it, but then have Hinske in the 3 spot and Heyward at 5 or 6.

Yeah, because Prado has sucked in the leadoff spot…

agree.......

That’s exactly what I said Audi. I’ve been saying this since Esco got back and I even called XM Radio and expressed my dislike about this. YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. You do that by playing your hottest hitter, the hell with loyalty. Esco should not be in there. This guy needs to earn his spot again. Maybe that would lite a fire under his ass.

Last night, Bobby should of piched hit for McCann in the 8th inning with the basesloaded. Bobby knows better then that, especially since he’s the guy who pays close attention to matchups. BMac has been strugging all season, especially with leftys. I told my brother before he even went to the plate he was going to SO, high fast ball in the hands. BINGO!!!!

Play Infante!!!!!!!!!!!!

I seriously don't know how Chipper was remotely the problem last night

Walked twice, and hit a sac-fly to drive in one of the two runs. If not for Hinske, he was the MVP last night.

Fail. You should be complaining about McCann, but it doesn’t make sense from your point of view because Brian isn’t old.

Hey! Do not forget about the McLouth play when he tried to run home from 3rd on that ground ball hit by Prado. That play was like a back breaker in my opinion.

I blame that on "Shitner".

Geez, since he’s been the third base coach, I have seen more base running blunders over there than I can count. :(

No kidding. He’s got to go, he’s just awful. Does anyone know if he’s serving in some kind of secondary capacity, the way Hubbard does working with the infielders? If not, there’s no reason not to cut this guy loose, cuz his work over at third ain’t worth shit.

Who can forget the time he waved McCann home? The biggest fail of the season.

As much as I would like to join the anti-Snitker parade here...

That’s on Cox. It’s been the team’s policy since Jimy was coaching third, You go on contact and hope a meteor hits the fielder. I’ve seen our guys get nailed by a mile at home more times than I care to remember.

This one incident may be excusable, but Snitker’s overall body of work is still pretty effing terrible. Like romone said, waving Heap home was an absolutely indefensible decision. He effed up huge with Matty D at the end of last season, the list goes on.

I know

And I’ll be happy the day he’s excused from further participation as the third base coach. He’s awful.

I didn't really have a problem with that.

I think the back breaker was Heyward hitting into the double play with one out and Prado on third and then Prado hitting the ball on the ground right at the shortstop with McLouth on third.

I didn’t have a problem with McLouth trying to make it home because if Reyes bobbles the ball at all then McLouth scores and Prado made into scoring position anyway and we didn’t get a hit after that. So the problem was that we didn’t get that clutch hit or sacrifice tonight.

Let’s get it done tomorrow and hopefully we can take care of business against the red hot Reds

I was gonna post the same thing

I was suggesting that if Prado would have hit anything other than a groundball or a infield popfly, we could have tied the game. I guess "back breaker’’ was a poor choice of words. It hurt but wasn’t the actually breaking point in the game.

We need Infante in there.

you don’t say…

is this one of those things where if you post the same concept 50 times, it will make it true?

Low scoring, one run games allways hurt the most

It sucks. Derrick Lowe deserved the win tonight. Not going to lose any sleep though. Been playing good ball lately. 3-10 record against our own division is not going to cut it this year. Tomorrows going to be another tough game. Medlans going to have to give us another solid outing tomorrow to get the W. Likeed his 88 pitch effort against the phillies. I hope he can at least 6 innings tomorrow. Go braves!

Why Doesn't Anyone State The Obvious?

  The best prospect for manager next year is Chipper. The only exception would be Mike Sciocsa, or however you spell it. But Mike is locked in till 2018 with the Angels. Chipper is THE best candidate for manager-player, hands down. Anyone want to argue? Think about it. the fans will get right behind him and he has the confidence of the players , plus look at how he tries to help this team. He places the team’s interests above his own. Chipper for Player-Manager 2011!!!!

Chipper would just be Bobby Cox 2.0 if he was a manager. Him and Bobby have the same “eh, we’ll get em tomorrow” attitude, and IMO that is killing this. Just ride off into the sunset and retire chipper. And please, be quick about it.

Chip also seems to think he’s been doing just fine this season. Hardly. You wanna talk about his OBP, move him up-or down-in the order. He’s killing us in the 3 hole. And for Gods sake, move heap down in the order. I’m beginning to think his struggles will last all season.

you sure about that?
"I get worried that Bobby — and I admire him for his loyalty — will be too loyal and worry too much about my feelings … He has to manage the team on how it’s playing."
facts have no place here!
Mike Sciosca is a piece of shit.
I would like Ron Gardenhire, IMO
Ain't happening...

but he is a good one.

You want to know my opinion?

I’m never an advocate of missing Braves games. I’ve seen basically every one but 2 completely live. The second one I missed was tonight and it was because I had a party at work.

BUT HERE IS WHAT I WANT TO SAY:

It’s so weird, but yesterday I would’ve looked at this loss and said “Fuck, we left 6 runners on base. We suck so bad, God why can’t Chipper/Nasty/Whomever hit?” But I came home to my DVR and stupid text updates and you know what I said? “Big deal, looks like we played a pretty good game”. Hey, here’s the deal. We’re not gonna win every game. Be thankful Lowe pitched a really nice game and Hinske continues to rake. It’s all signs of fantastic things to come! Positivity!!!!!

rec'd (for real, not the OGT treatment)

I feel the same way. For as bad as this team has played, we’re only 2 games under .500. We’ve still played one of the more difficult schedules in baseball and have more home games than we do road games.

And we’re 6.5 behind the Phillies, but it’s still early. Their bullpen is awful and Moyer and Kendrick can’t possibly keep it up. And we still have the wild card too.

If anyone thinks this season is already over, you should either avoid posting or just delete your account all together.

No, no way it's anything close to over.

If we had kept playing like we did during the losing streak, I’d be worried but the team looked much better for the last couple of weeks. This is a frustrating loss but it’s all due to things that can be dealt with.

If nothing else, I want to wipe that stupid grin off that jackass Reyes’ face tomorrow or at some future date.

Yeah! All of this.

I can’t stand Reyes. I understand its okay to celebrate a big play. It seemed to me though, he celebrated every single play he made, regardless of how big or not it was. Calm down dude, you just did your job. I don’t celebrate everything I do in my job.

you are probably young

But you are getting the idea,win or lose, was it a good game? Can you enjoy baseball for it’s own self? If you can, then you can root for your home team and if they lose you can still sleep OK. Enjoy when they win, but you can also enjoy when they do a good job, but still lose. I guess coaching little league has kind of changed my perspective. Hope the Braves win but can enjoy those close games. I took the whole team down there this last weekend and we had fun and enjoyed the game even when the Braves lost, though the kids weren’t happy Sat. night. It was a great weekend, the Braves won 2 out of 3 and we will keep on keeping on.

I’m 26, and I’m extremely competitive. I played D3 baseball and football and was coached by Ken Brett, who told me I had what it took to make the league. I promptly tore my shoulder 4 months later and could never pitch again. I’ve coached high school as a pitching coach and love being around the game. However, I think I’ve gotten caught up in the idea that our players should perform everyday, without fault. And I realized today, after I missed the game, that D. Lowe pitched well, our hitters did the best they could, and we just flat out lost. Maybe it was different because at the start of the year it seemed like they were completely inept, maybe it was different because we were so new to it. But I look at today’s loss and I can’t complain. It’s a loss. It’s not that big of a deal. We’ll beat Johan tomorrow and be just fine. I don’t know, maybe it was naivete but I have really enjoyed watching this Braves team as of late, win or lose.

I always liked Mr. Brett

His brother was one of my favorite players when I started watching the game in ’77 or so. Ken was a good color commentator on the FX games. His style was perfect. He knew the game and he wanted it to be played right but he always kept his sense of humor and everything in proper perspective.

The thing about Ken was, especially in my freshman year, he was so hilarious. He could make everyone on the bus just die laughing and he was so genuine. He pushed me incredibly hard, he used to scream at me that I wasn’t taking my “career” seriously enough and make me run sprints, by myself, when none of the other pitchers had to. He wanted me to succeed that badly. Towards the end of that year, his disease started to affect him, and it was heart breaking to see him not be able to take the trips, make the same effort. I remember breaking down and crying while he was working my ass off because he couldn’t remember my name, and didn’t even know who I was. But then he’d snap back and tell me how proud he was of me and how much potential I had. His biggest thing was “owning the inside of the plate”. He told me that if I could dominate the righthander’s hands, I could go anywhere. It was awesome. But insanely sad at the same time. We all knew how sick he was becoming, but never let him know that we knew. And I wish I could somehow meet George just so he could know how his brother affected this young man’s life.

I did, too

I remember him pitching for the White Sox in 1976-77. Great ptcher with a not-so-great team.

Oh and by the way.

When Ken died of a brain tumor when I was 19, I was devastated. One of the harder things I’ve dealt with. He was a great man and I truly wish everyone would have known him like I did. I believe he still holds the career record for batting average as a pitcher at like .267 or something. He was such a large influence on my career and my life and I really miss him. I wish I could tell his family how much he meant to me.

I loved that part of George's HOF speech

Where he said all he ever wanted to be was good enough to make his brothers proud.

Haha, I'll respond to both your comments separately :)

1st, I always was told that Ken was actually a better hitter than George, but he was also a better pitcher. That’s kind of scary, and I think George would agree that Ken was his big brother and always looked up to him as the better athlete, just like I did my older brother. My older brother Kurt was a 6’5, 240 pound beast who was throwing 94 in the 9th of this Arizona tournament and he had the audacity to tell ME that I had a better chance of going pro than him. I couldn’t believe it. I was topping out (albeit it left handed) at maybe 91 at the time.

Thanks for sharing that.

Glad to know he was a lot like he appeared to be. Sometimes that’s the case and sometimes it isn’t.

And keep rooting for the Braves. It’s a mark of intelligence and distinction.

I honestly don’t know why he’s on my mind tonight, but I never really wanted to tell that story . It was always so personal and so sad. But, I feel like maybe it honors him a little bit. I feel like people don’t know how great he was, and to me, he was a top 5 mentor. Someone who really affected my life. I’m glad you took something from it, if nothing else that he was an amazing person. Maybe others will too!

I will always root for the Braves, same as I’ve done since 1991!

Tough loss and hopefully the offense will wake up for Medlen.

(or, is that Medlin, Medlan, Meddlen, Meddlenn) . ;-P

One has to feel like they’re riding a see-saw to watch the Braves this year. They play like champions one day, fail to show up against average pitching (or worse) the next. Luckily I’ve always loved carnival rides.

Either way, it’s baseball and it’s the Braves. Both really good things.
At least we as fans get to watch competitors take the field every night, even if they don’t win all the games we think they should. A lot of fans of other teams don’t have that to look forward to.

Jeez, lol, misspell it once and never live it down

It’s games like this that give me very little hope for the play-offs. Esco is in double play mode. Mac is fucked. Chipper is lost. Where is Infante? Heyward needs to be batting later in the line-up.

When I saw Melky coming up to the plate instead of Infante, I laughed out loud, in a bad way. Not good. Especially against los Mets.

Brian McCann should not be our cleanup hitter. That is all.

I love Heap, but I’d love to see Troy in that spot for now.

Chipper at 3 and Mac at 4 doesn’t work anymore. It’s a thing of the past.

1. Schafer
2. Chipper
3. Prado
4. Heyward
5. Glaus

wooooooooo

Did you notice how many times they pitched around Heyward last night, just to get to Chipper?

/sarcasm.

You just beat dead horses until they rot away.

Chip has sure been ferocious this year.

Is it really a dead horse? I mean, you were adamant just yesterday that pitchers were more scared of Heyward than Chipper – yet last night, they came right at Heyward and pitched around Chipper…

You were one screaming that Prado’s 700+ PAs were too small to base judgements on last year.

Now after one game it shows Chipper is the more feared hitter, even though 98% of people, including Chipper himself, know better

Must be nice to change arguments to suit what you want.

It wasn’t just one game. It was the first game after you said such a ridiculous thing.

And no, 98% of people do not agree with you that Heyward is more feared than Chipper Jones. Apparently, the Mets pitching staff does not agree with you either.

Yeah, Chipper and his 21 less RBI
And his 5 less HR
and his almost .200 less SLG
and his .50 points lower BA

Your argument has no holes whatsoever. I would fear the 38 y/o slugging in .300s anyday.

And Chipper’s all holy OBP? Yeah, Heyward leads that too.

Speaking of Chipper’s RBI’s, did you know that he is hitting nearly 300 with RISP? You probably didn’t, since you use RBI to gauge how well a player is hitting…

You will dig around to find any stat you can to back up your argument. Nevermind how Chipper has actually played in the games, lets go find some stats to say what we want.

BAPIP, RISP, wanna dig up some O-Swing or Z-Swing now?

Um…RISP is a stat about how they played in the game. You are just making yourself look foolish now.

and, just since you brough it up

Heyward with RISP?

464 /.610 /.714 /1.324

But yeah, Chip is “nearly at .300”.

WHOOOSH.

Is that the obvious truth flying over your hear?

Nope. That was the sound of you losing all credibility due to your lack of comprehension of stats beyond RBI and AVG.

Try watching a game

Oooh. Got me there!

You can’t “get” the hard-headed.

Just as Prado was an overrated backup last season.

Chipper Jones is still the Chipper of 2008.

No point in arguing.

I watched last night’s game. Do you know what I saw? I saw Mike Pelfrey pitch right at Heyward while staying away from Chipper.

I saw Heyward look lost at the plate while Chipper got on base twice and hit to the warning track.

I saw Heyward ruin an inning while Chipper produced a run.

But hey, you are right.

One game

Chipper has been sub-par in every category but OBP for more than a season.

It's not one game.

Chipper has been given very little to hit this year. They pitch around him. Fact.

Hear is a colloquialism for head.

Embarrassing

I don’t mind if we lose a well-played game to a team that played better.

I don’t mind if a tight game is decided by an unusual play.

I do mind when we GIDP 3 times, strike out w/ bases loaded, and exhibit baserunning skills that my nephew’s peewee team would laugh at.

I do mind when we blow opportunity after opportunity against a team that we pretty much shut down with some very good pitching. Other than the 2nd inning, Lowe pretty much owned the Muts, and we had chance after chance after chance to hurt them and didn’t.

For the love of Pete, will someone show these guys how to hit past infielders?

Isn’t the hitting coach supposed to actually be teaching these guys something?

I’m of the opinion that if they were actually learning anything, they would be much more consistent, instead of being lucky. But that’s just me. If TP becomes the manager, I officially jump on the Dodgers wagon, full-time. There. I said it.

Easy to blame TP, but

I’ve always been hazy on the concept of a “hitting coach” at this level. I can understand having a coach for the rookies and 2nd-year guys, but by the time you’re in your 3rd season of MLB, you should know how to determine timing, angles, BUNTING, and…..oh, yeah….

HIT TO SOMETHING BESIDES THE SHORTSTOP IF THERE’S A GUY ON FIRST.

Seriously, during ST players might need another set of eyes on their swing. Fine. Maybe a checkup during the season or if a slump appears. Fine.

But these millionaires are making little league errors in terms of swing, attack, angle, and drive. Moreover, they just don’t seem to be able to place their hits into hole where the bad guys ain’t.

If you have to teach anybody anything at this level, they probably don’t belong at this level.

I agree, but I still think he’s hurting more than helping. It’s not his job to teach guys how to hit, but it is his job to help them with adjustments, etc, and I rarely see that happening.

You just sort of made me....

want TP for manager.

lmao

Awwww……what an asshole. How cute.

Tonight is about as close to a “must win” game as you can have in May.

I guess with Infante sitting out, it just makes it that much more of a challenge.

we get it.

Yes, we all seem to get it, but does Bob?

WE GET IT.
Do you?

Seriously man. You need to chill out. You don’t need to reply to every single comment talking about how you want Infante in the lineup.

Chipper’s shooting blanks. I’m sorry if it’s repetative, but we could have won the game.

I feel like you didn’t even watch the game based on this comment.

Chipper walked twice and had 2 deep flyouts. He was hitting and seeing the ball well.

Just stop being ridiculous. Benching Chipper for Omar is one of the dumbest knee-jerk reactions I have seen.

Chipper’s last 10 games: .267 .436 .400 .836

STFU.

He can still take a walk, sure. But he’s always trying to hit homers.

THIS =FAIL. I’m just saying he shouldn’t try to DO TOO MUCH. It won’t work.

He has 8 doubles on the year and 4 in his last 10 games. Chipper has NEVER tried to hit HRs all the time. He is always a contact hitter first. He will turn on a pitch if the opportunity presents himself, but he is not, nor has he ever been a swing for the fences kind of guy.

Now you are just making stuff up.

You guys crack me up.

I’d love to see more Infinite Infante too.

You need to stop. Infante is our BACKUP IF. He is not a starter, nor has he ever been. Get over it.

He had a great run filling in, but he is in no way shape or form better than any of our starters.

Good call.

Except for Chipper over at 3rd.

On defense, sure. Overall? It’s not even close. Chipper by a mile.

His last starting job was in Detroit

But he lost that job. He’s a free agent I believe at the end of this year. I say he looks for a full-time spot somewhere else. He’s already said he believes he can play everyday. The writing may be on the wall

Any team that gives him starting SS money is going to be sorely disappointed.

Do you by chance publish a newsletter that I could subscribe to?

lol
HAHAHA It's Coming!

Maybe 2B duties he could handle a starting job somewhere???

next year is a team option...

relatively cheap (like 2.5m), so I’d say he has one more season here before becoming a free agent.

Seriously people?

Chill the F out. It’s one game. Let’s not overhaul the roster because of one 3-2 loss. We’ve still won five of the last seven. Shoot.

It’s getting to where I have zero desire at all to read the comments on any article on TC. This is asinine.

I hear ya, but it’s missing the point. All the losses add up in the end, especially ones that should have been victories.

Right

So let’s make radical lineup changes after every loss. I’m sure that will work wonders.

lol

What’s radical about Chipper not being in the line-up?

What’s logical about it?

1. Justin has already pointed out much better than I am able to that Chipper’s doing fine this year, just getting unlucky.

2. I was addressing the group of commenters as a whole, not just you. Above, someone suggested we put Hinske in the 3 spot. Really?

1. yeah, last place is pretty unlucky

2. Really.

last place? WTF?

Chipper is the reason we are in last place???

Losing 9 in a row and Jesse Chavez. lol

So tell me again why Omar needs to start instead of Chipper – since that is what started this whole mess.

Sometimes, if you want a W, you have to play the hot player.

And let Chipper get that walk in the 8th inning, either way.

CHIPPER IS THE FREAKING HOT PLAYER RIGHT NOW!!!

His AVG has dropped from .240 to .222 since May 5th.

Burnin hot

Look at his last 10 games, and then get back to me.

…that is his last 10 games.

His AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS…

All dropped in his last 10 games

May 22: .222 .385 .375 .760
May 31: .224 .392 .367 .759

And during those 10 games:

.267 .436 .400 .836

Since when have we reached May 22 or May 31st yet?

4 May – 16 May…I used the game#s instead of the dates. My B.

Well you said last 10 games, and that started May 5th at .240. Just sayin.

And at least I’m not saying to start Omar over him.

Just stating the obvious that he isn’t a power hitter or a middle of the order hitter anymore.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?n1=jonesch06&t=b&year=2010

I guess they don’t have last night’s game up there yet.

Including last night’s game, his OBP will go up and his average down a little bit.

If we extend this out to 11 games instead of 10, it only improves my point – Chipper is playing well lately. No reason to start crying for his retirment.

I only want him to retire if his offense becomes bad enough to stop covering for his defense.

If he continues his current line until the end of the season, that will be the case.

Among the league leaders in OBP and a higher batting average than the average player – yeah, hang him high!

.222 is higher than the average player?

What league is this?

.260-ish is – which was his most recent average. His career-worst year would be the envy of 90% of the league.

If we aren’t relying on him for power or production, a .260 with .390ish OBP and bad defense isn’t a team killer.

But its not exactly a team-helper either. If the team has sufficient power elsewhere, and he can chill and do his own thing, I have no problem with it.

Heyward’s has dropped 26 points since May 12th. So he must’ve hit a wall, he’s done for the rest of the year, he needs to be benched ASAP1

And yet he’s still way above Chip in every category. Odd.

I consider “hot” to be solid defense as well.

Well, that is stupid then. In that case Jack Wilson is always a hot player.

Great point.

Chipper is not doing fine

Pointing to a low BAPIP is not pointing out anything.

Pointing to a low babip with increased BB%, LD%, FB% and a lower K% and GB% points out a whole hell of a lot more than “CHIPPER SUCKS!”

Never said he sucks.

I said he is not a middle of the order hitter anymore, and has not been since last season.

You said that pitchers do not fear him anymore. That is just a ridiculous thing to say.

I said pitchers fear Heyward MORE. If they fear Chipper at this point, they are basing it off watching him play when they were in HS, and their coaches are not doing enough to prepare them for the present-day Chipper.

Good point – because the present day Chipper has no hitting abilities at all – he just lost it all around June of last year – everything just hit a brick wall and he fell off a cliff as a player.

So wise you are.

Actually lost it around May.

But thanks, I know this.

That’s all I’m saying, too.

EVEN CHIPPER SAID HE

doesn’t need to hit in the 3 spot. and I agree

Actually, no that is not what you are saying at all:

What’s radical about Chipper not being in the line-up?
I guess with Infante sitting out, it just makes it that much more of a challenge
Chipper’s shooting blanks. I’m sorry if it’s repetative, but we could have won the game.
We need Infante in there.
If Infante was playing at 3rd, we would (could) have won.
Keep Esco at short. His D is uncanny. Infante needs to be at 3rd, asap, like, today.

unfortunate truth

silver lining

funk

couldn’t hurt

still think so

Yunel has good D

~
Thanks for playing.

Seriously? This is like having a conversation with John Kerry.

I know what I said, though. I know you like to pick every single little thing apart, but what else would you like me to say?

You said Infante should start in front of Chipper. Then you back-tracked and said that “all you were saying” was that Chipper shouldn’t hit #3, when in fact, you are saying that he should not be playing.

Apparently, you DON’T know what you said.

Feigning ignorance FTW!

You’re my new friend.

Finally, my well-laid plans have come to fruition.

Mark down the date.

Get a room you two.

So blame McCann for sucking last night – not Chipper. Chipper had a good game.

Amen…

It’s getting to where I have zero desire at all to read the comments on any article on TC.

…this especially. Normally I have to wait until around August for it to get that way.

I miss your musk.

Hell to the yes. I’ve just decided not to bother with most of these epeen measuring contests this year. Unless its Melky bashing. I always join in on the Melky bashing

IDK…I’m entertained by Justin continually shooting people down for ignorant comments….makes my day fly by!

Justin continuing to be stubborn no matter what anyone says, or evidence disproves**

He knows all. lol.

Ok, you are the one that said Chipper should be benched in favor or Infante. You get the prize for dumbest comment of the week – and it’s only Teusday.

Funny, I thought it was Tuesday. Oh well.

Sweet. Find a typo instead of having a real point to make…

sick burn
Not so fast Smoltzie....

Here’s a fact…

We’re currently the last place team, and 3-10 in the NL East. This could change, sure, but we’re talking here and now…

I suggest we let Infante ride the offensive wave for a few more days (I know Chipper needs SOME kind of rest, and still let him get some at-bats later in games)………and, according to you, I made the dumbest comment of the week.

mkay

You do realize that I wasn’t the one who said anything about you having the dumbest comment of the week right? Get your shit together and then maybe people would take you seriously on here.

I figured you were just backing him up...

My comment was at justincredible…….

Maybe the Braves should get their shit together. An online forum is the least of my concerns, duder.

If your comment was meant for him then reply to his post. I was merely pointing out how childish you look when making responses like that.

And FWIW, the Braves have been fine lately. 5 out of 6 coming into last nights game. But let me guess, those wins aren’t indicative of future success because they came against the Brewers and D-Backs, right? That’s what you fatalists always seem to say anytime the Braves put together a few wins in a row. Instead of supporting your team and praising the things they did right, you spend 90% of the time focusing on the negative. And of course, when they lose it’s 100% on the negative.

What happens if we win tonight and we’ve won 6 of the last 8? Have they sufficiently gotten their shit together at that point? Or do they need to do more? 10 wins in a row maybe? At what point will you be satisfied, and cease your constant bickering and complaining?

One run losses to sub-par teams are always the roughest for me

And I love Chipper and Escobar.
It’s just sour grapes.
We’ve got to get on a roll b/c the Phils are going, going, gone.

I hate the one run losses to teams that are worse on paper too. Trust me. The game ended last night and I just sat at my desk for a few minutes silently cursing the GIDPs and base running blunders.

But there’s still alot of baseball left to be played and the offensive has looked pretty damn good lately, including a bludgeoning against one of the best pitchers in the NL. Let’s try to keep a positive outlook on this homestand.

Now, if we lose tonight and the next two against the Reds I can understand, and will join in, with the frustration. It’s just a bit silly get so upset over one game. I always reserve my judgement until after the series has ended (I’m lumping these two two-game sets in as one series, for better or worse).

When the game ended last night, I started watching 24 and didn’t even think about it again.

Well, you’re not a true fan obviously.

Apparently, since I buy into crazy stats like BABIP, LD% and such, I don’t watch games.

I bet when Chipper gets his on his inevitable run, they are going to be talking about how awesome he is and won’t even be thinking twice about Omar.

lol. I would love for Chipper to get on a roll. Absolutely love it.

My whole thing….was taking a guy out when he went 4/4. Let. The. Man. Hit. When. He. Goes. 4. For. 4.

So, every sub that has a good game is destined to continue to remain in the starting lineup?

Look at Prado. Shit happens.

So, every sub that has a good game is destined to continue to remain in the starting lineup?

For every Martin Prado, I can name at least 20 guys where the situation is not as happily ended.

Prado was Infante’s freaking protege, man. These are Prado’s words, not mine.

I’m sure you could name 20 guys. But none of them are Omar Infante. And even if you don’t believe, I do.

I’m out of Schrute bucks, ok?

So, Omar Infante is the next Martin Prado?

The funny thing is that the evidence supports what I am saying.

We both know we’re right, and the other person is wrong. I barely even remember what our original arguments were, I’m just borderline trolling for reactions at this point.

I’m sure if we were at a Braves game, enjoying a beer and not discussing Heyward/Chipper we would be BFFFFS

Or, if you were Phillies fans, somebody would be dead. “lol”

Been there

for a while.

You guys should start your own, secret forum. That could be fun!

Best idea from you....

EVER.

I Also Agree...

With that comment in that little gray box. I’m getting pretty tired of bickering back and forth between a handful of people on here. We are all Braves fans. Let’s focus on that and not each others’ negativity and what not. Stats are stats and opinions are opinions.

Go Braves.

That is all.

It is nice to not be a part of today's bitch fest

The day isn’t over yet

Touche facial hair follicles

touche.

Yunel GIDP Escoabr

Tough loss last night…thought we were winning that game all the way. Nice effort from D Lowe too.

Baseball is a funny game…he pitches his best start of the season…maybe since September of last season and loses.

GIDP killed us again last night…thought Escobar would come of the DL fresh and ready to start raking…but guess it’s time to be patient.

Maybe he didn’t get the memo??? Our offense doesn’t stink anymore…I’m going to send a quick fax to Atlanta Braves front office ATT: Yunel Escobar

Man, it's somewhat tense in here today.

It may be uncouth to quote yourself – but here goes:

Either way, it’s baseball and it’s the Braves. Both really good things.
At least we as fans get to watch competitors take the field every night, even if they don’t win all the games we think they should. A lot of fans of other teams don’t have that to look forward to.

You mean “uncowthe”

:)

Dangit justin, you made me go look that up.

hahaha. I am surprised you didn’t catch the joke right away.

See, I knew you weren’t posting about my spelling (knew that was right)- and figured it was some obscure reference I didn’t get – and I’ll be damned if I still don’t know what the point was even after trying to google it.
 I just don’t run in your circles justin.

It was an, admittedly poor, attempt at a McLouth joke.

then shouldn't it be unCcouth?

Or UnNcouth?

You never get anything right.

Poor is right. LOL
 Just for that – I demand you google “uncowthe” and tell me if you get anything useful from it.
It made my brain hurt.

Hahaha. I’ll owe you one in the OT tonight.

no its UnCoulth

NCChopper is correct.
 
“uncouth”
 
You and your big words, and your harder to understand little words.

Speaking of hot...

has anybody noticed Natey Mac’s line lately?? Per Baseball-Reference…

Last 7 days: .278/.381/.611 (1 homerun, 3 doubles)

Hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come!

Be Nice

…If McCann got hot or at least luke warm

Sadly, it won’t matter around these parts. Half the posters here already want to trade him for 3 balls and a pouch of Big League Chew.

Yum...

Bg League Chew.

what flavor?

grape, of course

Ehh…I’ll let it slide. I preferred watermelon. That was my go to during LL games, along with the white airheads…holy shit those were amazing.

booo

grape is the winner, made from of course, sugar, and purple. Just add water for drink.

Yeah, well when I was a kid we only had 2 flavors, grape and…uh…gum? Plain?

Anyway, you and your fancy flavors GET OFF OF MY LAWN!!!

JUST LET ME GET THE DAMN FRISBEE OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HOUSE!

DON’T YOU CURSE AT ME YOU WHIPPERSNAPPER!!! IF YOU’D STAY OUTTA MY YARD THE FRISBEE WOULDN’T BE ON MY ROOF!!! NOW SCRAM!!!!!!!!

Nate has been hitting the ball a little harder lately, at least compared to how he started.

Lets hope he can at least rescue his season. Him and Schafer would make for a good OF tandem, me-thinks.

I don’t feel “automatic out” when Nate steps up to the plate like I did at the beginning of the year. I’m hopeful he’ll return to his Pirates days, because this lineup is better with him hitting. (I like to state the extremely obvious, sue me.)

Let's sign Tebow

DUDE HITS DINGERZ

Dude does something with dingerz…

In Hinske We Trust

Red Dead Redemption is in my possession…now. This day needs to furry the fuck up.

Red Dead Revolver was the bomb. Have fun.

Never played the first one. Jumping into this solely b/c GTA was fun, but a bit boring at times. The whole new atmosphere and setting looks like it’ll be pretty awesome. I’m just going to pretend my character is Bullock from Deadwood and go around kicking ass.

Have you watched Justified?

I haven’t, but have heard good things. I’m still focused on Treme.

Justified is okay. The thing that kills it for me is that most of the episodes will have a conflict and resolution wrapped up nicely with a bow on top at the end of the 50 mins. There is very little that permeates throughout the season. I prefer shows that have one constant major storyline, filled with little storylines on the side. With that being said, the past few episodes have done a better job of that, so I’m hoping the season can still salvage itself.

I was really digging Treme until my DVR just up and forgot to record the past two weeks. Need to get on demand and see if they’re there.

The last two weeks were good stuff...

you definitely need to watch them. I was a huge fan of Deadwood, so what you say about Justified is backing me off a bit. Plus where I’ve seen the good things also speaks highly of Archer, and I thought it sucked big time. Far, FAR cry from their past work with Sealab and Frisky Dingo.

Justified seems like it should be on one of the major networks, not FX. Sons of Anarchy and Resue Me are so well done, I assumed Justified would follow suit (haven’t seen The Shield yet, but heard it’s awesome). I dunno, as of now I find it hard to endorse it to other people, especially if you’re expecting anything remotely good as Deadwood. I’ll let you know if the season ends up redeeming itself.

Glad to hear Treme is starting to pick up some steam. Coming from Simon I figured it would be slow to unfold but completely suck you in by the time the season was halfway through.

I would catch Sealab too infrequently, but not enough to every really invest anything into it. The episodes I saw were pretty funny though. The preview for Archer looked kinda dumb so I didn’t bother. Never even heard of Frisky Dingo, but I guess that’s what your avatar is so I’m assuming I should check it out.

That is my avatar,...

and I LOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD it. So definitely recommend that.

Deadwood was so damn strong. Al, Dan, just all of it. I miss it as much as any other show they’ve done. Sopranos died a slow death the last two seasons imo (Pine Barrens was the beginning of the end imo, the one with Paulie and Chris stuck in the van in the woods chasing down the KGB guy, leaving a question they NEVER FREAKIN ANSWERED. Serenity now, serenity now), and The Wire was kind of the exact opposite where everything seemed to come together nicely at the end and the show reached it’s natural conclusion. That’s always nice compared to the ones that keep hanging on when they’ve clearly fallen from off the pace, like say Sopranos and Simpsons. But Deadwood seemed unfinished, with so much more to build on as Dakota became a state, and any potential fall out from the HOLY FUCKING SHIT DID YOU SEE THAT fight between Dan and Captain Jack.

What were we talking about now? Oh yeah, Treme, is as you expected. These last two picked up the pace and started expanding on the early story lines. I’m hooked now.

The Wire is my #1 of all time after I watched the entire series in about a month back at the end of 2008.

The only season of Sopranos I saw was the one with Buscemi in it, since I was in college and my townhouse had HBO at the time. Pretty sure I remember that exact scene in the woods you’re referring too.

Deadwood was my #1 before I watched The Wire. The thing that sucks about it is that it was only planned to span 4 seasons, so canceling it after the 3rd just seemed to short-sighted. Of course, HBO said it was too expensive to make and the ratings didn’t justify (pelican) a finish, and Milch did absolutely nothing to fight them since he was already too preoccupied on John From Cincinnati (which was TERRIBLE). Eventually they offered him the option of doing two two-hour movies that would air on HBO to wrap everything up, but he turned it down because he said he didn’t want to have to cram everything in. So, more or less, because of his fucking ego us viewers will never get to know what happened in the 4th season. Whedon put his ego aside and crammed the remainder of Firefly into one two-hour movie to at least give his audience some closure. For that I’m thankful.

The funny thing is that the DVDs sales of Deadwood have surpassed any expectations so now HBO is kicking themselves that they didn’t let it run it’s course.

Also, that show Boardwalk Empire looks legit. I’ll definitely be checking that one out.

Same here on Wire...

I think of it less as a TV series, and more as one long, drawn out epic split into single hour segments for easier consumption. If you’ve only watched it once, I suggest repeating, because it gets better the second time. And the third, and the fourth. [insert mandatory TWSS]

That season was easily the best of the Sopranos imo. It was all great up until then, before fizzling out slowly over the next 2 seasons.
[“We shoulda stopped at Roy Rogers!” “Yeah, and I shoulda fucked Dale Evans”]

That sounds about right on Deadwood. I saw easily enough for one more season, but that’d probably been an ideal stopping point. Agree on JFC, and damn shame that won the ego battle since it was such a huge drop off from Deadwood.

Never watched Firefly, but thanks for the heads up on Boardwalk Empire. I saw it’s wiki entry, and will definitely have to check that out.

I’ve seen The Wire all the way through twice. Was amazed at all the things I picked up on the second time. The amount of foreshadowing was crazy.

The Wire

Best dramatic show in the history of our species.

This is a statement that I agree with.

On second thought, maybe I should rec Frisky Dingo to you...

it’d just add to our never ending quote game, since it was chock damn full of ’em.

shouldn't, not should....

DAMN IT!

I’ll throw it on my netflix queue.

Let me know how it is. I beat the first one too easily though…

It was a bummer that you couldn’t walk around wherever, “GTA” style.

To be honest I’ll probably spend the majority of my time doing the free roam. I’m a sucker for RPG elements, no matter how “lite”.

That’s what I was thinking with the first one, but it ended up having to follow a map. Kind of like the first Fable, there wasn’t as much free roaming as you would think.

Ha, first Fable was such a disappointment. Second one was pretty good, except the whole henchman system when you would jump into a friend’s game. Thankfully they’re changing that with the new one.

For RDR the free roam is apparently just that. The entire landscape is available and all throughout it are different mini-games and shit. Hopefully it will keep me occupied until the Transformers game comes out next month.

How do you have time for here with all those video games?...

I’m guessing you don’t get out much, and look something like say, this….

I got bored wasting money, going out to bars every night, and meeting the same boring chicks. So I rarely go out anymore these days. Going through a period of self reflection, I guess you could say. Although movies, video games, sports, etc are constant interruptions so I haven’t really gotten any reflecting done. Pretty much in the same exact spot I was 2 years ago…except older.

This has been a fun talk.

And judging by you're description...

I’d say I just found out more in common between us. Us, in our former lives perhaps?

Ha, who the hell is that?

It was on everydayshouldbesaturday (college football, southern leaning)...

beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

Haha, that picture is hilarious.

Hilarious episode, btw.

One of the best ever to me...

especially if you know people who are obsessive with those kind of games, such as you or another of my best friends.

South Park makes Family Guy look like just one long, drawn out fart joke. Which is pretty much what I think they were going for anyway.

That episodes is what got me to start playing WoW, and after I realized that I was starting to turn into that guy I cut myself off. Now I just stick with my 360 and I feel slightly better about myself.

"Leerooooooooooyyyyyyy Jenkins!"

and if you don’t know, just google the name and enjoy the video.

Oh yeah, Leroy is a household name.

Even for those that aren't into World of Warcraft or RPGs...

this is still extremely funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU

Repeating, of course.

Randy holding up the flash drive was/is pimp
Randy is steadily becoming my favorite...

between this one, the little league episode, the no more internet episode, Pinewood Derby/contact with space (“Suck on that, Hollis!”), KFC, definitely rising up the charts.

He’s been my favorite for a while now. “Oh, I’m sorry…I thought this was America!” The episode where he’s chasing the dragon was classic.

I think you're mixing him up with Kyle's dad...

or were they both addicted to cat urine in the face?

Not sure about the cat urine, but here’s Randy playing “Heroin Hero”

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one...

I was talking about Major Boobage. That’s all Kyle’s dad, except Randy has a little line that makes you think he probably did it too. “You never really see her boobs anyway.”

Haha, yeah that was great.

Finished the new Splinter Cell, btw. Pretty freakin’ sweet. I know you hate it since I guess it wasn’t in the older games, but mark and execute was legit.

I’m playing it tonight! I’ll have the Braves game on in the other room, with this fired up. It’s been getting awesome reviews around. I can’t wait to play it. I’ve heard that the horse riding takes some getting used to.

I’ll have the Braves game on in the other room my computer, with this fired up

That’s what I’ll be doing!

Does every thread after a loss

have to include bitching and whining? Come on guys. I might as well just write the recap and then not allow comments if people are just going to rip into eachother for every little thing.

I tried to OGT, but it is impossible to do with just 1 or 2 people.

The only problem with OGT is it doesn’t seem to phase a lot of them.

“Somebody has a serious case of the Tuesdays.”

I’m pretty sure you’d get your ass kicked if you said that around construction workers.

, or longshoremen, or a chain gang, or a bus full of nuns………

Office Space reference recognition fail.

:)

Hey now, don’t you say it just happens after losses. There is plenty of bitching to go around for the wins as well.

bitching about bitching

wonderful

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