I don't know about you, but I'm warming to the idea of a 1st round series with the Giants in October. Both teams can pitch, field, and the hitting is consistently inconsistent. That would be an awesome series to watch. Anyways...
Tim Hudson is the man. There's really no other way to put it. He's consistent in every start, and he's the un-questioned ace of the staff. I don't know about you, but I always feel safe when Huddy is on the mound.
Hudson was the star of the night, and threw 8 innings and allowed only three hits. Hudson had his sinker working, and the Giants grounded into three double plays, including a slick 6-4-3 DP in the 5th inning. Be sure to check the highlights for that one.
The Braves didn't really do much offensively on Saturday, but they came through when it mattered most in the 4th inning. Mired in a near-two month slump, Troy Glaus, who was hitting 7th for the first time this season, was the hero tonight. With two outs and the bases loaded, seemingly the two times when the Braves never score, Troy ripped a 3-2 fastball up the middle to score Heyward and Chipper without a throw. Rick Ankiel, big swing and all, then hit a double off the right field wall that scored Eric Hinkse from 2nd. That was all the scoring the Braves would do -- and their only real scoring chance on the night, too -- but they got the hits when it mattered. For a team that was 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position, they battled back and came up big tonight.
As mentioned above, Hudson dominated the rest of the game. He had a perfect game going into the 5th inning, and Chip Carey decided to mention it. Sure enough, Buster Posey hit a single up the middle and the perfect game was gone. Thanks, Chip. But hey, at least you're not screaming like you were earlier in the season on every fly ball.
Billy Wagner came in the 9th, and he wasn't messing around. He struck out Andres Torres on three pitches, Freddy Sanchez on four, and Aubrey Huff on four, including a nasty slider to end the game.
Braves win 3-0.
Turner Field was rocking tonight, and 47,305 were there to see Huddy dominate. That's good for the 3rd largest crowd of the year at Turner Field.
The Phillies lost 1-0 to the Mets on a Jeff Francoeur (JEFF FRANCOEUR!!!!) solo-HR in the 7th inning. We love you Frenchy. Now hit three more tomorrow.
MVP(s):
Tim Hudson (duh.) - 8IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 6K
Tomorrow's Game:
The conclusion to the fantastic 4-game series between San Fran and Atlanta concludes tomorrow afternoon. Derek "I usually suck, but sometimes I'm great" Lowe will be on the mound for the Braves, and he faces Jonathan Sanchez. I'd fully expect David Ross to start tomorrow, and I'm thinking Rick Ankiel could use the day off too against a tough lefty. First pitch is at 1:35EST.
0 recs | 76 comments
HAHAHAHAHAHA
No wonder JP Richardi is considered to be the biggest fucking joke in baseball.
He says the Phillies will win the East because of their pitching. Look, the Phillies are a strong team, but not because of their pitching. Halladay is great, Oswalt is on the downward slope of his career, and Hamels is still very solid. But Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick? Really?
He also failed to mention their bullpen is trash.
So because they have a better 3 starters than Atlanta, they’re going to win the NL East? I see. Let’s totally ignore we have the better rotation 1-5 and arguably the best bullpen in baseball.
How does this guy get on TV? You can make a strong case for why Philly will win the East. Their offense, their playoff experience, their guys coming back from injury, etc. But pitching? Holy shit. I feel dumber now.
Scott Coleman - August 8, 2010
Halladay+Oswalt > Hudson+JJ
Halladay+Oswalt+Hamels < Hudson+JJ+Hanson
The rest of the rotations are somewhat of a tossup at this point. Lowe kinda sucks (for a Braves pitcher, anyway) and we have no idea what Minor will do.
However, our BP is a mile and a half better than theirs.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
^ Co-sign
JP resigned from the ranks of People I Bother To Listen To a month or so ago when he totally ate it trying to describe what a 3 true outcomes player was on ESPN during the futures game.
That’s something even I know the definition of.
Knowing this team can play like this is why it’’s so tremendously frustrating when they play like they did friday, which is why it puts me in such an apocalyptic mood when it happens.
Sam Jethroe - August 8, 2010
Now wait
That first part isn’t necessarily true. Huddy can throw 0s up with the best of them. And what do you expect from Oswalt- 6 IP with tops 3 R? Seems reasonable for JJ also.
GoBravesNY - August 8, 2010 via mobile
Huddy can throw 0s, but he also walks more people – leading to a greater chance that he does not throw a 0. I love Huddy as much as the next person, but Halladay is way better than he is, and Oswalt is much better than JJ.
They are better than we are 1-2, but that is no slight to our 1-2 guys.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Over the long haul...
maybe (though I’d dispute you on Oswalt and Hamels vs. JJ and Hanson in any combination). But on any given night, I’ll have no problem taking ours and going against theirs.
Mr. Sanchez - August 8, 2010
someones a little butthurt they didn’t pick us to win =/. its called an opinion, and hes on ESPN because he’s been around the game for several years. I hate to tell ya, but he probably knows what he’s talking about. Not saying he’s right, but if he would have said Atlanta will win the division because of their stellar ability to hit with RISP, you wouldn’t have bitched about it huh?
maizebaseball10 - August 8, 2010
I would have. mainly because that is just a retarded thing to say.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
hah yeah a bad example, but i see him bitch all the time about ESPN. While I agree they’re always on the Philly bandwagon, its just their opinion, damn.
maizebaseball10 - August 8, 2010
exactly!
i was like OHMY GOD i mean REALLY joe blanton and the almost 50 year old throwing about as fast as an average high school pitcher, is not a better back end of a rotation than whatever the braves put back there, although depending on what minor does, makes it closer. idiot.
Cody Arrington - August 8, 2010
To be fair the Phillies starting pitching has been just as good as ours, particularly of late. Their crapshot bullpen however is another story.
I didn’t see what JP said specifically, but if his point was that the Phillies pitching is good enough to win the division provided the hitters get healthy and start producing at a clip anywhere near what we’ve seen out of this lineup the past few years, then yea he has a pretty solid point. But if he was saying injuries and slumps won’t matter down the stretch because their pitching is that good, then he’s reaching.
DCP916 - August 8, 2010
First Off
Drunk again, and I am sure my responses last night got deleted. I got yelled at and I want to appologize for that… HOWEVER, I want to say I am very happy tonight (as are all Braves fans), and I look forward to pushing the lead to 3 games tomorrow after Lowe has one of his “DL Wins” and somehow Frenchy pulls out another big night for the Mutts. GO BRAVES!!!! Thinking about driving up to Atlanta for the Dodgers series from Orlando, who is going to be there?
B4TheFlop - August 8, 2010
47,305 Strong at the Ted
and I was one of them. Hellz Yeah! Huddy dominated like it was easy. The slick DP by Sea Bass was awesome in person. And to top off the Ted experience, I got to witness Wagner time and that shit is so amazing that words can’t accurately describe it. Great Win. Go Bravos.
romone_braves91 - August 8, 2010 via mobile
Yeah, that DP was soooo much better in person than on TV, wasn’t it?!
Lizziebeth - August 9, 2010
I wonder why Tim’s name has not even been mentioned in the Cy Young discussions? It is ridiculous. He has been one of the top 4 or 5 pitchers in the NL this season.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
I'll be disappointed if he doesn't get some support.
Sam Jethroe - August 8, 2010
Because “his ERA is artificially low, he doesn’t strike out enough people, and he no haz teh winz.”
In completely unrelated news, Cy Young voters are asshatted simpletons who would probably give Pujols the award if someone placed him on the ballot for them.
J-Freak - August 8, 2010 via mobile
Of course, you don’t mean that Pujols wouldn’t deserve it…
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Of course, you don’t mean that Pujols deserves it more than Heyward…
EricGreggWasPaidOff - August 8, 2010
In the words of the almighty Seinfeld:
NOT that there’s anything WRONG with that…
J-Freak - August 9, 2010 via mobile
Huddy will get some votes, especially if we can win NL East (since those things does matter to the voters). The problem is that pitching overall has been quite strong this year. Huddy’s number (even when you ignore the low K total) just doesn’t quite compare to that of Josh Johnson, Wainwright, and Ubaldo Jimenez. While Huddy gets plenty of DP from all those induced grounders, he also allows quite a few baserunners at times for his stats to scream dominant.
LEastCoastBears - August 8, 2010
Huddy’s ERA is just as good as those guys, and we all know that voters don’t look at advanced metrics like FIP.
Huddy stacks up well to any of them – especially if we can get him to 20 wins.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
strikeouts
hudson doesn’t strike out as many guys as halladay, jimenez, and wainright. like it or not, cy young voters care about strikeouts a lot.
atl192485 - August 8, 2010
oops, didn’t mean to leave out josh johnson.
atl192485 - August 8, 2010
Strikeouts = Sexy.
Tim Hudson lacks that aspect enough that he gets overlooked.
Pavy848 - August 8, 2010
Yeah no doubt. It’s a Sunday and the Braves have already clinched a tie in the series so time for the usual wtf line up. I’m thinking
1. Infante 2B
2. Heyward RF
3. Conrad 3B
4. Diaz LF
5. Gonzalez SS
6. Hinske 1B
7. Cabrera CF
8. Ross C (why doesn’t Bobby bat Ross 4th or 5th? he’s one of the Braves’ best hitters)
redwards95 - August 8, 2010
no way glaus doesn’t start this game. not after last night’s big hit. plus it’s vs. a lefty.
ross isn’t a 4 hole hitter (and neither is mattyD) but i agree he should bat higher than 8th in the order.
i hope bobby goes with this lineup:
Cabrera 8
Heyward 9
Chipper 5
Diaz 7
Glaus 3
Gonzalez 6
Ross 2
Conrad 4
Lowe 1
atl192485 - August 8, 2010
I dunno
<no way glaus doesn’t start this game>
Bobby has a tendency to give a guy who finally has a good game the next day off.
Pavy848 - August 8, 2010
Personally
i love Matty D batting top 4 in the order against LHP
My lineup(that i think will be) today…
Infante
Heyward
Chipper
Diaz
Glaus
Gonzo
Conrad (does he play OF?)
Ross
KINGSLYTUT - August 8, 2010
Time to win the series
I have been saying since the start of the series that the Braves really need to win this series outright, since we’re playing at home. It’s somewhat nice to match up against a team that has as much RISP problem as us (which also makes the Fri. game that much harder to stomach). I actually get the sense that Bobby and the team feels pretty strongly about winning this last game (Bobby has been managing the series like it’s the playoffs…such as the overusing of the core relief guys such as Venters or that 2nd inning for Moylan) and I wouldn’t doubt that Chipper will be in there. Glaus, of course, will also be in (and perhaps being batted too high in the lineup) as a reward for that bases loaded hit.
LEastCoastBears - August 8, 2010
I agree Chipper will be in the lineup. He’s got the stick going and Bobby is going to wanna ride it.
fandave - August 8, 2010
Did you seriously just say that? Please tell me that was an intentionally made statement to bait the TWSS’ers….
EricGreggWasPaidOff - August 8, 2010
Too funny.
poormrtoad - August 8, 2010
Great win
Huddy pitched great like always and the offense came through when they needed to. Troy had a big hit and I hope he is starting to heat up
Braves24 - August 8, 2010 via mobile
Hey just throwing this out there...
But I think Huddy might be our Ace?!
UpstateNyBravesFan - August 8, 2010
I was impressed with the stat they mentioned during the game last night: when the team scores 3 or more runs during a game while Huddy is still pitching, his record is this:
129-2. That was before the win last night. Impressive.
ChrisK562 - August 8, 2010
Hudson
As someone alluded to above, I love to hear the people who say that Hudson has been ‘lucky’ this year and that he really isn’t this good. These are just nerds who love to see baseball from a mathematical standpoint. I could care less about what some ridiculous percentage says; I’ve watched every one of his starts this year, and the guy throws a great game almost every night.
Today is an incredibly important game for two reasons. First, last night could become a momentum changing game. We also desperately need to win a series, especially against a good team.
ryantex - August 8, 2010
you realize that those percentages and nerdy numbers are based on performance, right?
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
I’m guessing you’re one of those nerds.
ryantex - August 8, 2010
I am one of those guys who can appreciate advanced metrics – even though I only understand the most simple of them.
I am guessing you thing Ryan Howard deserves his contract because he gets RBIs.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Yeah, I know, everyone else must be so stupid about baseball unless you understand metrics. I mean, your comment about Howard is so ignorant. Of course I don’t think he deserves the contract, but it’s not because I’m just looking at his performance statistics.
I just think that I have a more open mind than you do. I’m one of the guys who thinks Derek Lowe has actually done well this year, but that’s just based on what I’ve seen through my own eyes. I’m not a fantasy baseball kind of guy, but I respect that guys like you do understand the game that way. And I don’t think it’s that bad; I just don’t like how the guys who just look at numbers are so negative about so many players just because they are only looking at ‘performance’ numbers. I just look at the game differently.
ryantex - August 8, 2010
^ incorrectly. objectively wrong.
kbertling353 - August 8, 2010
huh?
ryantex - August 8, 2010
Wait, the guy who is
rejectingbelittling advanced metrics is the one claiming to be “open minded”???justincredubil02 - August 9, 2010
It's like a really nice Cubic Zirconia ring...
As long as it looks really nice, who cares what it’s actually made of?
Jman781 - August 9, 2010
Hudson is Wren's best offseason signing from last winter BY FAR.
Pavy848 - August 8, 2010
Hudson is...
Mr. Sanchez - August 8, 2010
Now that is what I am talking about...
The second game of my Turner Field two-game series went much better. Friday night’s game, for a lot of reasons, was a tiring, bummer of a game (aside from the Tom Glavine festivities). Last night’s game was much more fun. Huddy dominated; Glaus, Heyward, and Ankiel had big hits; and Wags showed that he’s just fine.
AND the stinkin’ Phils finally lost…You know, the Phillies have won 13 of 16 games and we are STILL up by 2 games…Now let’s win this series and start building our lead back up…
As an aside, people keep saying that the Phillies are going to win the NL East because they are winning without Howard, Utley, etc. How can they win anymore than 13-3 over 16 games? They can’t maintain this type of winning percentage even if Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and John Kruk (he he) all their primes joined the team. They will eventually have a mini-slump and the Braves will heat up again, too. Heck, if they win today, the Braves will have won 5 of 7…
I may be one of the few DLowe supporters out there…Whether he pitches a great game or not, we can all agree he will be one sweaty son of a gun out there!
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
yeah but the Phils have also gained 5.5 games on us
KINGSLYTUT - August 8, 2010
That's kinda my point...
They have gone on an amazing tear, but are still in 2nd…The Braves went on a similar streak earlier in the year and were able to gain the NL East lead…We’ve held it ever since. If the Bravos have weathered the storm so far with the lead in tact. The Phils will come back down to earth at some point and when they do we’ll build that lead back up…
Or we can be all doom and gloom…It’s your call.
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
Everytime I see your screename, I think it says “King Slut”.
lol
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Ha..
I have thought that too!
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
i thought people would think of that too
its an inside joke with me and my friends
KINGSLYTUT - August 8, 2010
Is Matt Cain really John C. Reilly?
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Or
John C. Riley even…
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Or
Bill O’Reilly
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
Today Lineup
1. Infante 2B
2.Cabrera RF
3. Gonzalez SS
4. Diaz LF
5. Glaus 1B
6. Conrad 3B
7. Ankiel CF
8. Ross C
9. Lowe P
joshant - August 8, 2010
hahahaha. Very funny. But seriously, what’s the real lineup?
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
seriously this the lineup, via ajcbraves
joshant - August 8, 2010
Interesting...
I have other comments, but I am in an optimistic mood today. Let’s see how this plays out, especially since we have McCann, Chipper AND Heyward NOT playing…
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
This might be the worst possible lineup with that particular set of given names.
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Sometimes...
Bobby throws out garbage lineups on Sundays…I just don’t know why…It’s almost like he’s satisfied with getting the split…
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
this should a win series right know if we didnt beat ourself on Friday
joshant - August 8, 2010
Does order really matter there?
That’s as B team as we get right now. Let’s hope Diaz can keep his lefty domination and Glaus is rested and rarin to go.
Mr. Sanchez - August 8, 2010
Here...
1. Glaus – CF
2. Ross – SS
3. Conrad – P
4. DLowe – C
5. Ankiel – Grounds Crew
6. Gonzalez – RF
7. Diaz – 3B
8. Heyward – Manager
9. Infante – All Other Positions AND the head usher of Sec 402
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
because everybody need a rest
1. Snitker 2B
2. Hubbard 1B
3. Pendleton 3B
4. Cox DH
5. Perez C
6. Cadahia LCF
7. Butts SS
8. McDowell RCF
9. Smoltz P
Coach – Ross
Hitting Coach – Chipper
Pitching Coach – Hudson
1st B Coach – Glaus
3st B Coach – BMac
joshant - August 8, 2010
No Haithcock?
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Nice!
I approve of this, mainly because I get to see Smoltz pitch again!
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
Who is the designated runner for Cox?
justincredubil02 - August 8, 2010
Bat boy.
Pavy848 - August 8, 2010
I don't get it. why does heyward get a day off?
Braves Biceps - August 8, 2010
I have no problem with J-Hey sitting
If we had our other guys in the lineup…I don’t like everyone sitting at one time…I guess we want fresh guys behind Minor tomorrow night!
Jman781 - August 8, 2010
he has cooled down
and Sanchez is a tough lefty…i get it
KINGSLYTUT - August 8, 2010
With this lineup, I guess Bobby is content on playing .500 ball.
Nice writeup MV, though I thought I was reading a Joe Morgan mailbag in the first couple of paragraphs.
BullManUGA - August 8, 2010
Sunday Lineup
sounds like another typical “sunday” lineup, I just don’t understand the reasoning behind this
webby - August 8, 2010
It's Sunday.
Pavy848 - August 8, 2010
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