Diaz trips up Red Man, but other Braves hits lacking

PHILADELPHIA — In tripping up the fan who ran on the field Monday night attired in a red Spandex bodysuit –- this stuff does not happen in Atlanta – Matt Diaz instantly elevated himself to at least marginal cult-hero status among both Braves fans and the iron-lunged denizens of Citizens Bank Park.

Matt Diaz, I won't stop until I get my revenge.

It should be noted, however, that the affable Diaz apparently already had a bond with some Philliestines.

“I like Philly fans, they’re fun to mess with,” said Diaz, who was surrounded by reporters after Monday night’s 3-1 Braves loss, reporters whose questions for Diaz were all related to the seventh-inning incident that has now been viewed countless times on YouTube and assorted sites across the blogosphere. Here’s a version taken by a fan (the ones off the TV feed have apparently been blocked by MLB since last night).

“I think sometimes they’re attention-starved, so if you turn around during the game they’ll treat you right,” Diaz said, talking about the fans, not Spandex-attired ballgame interlopers. “They’ve always treated me right here.”

Diaz made a great sliding catch in the first inning last night to help Braves right-hander Brandon Beachy in his major league debut. Diaz also had a second-inning single off Cole Hamels, putting runners at the corners with none out after Brian McCann’s RBI double had given the Braves a 1-0 lead.

They didn’t score again, blowing that second-inning opportunity, which Bobby Cox called (correctly) the early turning point of the game. Wasted opportunity on a night when the Braves wouldn’t get many more against the splendid Hamels.

But anyway, all anyone wanted to talk to Diaz about last night was the seventh inning, when he waited for the right moment to help end the latest fan-on-the-field incident in Philly, where they’ve had more than their share.

The fan, later identified as a Philly-area teen, Sean Hagan — those spirited Irish kids, boy I tell ya — and had a scheduled court appearance today, was eluding middle-aged security guards in the outfield for perhaps a minute before he made an ill-advised second turn into the left-field territory.

Where Diaz was standing, observing, waiting.

“I saw him come out of the bleachers out of the corner of my eye,” Diaz said of the kid’s original entry. “I thought he was coming at me at first, so I kind of bowed up.

“Then I saw their security guy go down, and I said this is dangerous, so if he comes back I’ll try to tackle him. Well, he came back, and I didn’t want to get hurt or hurt him, so I just stuck out my foot and he hit it. He got right back up and their security guy crushed him.”

(Almost forgot to mention, the red Spandex suit, including the full-face mask, is an homage to the “green man” on the great TV show It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and a fan or fans also roams Eagles games in the green Spandex.)

Anyway, Diaz remembered an incident in Atlanta where a fan came on the field and a security guard popular with players suffered a concussion in the aftermath of the takedown. He said he didn’t want to see that happen again.

He also remembered a May incident in Philly where a 17-year-old fan ran on the field and was hit with a stun gun by a police officer, a case that led the Phillies to decide that only their security guards would pursue those who ran on the field, and turn them over to police afterward.

On Monday, the security guards got some help from the Braves left fielder.

“I saw this idiot in a red suit coming right at me,” Diaz said, smiling. “I figured he’d rather get tripped than Tased.”

Family man by day, ballplayer/vigilante by night.

Bobby Cox wasn’t in a good mood, for obvious reasons, during his postgame press conference. But the Braves skipper cracked a little smile when asked, as the presser was winding down, about Diaz’s “great play.”

“Diaz made a great play, yes he did,” Cox said. “Saved the guards some broken hips.”

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, a Florida neighbor of Diaz, told reporters after the game: “He’ll be telling me about that all winter. He took him down pretty quickly. He might get a [penalty] flag in football if he did that.”

Unfortunately for Atlanta, Diaz and McCann had the only two big-impact hits for the Bravos on a night when Hamels dazzled over eight innings – the guy is 5-0 with a 0.49 ERA in his past five stats — and Beachy got little support.

Beachy was charged with three runs, two unearned after a fly ball that Jason Heyward turned into a three-base error in the fifth. The 24-year-old pitcher surrendered four hits in 4-1/3 innings, with three walks (two intentional) and one strikeout.

“Beachy did awesome tonight,” Diaz said. “He gave us a chance to win. Unfortunately, it’s been the song of our September: we didn’t score enough runs for him.”

“Cole did not allow their bullpen to get in. Once we let him off the hook in the second, he cruised, pretty much. It’s time for us to start cashing those in.”

Everyone (except Beachy himself) agreed it was an impressive performance by the rookie, who was brought to Philly on Sunday to be a standby emergency starter, and didn’t know until four hours before the game that he’d be pitching, after Jair Jurrjens‘ knee still ached during an afternoon mound test.

Beachy hadn’t pitched since Sept. 3, and had only eight games (seven starts) above the Double-A level before facing the power-laden Phillies lineup in a hitter-friendly ballpark before a raucous, sold-out crowd.

The Phillies were hitting .303 with 25 homers in September, tied with Colorado for the league leads, before getting only one earned run and a pair of extra-base hits (both second-inning doubles) against Beachy.

All things considered, it was a strong debut.

“The location of his pitches in the first couple of innings were a little erratic,”  McCann said, “but after that he started pounding the bottom of the zone, started changing up speeds a little better. I thought he did great.”

Whether Beachy gets another start this season might depend on the result of Jurrjens’ MRI today in Atlanta.

Also, though the Braves haven’t mentioned the possibility, perhaps they’d even consider resting an admittedly fatigued Mike Minor after tonight. Just thinking aloud here.

For now, for tonight, Minor faces ace Roy Halladay; no, it doesn’t get any easier for the Bravos in this series. Tomorrow it’s Tommy Hanson against Roy Oswalt, who’s 7-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his past seven starts, including 5-0 in five at home.

Braves fans looking for a positive: Oswalt is 0-3 with a 7.58 ERA in seven regular-season starts against Atlanta, and gave up 10 hits and six runs in two innings the last time he faced them, on Sept. 10, 2009.

Turns out he was hurt then, but still, it’s something. Right?

♣ Prado’s production down: I’d say that Martin Prado’s recent fortunes were exemplified Monday when he hit a long, would-be homer that hooked foul by about 10 feet in the sixth inning, then lined into an inning-ending double play on the next pitch.

Even when he hits balls hard lately, he hasn’t had much to show for it.

Still hitting third every day, he’s 17-for-71 (.239) with four doubles, no homers and five RBIs in his past 17 games, including 1-for-16 on the current trip, with three double plays grounded into (two Monday vs. Hamels).

♣ FYI: If the Braves (86-65) go 6-5 in their remaining games, San Diego (83-66) would need to go 10-3 in its remaining games to finish ahead of the Braves in the wild-card race, or Colorado (82-67) would need to go 11-2 in its remaining 13…. In their past 10 games, the Braves are 6-4, the Padres are 4-6, and the Rockies are 7-3…. After his sluggish start with the Braves, Derrek Lee has hit .320 (24-for-75) in his past 23 games, with seven doubles, two homers, 13 RBIs and 11 walks. He’s 7-for-15 with a grand slam on the trip, and Monday was his third consecutive two-hit game…. Buster Olney, in his ESPN.com blog, reports that Cole Hamels threw 74 four-seam (non-sinker) fastballs against the Braves, his second-most of the season, and that a season-high 52 percent were in the strike zone. Hamels also tied his season-high with five strikeouts on changeups, all swinging, and all on pitches out of the strike zone.

♣ OK, gotta shut it down and get over to DiNic’s to pick up a sandwich before cabbing to the ballpark. It’s Leonard Cohen’s birthday, so let’s close with one fro the legend. You can hear it here, with an interesting video montage someone did to go with it.

“EVERYBODY KNOWS” by Leonard Cohen

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows that the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

Everybody knows that the captain lied

Everybody got this broken feeling

Like their father or their dog just died

♦

Everybody talking to their pockets

Everybody wants a box of chocolates

And a long stem rose

Everybody knows

♦

Everybody knows that you love me baby

Everybody knows that you really do

Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful

Ah give or take a night or two

Everybody knows you’ve been discreet

But there were so many people you just had to meet

Without your clothes

And everybody knows

♦

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

♦

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

♦

And everybody knows that it’s now or never

Everybody knows that it’s me or you

And everybody knows that you live forever

Ah when you’ve done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten

Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton

For your ribbons and bows

And everybody knows

♦

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it’s moving fast

Everybody knows that the naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose

What everybody knows

♦

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble

Everybody knows what you’ve been through

From the bloody cross on top of Calvary

To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it’s coming apart

Take one last look at this Sacred Heart

Before it blows

And everybody knows

♦

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

♦

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows