Kevin C. Cox - Getty Images
Tim Hudson was fantastic tonight, despite (or perhaps because of) facial expressions like this one.
If you came here looking for news about a certain pitching phenom, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a couple paragraphs. I'm not burying the lede; there was another guy on the mound tonight, and he deserves first billing.
Tim Hudson continued his incredible (and incredibly consistent) season tonight in the mugginess of Turner Field. Through seven gritty innings--all of them in a scoreless tie--Tim induced grounder after grounder, keeping the Nationals' hitters completely off-balance. He wasn't all finesse, though. He struck out 6 men, and when he needed a strikeout, he got it.
No strikeout was more important than the last one. In the 7th inning, with the score still tied 0-0, Huddy gave up a leadoff double to Roger Bernadina. After Ian Desmond bunted the runner to third, Hudson needed a strikeout to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring. And sure enough, he got it, striking out Alberto Gonzales on a nasty pitch about a foot outside the strike zone. He then retired the pitcher to escape the jam and complete his marvelous effort. Hudson's final line was 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 13/16 ground balls (81%!!!), and a whopping 0.420 WPA. Bravo.
With Hudson done for the night, the Braves had one last chance to get him the win, and boy, did they come through. Chipper Jones led off the bottom of the 7th with a walk. Brian McCann followed with a frozen-rope single to center. That's when the Braves caught a huge break (with a little help from Chipper). Troy Glaus hit a tailor-made double-play ball to Nats' shortstop Ian Desmond. Chipper (who was leading off of 2nd base) smartly stood right between Desmond and the ball, screening his view somewhat. Partly as a result of this, Desmond booted the grounder, and all runners were safe.
After that, the Braves made the Nats pay for the error. Eric Hinske smoked a deep fly ball to center for a sac fly, then Yunel Escobar ripped a single to left to score another run. That made it 2-0, Braves, and knocked Stephen Strasburg out of the game (hey, look how far I made it before saying his name!). Gregor Blanco greeted Nats reliever Sean Burnett with a perfect (non-squeeze) bunt hit, scoring Glaus. Pinch-hitter Omar Infante then drove in another run with an infield hit by bouncing a ball off the gloves of both the third baseman and the shortstop. Martin Prado capped the scoring with another sac fly, making it 5-0. The first 4 runs were charged to Strasburg, though 1 was unearned because of the error.
Strasburg struck out 5 straight in the 5th and 6th innings, the only time all night when he really looked as good as the hype. The Braves actually had a few opportunities earlier in the game to score off the phenom, but they couldn't quite come through. They had a runner thrown out at the plate to end the 1st and grounded into two double plays. Through 4 innings, Strasburg had only 2 strikeouts, and was pitching more like Tim Hudson than like himself (he finished with 10/16 ground balls, or 63%). It was impressive, yes, but not "Oh my God, I've never seen anyone this good!!!" impressive. I guess that means we caught him on a bad night. His final line: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 7 K, and a -0.003 WPA.
The difference between the two pitchers tonight was that Hudson was able to get out of his 7th-inning jam and work around some shoddy defense (Yunel Escobar made an error and could've been charged with another, and Hudson himself had a throwing error). Strasburg could not. Perhaps with some more experience, Strasburg will be able to get out of those kinds of jams, but right now, he's no Tim Hudson. And for that, I'm glad.
MVP
Tim Hudson (stat line above); fun fact: this was the 3rd time in Tim's last 6 starts in which he's had at least 80% ground balls.
Honorable Mention
All the hitters. Nobody really had a great night, but everyone contributed. Good work, fellas.
LVP
Alberto Gonzales-- 0/3, 3 K, -0.185 WPA
MVP in a Losing Effort
Roger Bernadina-- 2/3, BB, 2B, K, 0.092 WPA (higher than any Braves hitter, interestingly... though he was the only National with a WPA above 0.001)
Clutch Play
Bernadina's double leading off the Nats' 7th (0.113 WPA)
Unclutch Plays
Gonzales' strikeout with a runner on 3rd and 1 out in the 7th (-0.116 WPA)
Desmond's error on the double-play ball in the Braves' half of the 7th (-0.106 WPA)
0 recs | 142 comments
I have a question regarding WPA…is it retroactive….or is based of the odds of results from similar situations….To better exemplify.
Would Desmond’s error have been a lower WPA had not runs scored…or not?
I don’t know why I don’t remember. I think it isn’t determined by outcomes and thus his WPA is the same regardless of the preceeding events.
The reason I ask, is bc that error is the exact reason the Braves were able to score runs that inning and subsequently win.
Swo12bv - June 28, 2010
It's not retroactive.
l0stnumber - June 28, 2010
WPA refers only to the play at hand
Prior and future plays do not affect a given play’s WPA.
Jacob Peterson - June 28, 2010
Are you sure?
There has to be some factor that accounts for prior events (at least). If the focus is only on the play itself, then every single with one out in the 5th (for example) would have the same WPA…That’s not the case.
I don’t know much about the stat, honestly, but I would assume that the WPA factors in the score and situation (at least). Thus the error wouldn’t have had such a low WPA if the Braves were in the 8th inning up 15-2…Same with the lead-off double that was the “play of the game” that would not have been the case if the Nats were winning 10-4 at that moment..
But hey, I still don’t get all of these FIPs and WPAs…
Jman781 - June 29, 2010
I don't even know what question you're asking here...
But WPA is simply the difference between a team’s Win Probability before an at-bat versus after that at-bat. So if a team has a 37% chance of winning before an at-bat, but a 43% chance of winning after the at-bat, the WPA is 0.060 (or 6%).
What I was trying to say above is that the WPA of a given play is not based on other plays, but I guess it sort of is. In the sense you’re getting at, earlier plays do set up a team’s Win Probability at a given moment. Of course, there are so many ways of getting to a given Win Probability. WPA doesn’t care what the plays were, only what the percentage is at the moment.
Future plays, though, don’t affect past WPA in any way.
Jacob Peterson - June 29, 2010
Thanks
You answered the question even though you didn’t know what it was! Like I said, I am still trying to get a handle on all of these new stats…I still lean towards the basics like BA, RBIs, etc., but, as we can see with guys like Kenshin, traditional stats may not tell the whole story…
Jman781 - June 30, 2010
I’m so glad the Braves stood their ground against this guy.All year long they have been talking this dude up,so much they figure he can’t lose.The last couple of starts he has lost and I’m glad we beat him.After the game they were still making excuses for the guy.Yea he’s good but he just like every other pitcher that pitches he can be beat.Hell Hudson out pitched by far you ask me and yet and still he gets all the press.Hudson matced him pitch for pitch and he clearly was the better pitcher in this game.Proud of the Braves they are playing the way we Braves fans finally knew they were capable of playing.
LakersMania - June 28, 2010
Knew I at least could count on TC to give Huddy the respect he deserves
Both in the headline and the opening paragraphs. I’m not going to let myself get all worked up over the Strasburg hype, because the kid is really, really good, but seriously (from the AP):
WHAT ABOUT HUDSON’S SOUL PATCH?!?
KoKo the Monkey (T-Bone) - June 28, 2010
I made a conscious effort to avoid overdoing the Strasburg hype.
As you could probably tell.
Jacob Peterson - June 28, 2010
I don't see why.
A combination of humidity, the mound, and not having his best stuff was all that kept him from a perfect game.
l0stnumber - June 28, 2010
Atlanta won but the first sentence on the SI.com recap is
ATLANTA (AP) — Stephen Strasburg said he " kind of battled myself" through the most difficult of his five big league starts.
hawves - June 28, 2010
honestly, i'm over it.
however, come October, if we win it all and the front page headline reads “Yankees lose WS—-A-Rod chokes in critical AB with bases loaded”…
sanctarian - June 29, 2010
yea
There would be an uproar
drumzalicious - June 29, 2010 via mobile
I would
frame that.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
Pretty pathetic
But I do have some sympathy for Strasburg. In last three starts he’s gotten one run in support.
No matter how good you are, one run over three starts is not going to do it.
sag969 - June 29, 2010
I don’t have sympathy for him at all. I want his butt out of Atlanta. Buck Belue was saying on 680 the fan to boo him out of town. A lot of fans did that. It was fun to boo him.
And if you play for the Nats, you won’t get very good offensive support.
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Classy comment not
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
Booing isn’t too classy, but doing something to burst the hype bubble would have been awesome. Maybe picking tonight to do one of the Photoshop jobs on the jumbotron and showing the nats as clowns or something, or a T-shirt/banner giveaway with the item reading “who?” or “hype schmype” or something. I mean, it was a packed house, we’re the team to beat right now and we’ve got our own stories going (Bobby, Chipper, Heyward, etc) that don’t deserve to be backburnered for this kid. There are ways to good-naturedly rib him and create a fun, confident atmosphere without booing.
J-Freak - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Sorry if you found it rude but the hype and “stats” (like most Ks in first 4 starts) is really annoying me. I guess it’s annoying a lot of people! Booing isn’t classy, but it is fun.
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
The worst part of that is that it’s not going to stop. Two years from now, they’ll be saying “Most K’s in first 70 starts”
joshmaurer - June 29, 2010
That’s why i almost never watch ESPN
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Did you know that Strasburg has the most K’s through 5 starts, on Monday nights, with a three-quarters moon, on even numbered days, when the temperature is above 85 degrees, when he has eggs and bacon for breakfast??
TRUE STORY! I just heard that stat on ESPN, remarkable!
mvandonsel - June 29, 2010
Yeah...
but is he gritty?
sddbaker - June 29, 2010
Rumor has it that...
He has the grit of 1000 Ecksteins…
mvandonsel - June 29, 2010
OMG NO WAY!!!!
MBL1 - June 29, 2010
Really entertaining game
From both sides. It was interesting to see how Strasburg and Hudson each dealt with the errors they were given and the problems they ran into.
I’m still trying to figure out though what John Riggleman was trying to do there in the 7th inning after Bernadina’s double. I get the bunt to get him over to third – you’re in a 0-0 game with Strasburg lights out so far – but gambling on the fact that Hudson/Cox would decide to walk Gonzalez just seems really stupid. Hudson had struck him out both times before, and if he walked him then the double play would be setup, no matter the pinch hitter. What made it worse was after Gonzalez struck out Riggleman didn’t pinch hit for Strasburg, essentially giving up and conceding the go ahead run at third.
That inning (and maybe the game) could have played out so much differently if Riggleman had made a few different decisions. Anyways, its definitely not the first time a manager has given us the game this year, so I’ll keep taking it. Just surprises me.
sag969 - June 28, 2010
Riggleman puzzled me as well. Why did he not go for the run over another inning of Strasburg? That whole situation made no sense to me. I would have pitch hit for Strasburg just so that it would give my team a chance to score. He basically gave the Braves 2 outs.
romone_braves91 - June 28, 2010
*pinch hit
romone_braves91 - June 28, 2010
Yup
If you already sacrificed the runner to 3rd, you have to go for broke and pinch hit, even if it means taking out Strasburg.
sag969 - June 29, 2010
Ummm...
He coaches the Nationals? Is that enough of an explanation?
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
Who is John RIggleman?
Sam Jethroe - June 29, 2010
Seriously
If so, he is the Nats manager.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
Jim Riggleman is the Nat’s manager.
Sam Jethroe - June 29, 2010
Nick picky are you?
Does pointing out others mistakes in some way make you feel better about yourself?
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
*nitpicky, before you nitpicked again.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
I feel fine about myself
Thanks so much for asking.
Sam Jethroe - June 29, 2010
My attempt to balance out the coverage tonight after ESPN's failure to do so
Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson HEY LOOK AT THAT SAILBOAT! Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson Tim Hudson
BraveSaluki - June 28, 2010
100000000x
hawves - June 28, 2010
I'm
on a boat.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
Not a Rickroll
Chopaholic - June 29, 2010
Link fail
Chopaholic - June 29, 2010
I give up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU
Copy-paste it if you want. I’m gonna make breakfast.
Chopaholic - June 29, 2010
Strasburg good-Huddy better
The national’s pitcher is going to be a good to great pitcher some day but i think he doesn’t pitch inside enough. tonight he lived on the outside. Hudson pitched his butt off. his team got him the W. GOOD GOING BRAVES!
williejay1 - June 28, 2010
I’m not sure you used the correct verb tense re: Strazzy
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
You would prefer maybe "was?"
J-Freak - June 29, 2010 via mobile
yes, clearly Desmond's error foretells his downfall
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
Went to the game tonight. Crowd was really fired up and into it in the 7th. When Chipper lead off that inning, the crowd chopped for almost all of his at bat. we must have chopped 10 times that inning. And booing Strasburg was fun. A lot of the crowd boo’d him. Not Chipper/Mets booing but still a lot of jeers. Had a lot of fun.
LVP in the crowd: idiot blowing a vuvuzela.
MBL1 - June 28, 2010 via mobile
Plate appearance, not AB i guess, since he walked
MBL1 - June 28, 2010 via mobile
LVP from watching the game on TV last night was the dude sitting behind home plate.
Pavy848 - June 29, 2010
You got that right
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
So apparently… according to Sutcliffe and Boone, the Braves traded Elvis Andrews and Nefalti Perez for Texiera. And we have Freddie Freidman waiting to take over 1st baseman… /facepalm
dkinser86 - June 28, 2010
Oh
Dear
MBL1 - June 28, 2010 via mobile
Wait why are we going back in time?
SuperNewb - June 28, 2010
We
gotta do something with this hot tub.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
the conversation between Sutcliffe and Boone was just how valuable and how shrewd of a move it was for Wren to sign Glaus. We haven’t had a 1st basemen produce like this since Texiera.
I was just pointing out how the completely butchered the names. It was like ESPN said, well Strasburg is out of the game, let’s talk about the Braves, and Sutcliffe and Boone looked at each other like, “Braves?? Who are they?”
dkinser86 - June 29, 2010
Sutcliffe and Boone
they suck
hawves - June 28, 2010
Don’t tell me we threw in Matt Harrison, too!
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
As long as we still have Salty.
www.startsalty.com
Bronn - June 29, 2010
This domain may be for sale
haha
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
Cool
Can we get Felix and Andrus back, then?
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
Mets lose, Phillies lose.
Today was a good day.
TonyAlmeyda - June 28, 2010
Indeed. (Minus the Heyward to DL and KK going to the pen.)
romone_braves91 - June 28, 2010
Heyward has been horrible since he injured the thumb. The team took the smart decision to take him out of the lineup and put him in the DL. And Medlen is better than Kawakami.
Alvaro Andres Pizza Varela - June 29, 2010
This is completely irrelevant
Only thought about it because people were talking about the possibility of the no-hitter before the game. Here’s the line-up against which Randy Johnson threw his perfect game.
1. Jesse Garcia-seriously, this guy was leading off for us in 2004.
2. Julio Franco
3. Chipper Jones-he was batting .238 at the time with an OBP around .300
4. Andruw Jones
5. Johnny Estrada-not only did we have Johnny Estrada batting FIFTH, it actually made sense, given that team
6. J.D. Drew-he was by far the best hitter in our line-up
7. Mark DeRosa-ugh. He was hitting .201 on the day of this game. This was the year he was SOOO bad for us.
8. Nick Green
9. Mike Hampton-you could make the case that Hampton wasn’t the worst hitter in the line-up.
Bronn - June 28, 2010
I think that may qualify as the least impressive line-up to have a perfect game thrown against them
Bronn - June 28, 2010
i remember seeing Jesse Garcia hit a home run.
seriously.
sanctarian - June 29, 2010
Hampton was actually a good hitting pitcher, lol.
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
haha
yea
Braves24 - June 29, 2010
Ugh
Every time I think of Mike Hampton I want to cry a little.
I can’t think of many guys who had a more negative impact on the Braves last decade than Hampton. I realize most Braves players love the guy and he might have a great personality, but he sucked so much money out of us for nothing.
sag969 - June 29, 2010
That's a bit uninformed of you
We barely paid him anything. For the first two years we had him, the vast majority of his salary (I thinking, like, all but $2 million) were paid by the Rockies and Astros. Then after he got hurt in 2005, he became a big insurance write-off. I think the only year we got stuck without getting anything back, was 2007. Which sucks, to pay a guy without getting anything back, but it’s not like people think, where he was just soaking up the front office’s money for years and years.
Bronn - June 29, 2010
The worst thing Hampton cost us
Was a roster spot.
The additional misdemeanors of
1. sullying a Braves uniform
and
2. making us go through his dog and pony injury show every year he was here
weren’t fun, but I’m not stressing that much over it all.
We had some real knuckleknobs in our rotation for a few years after Glavine and Maddux left.
Sam Jethroe - June 29, 2010
but not a spot on the 25 man for very long
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
or the 40-man, really.
He spent like half his time on the 60-day DL, which doesn’t use any type of roster spot.
Jacob Peterson - June 29, 2010
And a super dooper fielding pitcher.
HE STOLE A GOLDEN GLOVE FROM GREG!!!
SuperNewb - June 29, 2010
Not sure where you're going with this
But, you do know the lineup the Braves had when they got no hit in April, right? Aside from Blanco and Hinske, its practically identical.
We all know that the current Braves are light/dark compared to the team in April, but yeah, it wasn’t such a stretch to think we could not get no hit again.
Hell, the Rays – one of the top five teams in baseball the last few years – have been no hit three? times in the last two years.
sag969 - June 29, 2010
I just said it was completely irrelevant
But felt like sharing. This is ridiculously much stronger line-up than that one.
Bronn - June 29, 2010
Who the he'll
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Who the hell is Jesse Garcia?
(sorry for the double post.)
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010 via mobile
He was a back-up shortstop for us.
He played during Furcal’s DL stint. He almost spent more playing in 2004 than in the rest of his career combined.
Bronn - June 29, 2010
HA…hell if i know who he is. Thanks for the info. I never would’ve guessed that.
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010
Thanks
I thought Greene was our SS then.
Pavy848 - June 29, 2010
Nick Green played his way into our hearts at second.
BullManUGA - June 29, 2010
Okay, thanks. I do remeber him being quite versitile though…right?
Pavy848 - June 29, 2010
That little jerk...
hit a walk-off home run against the Braves last year, on Father’s Day, when I was at Fenway Park last year. I pretty much hate him! :)
mvandonsel - June 29, 2010
Oh god…don’t even remind me of that Boston Series. What a joke that was.
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010
At least you didn’t travel 3000 miles to witness it!
mvandonsel - June 29, 2010
I honestly don't remember him either
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
Completely random but I found this funny...
We are replacing KK with 2 run support per game for a guy who has a run support of 1.5.
romone_braves91 - June 29, 2010
If not obvious, the “he” is Jair Jurrjens. This quote also came from DOB.
romone_braves91 - June 29, 2010
But JJ is a lock for 11 wins
Pavy848 - June 29, 2010
Escobar looked like someone kicked his dog tonight. I don't think I've ever seen him
look so down.
Erin6 - June 29, 2010
On the postgame radio show they said that Chipper was encouraging esco in the dugout…gotta love Chipper and his leadership.
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
He was. He had a talk with him, and so did Huddy.
Erin6 - June 29, 2010
Huddy
Can help him with his hitting :P
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Huddy was encouraging him after he made an error
Just letting him know, it didn’t lead to a run, and not to feel bad about it. I thought that was thoughtful of Huddy.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
I love Huddy and Chipper for that
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Agreed
He came through in the 7th with that single though, so hopefully that gives him a boost.
sag969 - June 29, 2010
i LOVE this team
Oh, and Strasburg, you’ll have a great career and all, but this is what it’s like to face the best team in the National League. I hope you took notice.
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010
really i dont wish him a good career being him pitching in our division. i hate the fact that we will have to face him 5 or 6 times a year. I give him respect and all but i wish he loses every braves game he plays in for his career
d1gram420 - June 29, 2010
Well I wish he goes 0-30 every season and we knock him out by the 3rd inning every time we face him. But we all know that’s not happening.
I bet you this though: Strasburg will go to sleep tonight thinking, “I hope I don’t have to face that team again.” We didn’t swing at more than 3 or 4 pitches outside of the zone all night. The Pirates, Royals, Indians and Sox all had hitters whiffing like little kids out there.
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010
Strasburger got grilled
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
I imagine the ESPN guys ran out of stuff to talk about when he got drilled in the 7th.
“well, Strasburg isn’t doing so well…so let’s talk about his grades in high school and the brand of shampoo he uses.”
Seriously, it’s worse than the hype Jay Hey got.
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Nah
It’s just worse when it’s for somebody else’ prospect. I’m sure most other fans felt the same way about Jason.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
I’m just jealous that Starsburg stole what little coverage we were getting with the Heyward Hype machine. Oh well, back to playing 1st place ball in the shadows is fine with me.
Pavy848 - June 29, 2010
Eh
Its just like facing Josh Johnson, Johan Santana, or Roy Halladay a few times a year. Every team has their ace. We wouldn’t want it to be too easy, right?
sag969 - June 29, 2010
Strasburg pitched a hell of a game. That error couldn’t have come at the worst time. From runner on third and two outs to bases loaded and no outs. That’s tough for any pitcher.
Alvaro Andres Pizza Varela - June 29, 2010
lol
d1gram420 - June 29, 2010
What are you loling?
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
YOUR FACE!
SuperNewb - June 29, 2010
BraveSaluki - June 29, 2010
Have you met the Farm Hand?!
Scott Coleman - June 29, 2010
Oooooooooh
I believe i have just been owned…
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Nice post from FB...lol
I officially HATE THIS TEAM
Keep Strasburg. Keep Zimm. Keep Dunn.
Get rid of EVERYBODY ELSE. Including Desmond.
But FIRE RIGGLEMAN. PLEASE. I’m done.
And yes, i have been drinking, but somehow i think my thoughts are still lucid.
SeanMac1 – June 29, 2010
you hate the team go buy some Yankees gear. I just found this comment funny.
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Sounds like many on here during the 9 game losing streak.
Even tonight before we scored, it was difficult to find many positive comments about our team other than a few concerning Huddy.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
Sweet
I’ll take Drew Storen if they’re gonna get rid of everyone
BigG1392 - June 29, 2010
I'll
take the other Zimmermann.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
Strasburg can have all the headlines he wants
as long as we get this kind of attendance each night
VivaLosBravos - June 29, 2010
Agreed.
The crowd was electric last night. We were cheering when Huddy had 2 strikes with no one on and only one out in like THIRD inning. It was amazing.
McGriff the Crime Dog - June 29, 2010
Strasburg is a good pitcher with a good head on his shoulders much like Heyward
I for one wish him the best, except when playing the Braves.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
I never wish anyone a bad career
I just hope their career numbers against the Braves suck
foxrobe - June 29, 2010
Good game by Hudson
Strasburg did well also and I’m glad that this year’s team is on the winning side of all of these pitching duels we’re having.
Also big ups to Venters for those 2 innings at the end of the game. You could tell he wasn’t used to the 2 inning thing but he still did well.
drumzalicious - June 29, 2010 via mobile
This
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
Actually...
he has been a starter for most of his career, so he is used to pitching more than one inning.
sddbaker - June 29, 2010
He started his major league career with 3 innings against Colorado in the Ubaldo no hitter.
Alvaro Andres Pizza Varela - June 29, 2010
Coming from a die-hard Braves fan...
The rest of the baseball world probably cares more about Steven Strasburg than the Atlanta Braves, at least at the current moment. At Talking Chop, you are going to get a Braves-oriented recap; whereas, at Amazin Avenue or Fish Stripes you are expected to get recaps focused around those teams. Major news outlets (after all, being major news outlets) are going to try to appeal to Strasburg-mania. It maybe stupid, inconsiderate, and disrespectful to our club, but hey, since when did ESPN start giving a crap?
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
And yes
I shall be calling him Steven.
frozendesert - June 29, 2010
If the Braves had lost against the Cubs on opening day, it wouldn’t have mattered more than the HR by Heyward to start his career.
The talent young players like Heyward and Strasburg have is not common, and even though I’m a Braves fan, I’m a baseball fan first. I aprreciate what Strasburg has done to start his career, it’s amazing and I don’t think it’s disrespectful. Strasburg was one error away from throwing 7 scoreless innings against the best lineup in the NL.
Alvaro Andres Pizza Varela - June 29, 2010
I don't have time to catch up reading (I will later) but wanted to pop over to say...
LOVELY WIN!!
Let’s get another tonight!
NCChopper - June 29, 2010
Lol love this .gif
MBL1 - June 29, 2010 via mobile
Missed you last night in the OT.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
Sorry Strasburg
THIS guy knows what he’s talking about:
http://TwitPWR.com/Lcr/
UGAstudent4UF - June 29, 2010
That guy....
wouldn’t just happen to be you, would he?
sddbaker - June 29, 2010
All I could think while watching Strasburg leave the mound was…….
“You better get used to it kid, you’re going to be playing Atlanta for a long time.”
dragonhawk26 - June 29, 2010
All I could think was “You’d better get used to it kid, you got drafted by the Nationals.”
McGriff the Crime Dog - June 29, 2010
+1
dragonhawk26 - June 29, 2010
I didn’t even notice the five straight strikeouts in the 5th and 6th because late in the fourth, I noticed I was sitting two rows in front of Matthew Stafford, so I began scheming ways to get into a picture with him without crawling over two rows over people.
Gage23 - June 29, 2010
Matthew Stafford? Awesome!
MBL1 - June 29, 2010
+1
for having better seats than Stafford!
sddbaker - June 29, 2010
Haha that’s what I told my roommate to change her status to.
Gage23 - June 29, 2010
This quote is too funy.
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
My new sig for now :)
HEYJUDE - June 29, 2010
HaHaHa, that made me laugh.
And KUDOS for the “balancing out” GREEN post above for Huddy.
NCChopper - July 1, 2010
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