SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Talking Chop

Heyward Delivers Again In Ninth Inning To Save Braves Bullpen

The Legend is back! All-everything rookie Jason Heyward once again delivered a game-winning walk-off hit to send the Braves home winners. With two outs and the game tied in the ninth inning Martin Prado singled to right field. After a long at-bat in which Prado almost got picked off first base, Heyward had seen enough pitches from reliever Nick Masset to know which one to jump on. He got a fastball on the inside half of the plate and roped it to the right field corner. With a full count to Heyward, Prado was running on the pitch and scored the winning run from first beating the throw.

The Braves are now at .500 with a 20-and-20 record.

This was by far the best start of the year for Kenshin Kawakami. One in which he left with a four-run lead, the most runs the team has scored for him, a game that should have given him his first win of the season, but that was before some crappy bullpen management. Takashi Saito, working in his third straight game, was not sharp and got victimized by a pair of doubles and a single. He was not fully bailed out by Eric O'Flaherty who allowed the third run of the inning to score before getting the final two outs. The Reds cut the lead to just one run in that eighth inning.

That's when Billy Wagner came on and blew his second save of the season by giving up a leadoff homer to rookie Chris Heisey. Wagner allowed another hit and a walk before he finally got out of the ninth with the score tied at four, and Kawakami's first victory blown.

Thankfully, Jason Heyward bailed out Wagner and the bullpen and once again bailed out the Braves. It was Wagner's fourth win of the season (he is now 4-and-0), and his second win in two days. After struggling during the Arizona series, and going just 2-for-8 during the New York series, Heyward broke out of it tonight with three hits -- two doubles and his first major league triple.

Chipper Jones followed one of Heyward's doubles in the first with a double of his own to put the Braves ahead 1-0. Brian McCann then hit his fourth homerun of the season to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. Chipper would add an RBI single in the fifth inning.

Kawakami seemed to leave early with a blister on his toe, though that was not confirmed. Strangely, he was working out of the stretch with no one on, likely in an effort to lessen the pressure on his foot and lessen the effects of a blister. Kawakami allowed only five hits in six innings while striking out five, getting some key strikeouts when he needed to.


Final - 5.19.2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati Reds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 4 11 0
Atlanta Braves 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 11 0
WP: Billy Wagner (4 - 0)
LP: Nick Masset (3 - 2)

Complete Coverage >


0 recs  |  168 comments

Comments

Another chapter in the legacy Heyward has just begun to write.

Thankful,

he was hitting in the # 2 hole rather in the # 3 hole, or with 2 outs in the 9th he might not have got up to the plate to knock in the winning run.

I wasoing to make a joke/comment to this effect

lol

Chipper would have probably walked. Prob wudda had the same outcome.
sux for kawakami

definitely his best start tonight…he deserved the win

at this point i just expected heyward to win the game when he came up…lol

yeah, it really does suck for kk

Sure does :(

He deserved the win. Oh well, maybe next time.

Wins suck, remember.
KK left with Polio
i thought it was smallpox?
Chicken pox

Get it right.

I heard it was extreme fatigue

Doctors tested him for mononucleosis but then realized it was a result of pitching 6 innings. KK has been moved to the 60 Day DL. Jason Heyward will take his spot in the rotation and continue to play RF. He plans to simple throw laser beams from right field to McCann.

Funny – especially considering that it was you who was complaining that KK can only go 5 innings…

And probably will continue to do so

Since he averages over 6 IPs per start in his MLB career, I am going to go ahead and disagree with you.

i hope

1. tommy goes 9 innings tomorrow to give the BP a break.
2. we don’t see b-wags, saito, moylan, or EOF tomorrow (because we don’t have to use them).
3. we don’t get no-hit or shutout by mike leake

i hope

1. The Braves win.
2. Heyward goes 3-3 against Leake to put any ideas of Leake winning the ROY to rest.
(EDIT:) make that 4-3
3. Kimbrel comes in to the ninth inning with a four-run lead and gets his first big-league save.

4-3. Niceeee

A four-run lead is not a save opportunity.

Poor KK, more bad luck. He probably cares more about his team winning than him getting a win, but still….

Also:
I love Jason Heyward.

That is all.

It was a heckuva game

The end was just spectacular, Heyward showing his skill and the intangible of joy. Did you see him jumping when Prado scored? It was a close game all around, sorry for KK he should have had the win, he did a very good job tonight. Let’s go and take them out tomorrow!

Seeing him jumping up and down with excitement when he knocks in the winning run never gets old. :)

I know 29 other teams who disagree.

Moylan looked better in the 7th. He had some sick movement on his slider.

I’m more mad at Bobby for throwing Saito out, AGAIN, and then sticking EOF in there for too long.

Oh well, Braves win! We’re .500! We’re .500!

Bullpen

Is it just me or should Bobby not be allowed to make decisions about which pitcher to bring in anymore?

It’s a 4 run lead. Saito had pitched the last two days. Kimbrel has pitched once in the past 11 days and yet Bobby wants to overuse Saito and ruin his arm for no reason. And what happens? Saito gives it up practically because he is going on fumes. How can Bobby not comprehend this?

+1

I would’ve loved to have seen Bobby go with Kimbrel or Venters in the 8th.

Here's why he did it...I think...

He wanted KK to get the win, he wanted to make sure he got the win. OBVIOUSLY putting in the guys that have been overworked lately backfired but in Bobby’s mind I think he wanted his best pitchers in to get KK the win because he needed it. To me that’s how Bobby thinks. Hey at least he’s good at everything else, why don’t you ask the fan base opposite us what having someone who sucks w/ ALL pitchers managing your team is like.

Disagree

If Saito pitches well that inning noone complains about bobbys decision. I would have done the exact same thing and used saito and O’Flatt has been awesome this year. luckily we had heyward bail us out

Of course.

But the point is, alot of us believe Saito didn’t pitch well as a result of being used for a third time in a row. When was the last time Kimbrel pitched, why not throw him out there with a 4-run lead?

at the same time, when was the last time Kimbrel pitched, you don’t know what would have happened, theres a thing as being too well rested.

Im not condoning using Saito, just saying Kimbrel may not have been the answer

What’s the worst Kimbrel could have done? Given up 3 runs? Yeah, that’s happened anyways.

agreed

Terrible bullpen management. Bobby loves O’Flat too. Loves him.

Bobby not knowing how to handle a bullpen

Comes right after death and taxes. It’s just a fact of life. One of many reasons I’m looking forward to next year.

And I'll continue to think

That anyone looking forward to Bobby NOT managing just is not a fan of baseball.

I wouldn’t worry about Saito. I’m sure Bobby had him throw a 2,000 pitch bullpen session immediatly after the game to work out his kinks

Be my guest

I’m a fan of winning and the Braves having a manager who has some idea of how the game has developed since we started playing at night. Sorry if that upsets you.

I won’t trot out my Baseball and Braves fan bona fides but let’s just say I’ve been watching Cox pulls this for a long time and I had enough long, long ago.

Yeah, because the manager with the 4th most wins of all time doesn’t know how to manage….

Yes, what an ignorant fool

It’s so easy to be an arm-chair manager, isn’t it? You’re never wrong because you can see what happens after the fact. If it didn’t work, you just declare that you’d have done things differently, and if it did work, you can say that it was the obvious decision.

Wow.

You just filled in all the blanks yourself, didn’t you? In addition to not being a fan of Baseball, I’m a front runner and a second guesser. And you know all of this in spite of your not knowing me from Adam. Very impressive.

And you make those same assumptions about Cox without knowing him either…

I never said anything about his personality.

I have problems with his managerial style. I have for a long time. I honestly think that’s within my purview as a fan.

Do you really want to stake out a position that none of us can offer opinions about any aspect of any player or manager’s actions without knowing them personally? It’s going to be really quiet around here if you do.

And Bronn didn’t say anything about your personality either…just sayin’

“Anyone looking forward to Bobby NOT managing just is not a fan of baseball.”

It’s mild as insults go and I will probably live, but that was squarely directed at me, as was all the jazz about me being a second guesser and armchair manager, none of which I’ve given any indication of since I’ve been here.

Cox often does things, especially with the lineup and bullpen, that I (and often lots of other people who follow the team) don’t like. As I wrote a while ago, that’s pretty much grist for the mill for what we do here. It’s a cheap and silly dodge to say that somehow I don’t have the right to do any of that because I’m just a fan on a message board. That’s what almost all of us here are.

if he (or anyone else) has a problem with my opinions, that’s cool. Take me up on them (which is what you do, dozens of times with a bunch of different posters, every game.) I just don’t appreciate being told by someone that I’ve never intereacted with that on the basis of a disagereement over facts that I’m somehow not a “real” fan of the game or that my opinion is worth any less than his or anyone else’s.

don't look now, but

Mr. Jason Heyward leads the MLB in WPA.

White People Attracted?

I can buy that.

Fixed

White P…y Attracted…

I can buy THAT

Messed up...but LMAO!

Messed up? Come on, let’s not kid ourselves. There was high truth value in that statement.

Plus it was funny as hell. +1

White pitchers assaulted?

Wimpy planets assimilated.

Resistance is futile…

Winning homestand has been clinched.
 
2-1 Snakes
1-1 Mutts
1-? Original Kings of Unimaginative Nicknames

I'm pregnant with Heyward's child

We’ve never met, but that is how virile Jason Heyward is.

I'm pregnant with Heyward's child

I’m a man, but that is how virile Jason Heyward is.

I'm pregnant with Heyward's child

I’m a man also, and I’m not going to get an abortion, but that is how virile and persuasive Jason Heyward is.

Congrats.
When your baby is born, I’m kidnapping it just to hold Jason Heyward’s kin.

And Jason Heyward’s newborn baby would hog tie you with its own umbilical cord and will drive his Hummmer back to his condominium.

And then get ready for the game at turner field, go play in the game, and hit a home run that hits me in the head and kills me.
But then Non-baby Heyward would bring me back to life

That’s impossible.

It’s a girl.

Heyward (and his proceeding offspring) is a God

They have no sex.

Six innings pitched, no runs allowed. Way to go KK!

Bahahaha

People are giving a ton of credit to Heyward, of course, he’s the one who hit it. But dang prado was running for his life….

Prado does have some wheels.
 
Had that been Mac, that might have been a close play at 2nd.

Bobby woulda put in a pinch runner for Mac, though.

Brent Clevlen for the win.
did anyone see the play in the rays-yankees game

where the runner scored from 2nd on a sac fly? sick. of course, if you haven’t you’ll see it all over espn tonight/tomorrow

I saw it live, sweet play all around.

I don’t get ESPN, can someone post a clip, I can’t seem to find a video anywhere on it, it seemed to get lost in a 10-6 game and forgotten. I found an article that has a picture of the catch, but not a clip of the play.

http://is.gd/chxUH

There will probably be a clip if you go to the MLB homepage.

Tip of the Cap

To Kenshin Kawakami – I may not like him, but he deserved a W tonight. I didn’t see the game but was wondering why he came out so early with a “relatively low pitch count” (can’t believe i just wrote that) – then i thought Bobby probably was disorientated after seeing KK still pitching in the 6th and immediately pulled him. But the blister makes sense. Can’t say anything bad about KK tonight other than broken clocks are right twice a day – and its about time he pounded the strike zone and quit this nibblin BS.

Talk about a back-handed compliment…

Medlen gives up 2 in 6.1: “He pitched incredible tonight”
Kawakami gives up 0 in 6: “Can’t say anything bad about KK tonight other than broken clocks are right twice a day”

‘cold-blooded!’

Figures.

Reminds me of Heyward’s GIDP the other night.

The one that he was being pitched around so they could get to Chipper, and Heyward swung at a pitch 3 feet off the opposing batter’s box (damn near hit Chipper in the on-deck circle with his follow-through) that he “crushed the shit out of?”

Yeah, it’s like that.

Circumstances Are A Little Different

Medlen making a spot start – under the circumstances – he did pitch incredible. Kawakami making his 8th start – there quite a difference there.

Maybe he should pitch with a strained back more often???

So, not only are you standing by that statement, you are trying to rationalize and justify it?

Unreal.

I live in Kentucky for the Summer

That means the only time I get to watch the braves this summer is when they play the reds. Unfortunately that means listening to Reds analysts, who might be colorful but were quite ignorant about the Braves

1.) I was terribly annoyed at how much they talked about how good the Reds were at making come back wins. Unfortunately they were right.

2.) First they called Heyward a “free-swinger,” then golden boy proceeded to take 5 pitches. With the count full and after Heyward fouled off a pitch, they suggested that the pitcher throw him a fastball and there was no way that Heyward could catch up to it after seeing so many offspeed pitches. They were wrong.

How much do you love

Hearing about John Calipari everyday?

Not for long..

He’ll be in Chicago soon!

How long before the Paxon try to punch him?

As a lifelong Memphian

I hate it. Fuck him and his family team. The sooner that circus is over with and I can get back to ignoring him the better.

Calapari is an overrated hack...
Did they change the Home run music?
Yeah I'm not a fan

Gotta be something better than what they’re using – hell “gone” by montgomery gentry was 1000 times better

This article is missing:

A mention of the wager HP Umpire Kulpa placed on the Reds winning, how he tried very hard to ensure that would happen by calling many balls as strikes in the bottom of the 8th, and then calling many strikes as balls in the top of the 9th…

Fortunately, Mr. Kulpa lost his money…

agreed

Seemed to miss quite a few tonight, putting players into difficult counts

yes.

the pitch right before the HR in the 9th was a slider that should’ve been strike 3. looked like Wags hung the next one because of pure frustration.
then he threw a very similar pitch to Bruce that should’ve been strike 3—-same spot, same result (although it was the inside corner to Bruce whereas it had been the outside corner to Heisey). i think he threw the fastball on the next pitch. that was wise. if he’d hung another slider we’d have probably lost 7-5.

also, this is my first post on Talking Chop. hi?

McLouth seemed to get some bad calls in his K…those pitches were crazy inside.

Poor Nate

Has had several opportunities to practice his WTF?!? look the last few days, especially on pitches that almost hit him in the chest.

40 games played

Let the season begain GO BRAVES!!!

ZOMG

KK SUCKS HE CANT WIN

Rabble rabble rabble

According to O'Brien of AJC of KK
Kawakami had a blister on his right heel and strained his back after 2nd inning. That’s why he came out after 79 pitches in six innings.

Now I feel really shitty about his blown W.

We really dont need another SP to go down with any serious injury.

ya we have absolutely no pitching depth…

/sarcasm

We may have depth but you never know how that depth actually plays out at the major league level… key example would be Jojo Reyes, great in the minors terrible in the majors

All I meant was with the team rolling and gaining momentum I would hate for anything to happen that would slow that momentum down.

Chris Resop
Few points

1. I love how this team has suddenly started fighting back when tied or down going into the late innings. Last year there were so many times when we would see them just swing at the 1st pitches like they didnt care anymore.

2. Heyward needs to stay in the #2 spot. Yes one day he will be great in the #3 hole possibly even this year but right now this line up is gelling really well. Heyward having some speed in front of chipper will be great with Chipper hitting a ton of doubles this year so far.

3. The bullpen management was terrible. I can understand Bobby wanting to get KK that win but up by 4 he could have used anyone of Chavez, Kimbrel, or Venters in the 7th inning, then Moylan/EoF in the 8th and Wagner in the 9th if needed. Saito is 40 years old and the only reason he put up a great season with the Red Sox is because they knew not to try and push him to far. Pitching him 3 days in a row is a bit much and we all knew that coming into this season we would have to be careful with Wagner and Saito as both are aging and Wagner coming off an injury.

I just hope tomorrow that Hanson pitches deep into the game and the offense puts up a ton of runs so that bobby wont even be tempted to use any of the relievers he used tonight. Hopefully Kimbrel and Venters will get into the game. Maybe Venters in the 8th and Kimbrel in the 9th if things are looking good.

All of that said. Still a very good game.

Not so sure about Chavez, but yeah, Kimbrel and Venters definitely. You need a good 10 run lead for Chavez.

+1

Chavez seems to me to me turning into this year’s Manny Acosta <wretch!>

Reitsma – Kolb – Acosta – Chavez

There’s always one

Don't forget

Wickman! :-(

Sounds like an awesome win! I had it DVR'd

and was all prepared to watch it, but apparently we didn’t pay our DirecTV bill so alas, I am gonna have to miss this one. DAMN IT ALL!

Jason Heyward is our best hitter.

duh lol

http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/5/19/1478236/where-should-jason-heyward-hit-in#comments

I'm with you son

For all of the factors involved, Heyward is the best hitter on the Braves. There’s a considerable gap between him and whoever is 2nd place too!

I disagree

Put Heyward and Glauses numbers next too each other. Heyward is better, yes. But the gap is not that big.

And Marteeeeeen. Not that he’s Heyward-good, but he’s still getting his hits in.

Boy, I sure wish Chipper still knew how to hit a baseball.

KK and Chipper both need to go to greener pastures.

They both suck so much.D

Didn’t you see them sucking tonight? They damn near lost the game for us!

Hmmm….it ate my smiley. That was supposed to be a :-D

I thought you just meant they sucked so much D...ick.

Either way we all knew it was sarcastic haha

suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

Maybe my thinking process is all kinds of old-school...

But I don’t think you should take out a pitcher who is throwing a shutout. Leave him in there until he A.) gives up a run, or B.) gets into trouble.

Discuss.

See above

Blistered, hurt his back.

So what you are saying is...

His Kung-fu is weak.

Seriously, though…that sucks. The last thing we needed is another pitcher getting inured. Makes me wonder who we are going to use to replace him in the rotation if he needs an extended break.

Chris Resop!

lol. “Chris Resop!” is your answer for everything. Like my buddy used to say “Scoreboard!” all the time FTW.

Lol

Guess I find it really interesting that he was basically a below average reliever, both in and in Japan, and suddenly became a dominant starter at AAA. He’s definitely one of those Bobby Cox guys, though-Bobby can see talent, and he always did like Resop even when he was struggling. I’d love to see him get his career turned around-he’s still only 27 years old.

I’d really love to know what’s different about him, though. He had a live arm with a good fastball/curve combination, and he sometimes threw a decent change-up as well. I’d love to see what’s changed with him that’s driven his K rate up into the double digits.

I'd rather mouth-rape a king cobra.

/Not really.
//Mike Minor FTW?

black plague
Oh, for those who like WPA

Heyward reclaimed the Major league lead, unless someone I’m unaware of posted a number upward of 1.0.

Great win!

What I really liked was that our “cold” players had a big role in the victory. Kawakami, Chip and McCann all stepped up. McLouth continues too look better as well. Back too .500!

Yes, Chip was teh Awezome. It makes me hopeful for tomorrow’s game, insofar as I’d like to see him keep it up. We’ve managed a .500 win percentage with him in the doldrums. Imagine how well we can perform when he turns it on. };0)

+1

And Moylan had one of his better nights of late.

Chipper has been pretty good for over a week now. His hits are starting to fall (see what you can determine by looking at certain stats?), and he has been making great contact this whole season – except for when he had that nagging injury a few weeks back.

Braves team really awesome to watch!

My list of must see Braves (have to watch them no matter what):

1. Jason Heyward
2. Tommy Hanson
3. Tim Hudson
4. Billy Wagner
5. Chipper Jones
6. Yunel Escobar’s glove
7. Brian McCann
8. Martin Prado
9. Troy Glaus
10. Kris Medlen

I just want to watch Derek Lowe pitch to Melky. Over and over again!

Immovable Force meets Unstobbable Object?
Yes

One of them would have to be successful. It might disrupt the earths axis and launch us into the sun. All joking aside, Lowe looked good in his last start and I hope he continues to improve. Would like to see Melky turn it around too. I root for all the braves. But if they start struggling, they become joke ammo

Both Kenshin and Medlen pitched great the last two games. Too bad for their NDs, though.

The W’s would be nice. But I don’t think they mind. The team got the W. That’s all that matters. After the season Kawakami has had, I would think he would have to be happy with his performance. Medlan got really screwed out of a W in the Philly game. Baseballs stupidist rule. A starter can go 4 2/3 innings, be pulled, relieved by a guy who goes 1/3, and the reliever gets the win. I’ve never understood the logic behind that

HEYWARD IS ONLY 20

HE CANT HANDLE THE PRESSURE. HE IS A ROOKIE. etc. etc.

Great win for the Braves

Also, whats up with all these last at bat wins?

I think we’re the cardiac kids of 2010, and Jason Heyward is the defibrillator.

You forgot that he sucks at the top of the order. Kawakami will never pitch a good game. Chipper is washed up. McCann is blind and will never hit a home run again and Melky Cabrera is a future hall of famer

stop

you r dealer is selling u bad dope!

Melky Cabrera is a future hall of famer Wal-Mart greeter

Fixed!

Ack

reply fail to Frozen.

"Hello, there!"

“I am Melky. My friends on the Yankees used to call me ‘leche’. Can I interest you in this tube of Brylcreem? It’s Jorge Posada’s favorite!”

Not to steal Heyward's thunder,

BUT how good has Martin Prado been? They guy just finds a way to be in the mix constantly. I know Heyward delivered the biggest clutch hit. But it just seems like with these two guys back to back in the lineup, it was destined to happen.

Marteen and his consistency make our old 2B (whats his name?) a distant memory.

Prado deserves a spot in the AS game, me thinks.

braves karma

bout time we started to win some like this,its beem a long 4 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS GO BRAVES! KEEP THAT MOMENTUM GOING!!

So it's been a crazy night and I'm just about to go to sleep now

but I just saw the highlights. Great win for the Braves. I (should) be around for today’s game, but if not keep it going strong in the GT.

Certainly am glad that after I belittle Heyward’s approach in the 2nd spot of the lineup based on a ridiculously small sample size he proceeds to put on a clinic. Keep it up!

We all love the braves. It makes us impatient. A lot of people including myself end up eating our words. A three game losing streak can feel like the end of the world. After Medlans second start I wanted him to replace Kawakami when Jair gets healthy. Then he tosses a gem. Please, please let are biggest problem in three weeks be which hot starter to put in the bullpen

Definately happy that we are eating our words right abut now…

Like me ragging on Glaus' penchant for singles in April...

We just need to keep on hatin the whole damn team, and they’ll light it up. Worked with Glaus, Heyward, KK, among others. Saito was roundly bashed as a bad pickup in the winter, and he’s been quite studly until last night. I say tonight, there is no way Tommy boy finally gets his first CG, and may not last through the 4th. Plus, the entire lineup is destined to be shut down by a rookie pitcher they’ve never seen before who they could have drafted last June instead of that soft-tossing nutsucker they chose just so they wouldn’t have to pay anybody.

The second half of this post will remain funny until it actually happens.

If so, you have the right to find me and string me up by my toenails like Mussolini
And now I'm on the lamb
Shit, it happened, but did Brooks save me from the lynching?

I’m think maybe we’ll just chop off an arm or two. Maybe your legs, that way you could still post.

Just call me Il Duce from now on.
That's iL, the big I and little l look weird

Also, one of my new favorite past times is going over to the opponent’s game thread right after Heyward has crushed their dreams and checking out their responses. Always good times.

Same here

But I have to hand it to most of the Reds’ posters as they gave Heyward his just props. But hey, what else are they gonna do, right?

I just checked there thread. Pretty respectful. My favorite was right before the bottom of the 9th started a reds poster asked “Heyward not batting this inning is he”. Yes, yes he is :)

Free Bases

I only realized this by just now looking at the box score, but KK only issued one walk. EOF and Wags each gave up one. But what amazed me was that Prado drew the Braves’ only walk of the game. Is it just me or as is that odd? Okay, yeah, I know it’s just me… :P

You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Talking Chop to post a comment.