Dodgers shred Sheets for 4 homers, pound Braves 6-2
Just when it looked like Ben Sheets had recovered from a second-inning Dodgers home run barrage Saturday, the Braves pitcher got whacked again by Hanley Ramirez in the sixth.
Folks, the Sheets comeback story has hit a rough patch.
Ramirez hit one of three consecutive homers in the second inning and added a three-run bullet of a homer in the sixth during a 6-1 Dodgers win in the Civil Rights Game at Turner Field, snapping the Braves’ four-game winning streak and handing Sheets his third loss in four starts.
Sheets (4-3) was charged with six runs and four hits, none of which landed in front of the fences.
“The difference in a good game and a bad game is that last Hanley Ramirez at-bat,” said Sheets, who walked two and struck out three. “If it’s a good one you make a pitch and get out of it. A bad one he hits it into the seats.”
Ramirez hit it in the seats. Quickly. Sheets had allowed three homers six times in 247 career starts, but never served up four until Saturday.
The Braves lost for only the sixth time in 24 games and remained four games behind National League East leader Washington, which lost 2-0 to the New York Mets.
“We had some opportunities almost the entire game,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and twice struck out with bases loaded to end innings. “It’s a weird game. Four hits, four home runs and six runs [for the Dodgers], and we left 11 stranded. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that kind of boxscore, really.
“Sheetsy gave up those three runs early in the second inning, then he kind of settled in… Then all of a sudden after two outs he gives up another three-run homer. Other than that — and we didn’t score — what are you going to do? It was just a weird game.”
Martin Prado drove in both Braves runs with a double in the first inning and a home run in the ninth. David Ross struck out with bases loaded to end the first inning, and Juan Francisco struck out with bases loaded to end the eighth.
“We didn’t capitalize on some key points there in the first inning, that punch-out from me,” Ross said. “We get a base hit there, or even a walk, it may be a different game with momentum going our way… It was a weird game. We all thought we were going to win that game, then that three-run homer kind of hurt us a little bit.”
A crowd of 42,219 was on hand including baseball commissioner Bud Selig, and many Braves fans sat in stunned disbelief during the early long-ball barrage from Ramirez, James Loney and Luis Cruz. It was the first time since 2007 that three consecutive Dodgers hit home runs, and all three came in a span of four pitches.
“The solo homers, I can pitch around,” Sheet said. “They hit three tonight, you don’t see many people go back-to-back-to-back. So I can deal with those. But the two walks with two outs in the sixth inning … it [ticks] me off.”
Sheets cruised through the first four batters before and also the next 10 after that second inning home run-a-thon. But he ran into trouble again in the sixth when he walked both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier with two outs.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Roger McDowell, Sheets fell behind 3-and-0 against Ramirez. The next pitch was a 90-mph fastball that Ramirez lined to the left-field seats for a 6-1 lead.
Three homers off Sheets came on 89-90 mph fastballs. The exception was Cruz, who hammered a first-pitch curveball.
Sheets took no consolation from the fact that no Dodgers reached base other than on the four homers and two walks.
“Well, that’s a lot of baserunners,” he said. “As long as I let my guys play. Walks, they can’t play behind you, and home runs, they can’t play behind you. If I give them a chance to make plays, they make a lot of great plays.”
Sheets, 33, was out of baseball for two years and uncertain if he’d pitch again after an unusually complicated elbow surgery in 2010, his second elbow procedure in two years. The Braves signed the former Milwaukee ace to a minor league contract six weeks ago, and for a while he looked like he might be a frontrunner for Comeback Player of the Year.
But after going 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA in his first three starts for the Braves, he is 1-3 with a 4.85 ERA in his past four. And after not allowing a home run in his first 27-2/3 innings, Sheets has allowed six in his past 16-1/3 innings.
The Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Aaron Harang, who was 1-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 10 previous starts against them.
Michael Bourn led off with a walk and scored on a Prado double before Harang recorded an out. The right-hander walked two more in the inning, Chipper Jones intentionally with one out and Dan Uggla unintentionally to load the bases with two outs.
That brought up Ross, who was 4-for-9 with three homers off Harang before Saturday. This time he struck out on a foul tip as he tried to check his swing.
Harang (9-7) settled in after that, allowing four baserunners over the next five innings and never more than one in an inning. He collected eight strikeouts and was charged with one run, four hits and five walks in 6-2/3 innings.
The Braves got two-out doubles from Jones in the third and Paul Janish in the fourth. and a two-out walk by Jason Heyward in the fourth. Each time Harang retired the next batter, and after Uggla’s one-out walk in the sixth, Harang struck out Ross and Janish.
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50 comments Add your comment
thecoxman
August 18th, 2012
10:13 pm
FIRST
beone
August 18th, 2012
10:15 pm
Looks like Medlen will be starting for awhile longer.
double
August 18th, 2012
10:16 pm
Errors & Excuses-I think our Sheets are soiled.6 man rotation,drop this one,back to five.He needs go back south and eat those crawdaddies.
Oh'man
August 18th, 2012
10:23 pm
Whats up with Sheets? He was lights out his first few starts! He can’t be fatigued already, its only his 6 start ! Our weak links in the rotation so far is Tommy Hanson and Ben Sheets, man oh man I hope Sheets can turn it around because he is a legit number 1 ace if he is feeling good !
farmer
August 18th, 2012
10:24 pm
the shine has worn off of Sheets.. was a great story but looks like it is not what was really going on.. can still pitch but teams got scouts to see him and they were ready for him. I say one or two more starts and if he still struggles, it’s the bullpen for him. I still gotta give the guy credit for coming back after being gone 2 years but we can’t have him in the rotation if he keeps up like this.. get them tomorrow and put McCann back in the lineup Fredi. we have been on a great run but I still hate the sight of you.
Bud
August 18th, 2012
10:25 pm
Won his first three starts, now lost three of his last four starts. Not just lost, but rocked. A good experiment and a nice try, but I say its time to drop Sheets from the rotation.
Turtsnap
August 18th, 2012
10:37 pm
People need to remember, Sheets didn’t have a Spring Training. He had 1 or 2 minor league starts, and thrown into the rotation
Buzz 2011
August 18th, 2012
10:48 pm
Uggs popping that tater!1 No points added to your average for walks Uggs. $ 60 million, that’s right , $60 million for a professional walker and trash talker..
BigDawg
August 18th, 2012
10:49 pm
Great comment, thecoxman!
NickGranite
August 18th, 2012
10:51 pm
Sheets is competing against major league athletes after a two year layoff. He said himself his whole body is sore. Simple. Be flexible. Abandon the six man rotation and lay him off for a start then bring him back fresh. There. Was that really that difficult?
BrandonLee49
August 18th, 2012
10:57 pm
What was the Mound Conf. about??? Nice lil Chat there…McDowell. Immediately goes to Throw another HR ball-
PDXBrave
August 18th, 2012
10:57 pm
Agreed, Nick. Put Sheets on the DL for 15 days with whatever official name they want to call it and he’ll rest up.
Don
August 18th, 2012
11:00 pm
I was at the game and a blind person could see that Sheets was really struggling that last inning expecially to Ramirez. Yet Freddy sat on his bum and did not make a change when it was right in front of his stupid eyes. He has a rested bull pen and a 3 to 1 game is winnable, but 6 to 1 means everyone is going for the fences instead of a,b,c baseball.
BrandonLee49
August 18th, 2012
11:09 pm
Bring BACK LEO MAZZONE !!!!! We DESPARATELY Need a Pitching COACH. Calling Bob Gibson, Tony Cloninger, Rick Mahler, Egads even Phil Neikro….
Hummon
August 18th, 2012
11:09 pm
Strange game. Nine total hits, every one of them an extra base hit.
Think, guys!
August 18th, 2012
11:26 pm
He doesn’t pitch at all for two years. Had no spring training, two minor league starts. Of course he’s fatigued!
mountain_jim
August 19th, 2012
12:15 am
2 nights in a row Freddy is too slow to pull his starter when it’s obvious he’s done.
DOB Needs To Ask Tough Questions!
August 19th, 2012
12:28 am
You have to tip your cap to anyone that calls a grown man Sheetsy! I mean, that takes some gawl, doesn’t it folks? So a Tipper of the old Capper for that! Atta boy, Fredi!!! And folks, what do you expect when you pick up a pitcher from the (s)crap heap? I will give you wollstonecraft some time to think about my play on words.
TuffShhhtuff
August 19th, 2012
12:39 am
Was thinking that before I got to your post. ”SHEETSY”? “SHEETSY”? Are you kidding me? How old is this manager the Braves have. I know BC had his pet names for players, but don’t think even he would have called Ben, ‘SHEETSY”. Grow up FG, and while you are at it, grow a pair. Two nights in a row the manager has contributed to the loss in a major way!
kevkat
August 19th, 2012
12:50 am
It’s hilarious how FG and Rossy said it was a weird game. How so? Bad pitching and wasted oppourtunites equals a loss, nothing weird about that. And for Sheets to say he could live with the back to back to back homers and his only problem was the second Ramirez homer is kinda crazy. As you can see, back to back homers were engough tonight.
Who Me?
August 19th, 2012
1:29 am
Yeah, the Sheets experiment needs a time-out. DL him, send him to Gwinnett, whatever, just get him out of the rotation for a while. And someone needs to get Freeman some help in the cage, he’s a bit rusty at the moment.
Abra Cadabra
August 19th, 2012
1:49 am
Ben Sheets — DEAD ARM!
RunninWithTheDawgs
August 19th, 2012
5:07 am
The Dodgers only got four hits, We’re not supposed to lose those kind.
rosscoebeers
August 19th, 2012
5:33 am
time to hang sheets out to dry.
crm300
August 19th, 2012
5:53 am
Sheets story was nice while it lasted, but he has been throwing batting practive his last couple of starts. If he has one more bad start, he needs to be the odd man out. Need a long reliever anyway. Dodgers have a scary offensive line up now. Their starting pitching is really only three deep, though. Where would the Braves be without the contribution of Paul Janish? He deserves a place on this team when Simmons returns.
ATLcracker
August 19th, 2012
8:12 am
Actually Sheets wasn’t struggling. The umpire squeezed him the whole game and was even worse on those two walks in the sixth. Half of those 8 pitches called balls were actually strikes.
alanfalcon
August 19th, 2012
8:24 am
I want Ben to suceed as much as anyone and for three games he looked completely in the games, lately it looks as if he is so determined to make a pitch that is not working for him on a given night that he loses the focus of the job at hand, sure wish he would go back to pitching the way he did in the first 3 games, throwing his best stuff that’s working at the time and attacking the hiteer with those pitches also try using that great curve ball more, its his beat pitch and seldom in the middle of the plate like his fast ball
mark
August 19th, 2012
8:29 am
Freeman notgoing to get anything to hit with .210 hitter Uggla batting behind him
Preston Hannatized
August 19th, 2012
8:30 am
The ESPN crew at the Braves Mets Sunday last were talking “Sheetsy’s” velocity being down from his first couple of starts. It’s probably only natural but it is still of concern. Troy Glaus didn’t last the whole year either.
Discussion question: How many times has a Roger McDowell visit led to a disaster?
Preston Hannatized
August 19th, 2012
8:32 am
I see where McCann – ooops, I’m sorry, McCanny – is unhappy.
Glum2Day
August 19th, 2012
8:32 am
3-0 Hanley the Weiner Whinerbaby was waiting on it. Better to put him on … with a 91 mph in the ribs next time.
Ben is still adjusting to a hittable fastball and how to use it. I’m not ready to give up on him. It’s just a very, very crucial bad time to be re-learning.
Go Mets! How about one more?
Winchester
August 19th, 2012
8:52 am
Here’s a dirty little secret…before the Braves take to the field each day they hold a secret meeting down the hall in room 2012 and decide if they are going to play to win or not mentally show up for the game.
Mikey
August 19th, 2012
9:01 am
Just maybe folks the teams have had a chance to scout Sheets, so his early success was not sustainable. Still like his ability and attitude and some adjustments he will be fine.
Ps. Anybody notice we only scored two runs off an average r/h pitcher. How bad is McCann’s injury as he should have been in their last night.
Playoffs!!!
August 19th, 2012
9:02 am
One more bad start and Wren will fold up Sheets and send him to AAA
mpimentel
August 19th, 2012
9:14 am
C’mon itks almost normal what is happening on sheets…this could be his last outing of spring training…give him some credit, I’m still confidence of him…btw hanley is way much better that we think, so a very good game out of him is expected…sheets will rebound for sure, just wait!…GO SHEETS!!
longtimefan
August 19th, 2012
9:26 am
The Braves lose a game and the complainers come out of the woodwork! The Braves have been pitching as well as any team in MLB the last month or so and are now fourth in the NL in pitching(ERA). But let’s not let the facts get in the way of the b*tching. Are some of you guys satisfied with anything on the team?
native atlantan
August 19th, 2012
9:26 am
Not gonna catch Washington this year, they are a much better run organization. Looks like a wild card team in Atlanta at best.
lpt nation
August 19th, 2012
9:27 am
anybody who thinks we need to give up on sheets while we still have hanson is out of there minds . to win in pro ball you have to score more than two runs
Ken Stallings
August 19th, 2012
9:38 am
Sheets walked two batters all game, and both scored on a homer. Sheets surrendered four hits all game and all four of them were homers.
Sheets pitched a good game. What happened was the Dodgers had a collectively perfect day at the plate. I’ll take my chances that doesn’t happen again. If I were the Dodgers I would enjoy the moment and the victory and take another look at that team rabbit’s foot, because they wore the luck off it last night!
Ken Shelton
August 19th, 2012
9:45 am
I, for one was so hoping Ben Sheets would succeed, as what an awesome story, already being compared to Jim Morris, the former high school coach who came out of nowhere to pitch at an advances age for the Tampa Bay Rays. I am not suggesting totally giving up on Sheets yet, as others have said, Sheets received no spring training, and still seemingly has good enough stuff to hold onto a roster spot a while longer, but I think after maybe one more similar start the obvious choice will be to make Sheets the odd man out as for as when the time comes to return back to a five-man rotation?
Skokie Dog
August 19th, 2012
9:54 am
Fredi: “…what are you going to do?” I say, “Tip your cap to those Dodgers and their home runs.” And don’t forget, “it was a weird game.” You have to tip your cap to the weirdness too.
D-Man
August 19th, 2012
9:59 am
Wow…I was really happy for Sheets AND us for that matter the way he was pitching at first. Always wondered what are the chances that would last? This is not the answer I wanted.
Carl Farvman
August 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Again, Sheets is a career barely above a .500 pitcher. A regular poster scolded me about the observation when Sheets joined the staff, stating that this stat was unimportant and didn’t paint an accurate picture of a pitcher’s value. Well, you can’t escape the fact that a .500 W/L record is winning half the games you’re credited with. Given a reasonable sample size…well,it is what it is.
RunninWithTheDawgs
August 19th, 2012
10:48 am
I think it may be a little bit early to be kicking Sheets to the curb. Sheets is a pitcher, meaning that he works the whole plate. The ump last night wasn’t giving up the corners which made Sheets move over more into the strike zone, which was obviously wheelhouse zone for a couple of their guys. Anybody who is thinking differently needs to remember the guy pitched a four hitter !
fgsf
August 19th, 2012
10:48 am
AWWWWW Sheets!
RunninWithTheDawgs
August 19th, 2012
11:04 am
Or maybe he’s just having trouble with a hanging curveball. It IS kinda ironic when you think about it. A guy only gives up four hits and they’re all home runs. I wonder how many times that’s been done.
Sheets blanketed with Homers
August 19th, 2012
11:51 am
It’s pretty obvious why he’s getting rocked right now. His pitches are staying up in the strike zone. His curve seems flat and his fast ball is staying belt high and down the middle. Location, location, location.
least of the east
August 19th, 2012
12:25 pm
you couldn’t expect Sheets to maintain his amazing start. just need a quality start. can’t fall behind 3-0 with 2 guys on already.
with his average velocity, he needs better command. so he needs to work on this in a side bullpen session or go to bullpen temporarily Mc Dowell is of little help..
right now. Medlen, Hudson and Maholm are 3 best. Hanson and Minor are also still question marks . we’ll see what Minor does today. can he keep his ERA under 5 ? debatable.
Largo
August 19th, 2012
12:42 pm
L.A, Wash,and the Giants have the best pitching is baseball. They also have great all around teams. Atlanta is not really in their class but we can always hope.
RoyU
August 19th, 2012
1:11 pm
There is no question this team is trying but time after time this year, they cannot produce when the chips are down! How many more times have they blown opportunities to gain ground or even tie with the Nats? This is a competitive team but that’s as far as it goes. That is all ownership and management pay for and that is all they deserve. Owners are making money but cheating the fans who want and deserve a better chance at a championship. It’s a business and the P & L is more important to ownership than the league standings or the pride they should have in the team that they put on the field.